Falling Skies: Korea
by StephenMcTowelie
Summary: A reboot of the Falling Skies universe starting with the EMP/bombardment phase of the initial invasion from the perspective of US soldiers stationed in Seoul, South Korea. Going in a completely different direction than the series from Season 3 onwards. Rated T for language and violence. AU, OC, Ch. 111 Complete.
1. Prologue: Life as We Know It

**_This chapter is all backstory and fluff if you want to get straight to where "the bomb drops" feel free to skip ahead to the next chapter. The air war starts from there and the ground war picks up a few chapters later._**

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 _ **Author's Note** : First of all thank you for taking the time to read this. Being someone who discovered this show towards the end of its run I'm a little late to the party so to speak. This is my attempt at a total remake of Falling Skies in an attempt to capture the potential that could have been, at least from a writing standpoint. All of my other FS stories are essentially branches off of this. Most of the story follows the characters initially introduced in the first chapter and expands through the people they meet. **That being said there is no main character per se and any character could potentially die or be harnessed at any time.** There will also be certain special chapters which will give updates on the war around the world as well as insight into events occurring in other star systems (i.e. there will be a few chapters dedicated to Cochise prior to coming to Earth, other aliens fighting the Espheni elsewhere and so on. The main plot may also expand to other worlds as well depending on which ending I ultimately decide to go with.) I'd originally intended just to do a quick prequel with this and be done with it in a month, alas it went on and grew into something more. Now that the scope has expanded inevitably I'll have to go for either a title change or a direct sequel that ties all the converging side stories and this one together. (I can't really call it FS: Korea when it extends to other countries and planets now can I?) **Overall this story will be written in such a way that you don't have to have ever seen this show to be able to follow it.** I know many of you found this story via some of my other works and have never seen or heard of this show which is fine since (aside from the Canon arc – The Boston Massacre) it is only very loosely based on the source material. __(It's also kind of a rough model (at least for the human interactions) of my own completely independent set up story to a sci-fi series (inasmuch that the invasion of Earth is but a prelude to an extended universe of a spacefaring remnant of humanity or whatever species succeeds us) so by not following all that closely it makes it easier to change the aliens/tech/tactics/motive/larger universe etc. to make it my own (granted would be getting rid of skitters and going with ARMED aliens for a change.) I will probably post the first ten or twenty chapters of the non-fanfiction version on my fictionpress account once it's ready seeing as I mentioned it here.)_ _All you really need to know is it's about aliens. (Also if you've never seen the show you can probably skip the next paragraph)_

 _As I've stated in the canon character arc of this (The Boston Massacre);_ ** _this will be a complete AU/remake so forget what you think you know because I am going to be taking this in a totally different direction._** _(Did you really want to know the ending before you started reading anyways? Who knows, this time around the aliens might actually win.) The deviations aren't that pronounced prior to the arrival of the Volm but following the approximate time of the Season 2 finale this will be an entirely different creation. (There will be no Espheni Queen, I can say that for sure without giving much away.) I plan on adding considerable depth with the aliens and their agenda, tactics, culture and so on will be considerably different (to some degree I will be extrapolating on what Season 2 appeared to be pointing at). In the end the Espheni will be shown to have a rich and well developed culture and **the purpose of the alien conquest, when revealed will be completely different from what was presented on the show** though overall there may be some intentionally misleading statements that may deflect from what the true motive is._

 ** _With the humans I will try to provide a decent range of diversity of backgrounds, worldviews and circumstances to explore how different people/groups handle the invasion. Some of these worldviews may be offensive to some people._** _I am trying to depict humanity as we really are with all our flaws, biases and failings not how we would like ourselves to be. That being said this will probably have a darker feel to it than the series had. Note that the opinions presented in the story are those of the characters and the characters alone and as such will conflict with each other. Certain characters I may have a hard time accurately portraying (Hamza, Vargas and Kwang-su in particular), I'm trying not to make caricatures of them nor treat them with kid gloves so if anyone could offer advice on how to better portray the worldview and character traits I am looking for in them it would be appreciated as well._

 _I'll try to update this one frequently and as long as at least one person is still reading it I will see it through to the end, even if I take a break from it I won't leave it to die unfinished. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. If I don't have a well thought out explanation for something then it probably is an error and I will correct it. This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction so any advice/comments to help me become a better writer are welcome._

 _ **Update – 3 April 2016:**_ _I'm working on a format change for all my stories. (Chapters 3-87 are still pending this change, it won't alter content only the format.) It will be a slow process and I will still be posting regular updates. I've just completed the prologue/intro chapter showing most of the characters, including some which haven't been reintroduced yet and some that will never be reintroduced (obviously some people die during the initial attack) which is posted below. It was initially conceived as an "opening credits" sequence so it was a bit bulky and tough to actually get it into prose. **Since the prologue is 97 pages of fluff and backstory if you want to skip ahead to the point right before "the bomb drops" and the actual action of the story begins just click on ahead to the next chapter. The ground war also begins around chapter 7-8.** Right now I've just vomited everything I had for the prologue and there's a fair chance some of it will be cut as time goes on. There's also a few scenes from Chapter 1 that I may also put here (The first Camp Humphreys scene, the USS Nevada scene and possibly the Overlord scene) Any suggestions for improvement are most welcome and will be taking all constructive criticism into account when revising the story. Apologies for the long introduction, hope you enjoy the story. Cheers!_

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Prologue: Life As We Know It.

A large triangular shaped craft hovered over central Seoul, at hourly intervals smaller craft would arrive and debark from the main vessel to and from points unknown. It was one of many such craft spread out in the skies over major urban hubs around the world. These triangles had been recorded over New York, London, Washington DC, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chengdu, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Orlando, Vancouver, Montreal, Vladivostok, Minsk, Sevastopol, Honolulu, Mexico City, Havana, Bogota, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Warsaw, Rome, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Lisbon, Jerusalem, Cairo, Tunis, Baghdad, Dubai, Tehran, Kabul, Mumbai, Delhi, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Sydney, Perth and Juneau. Smaller disc shaped objects more closely resembling titanic versions of the traditional UFO were sighted over every major city worldwide. Smaller towns and villages may have only seen flyovers from the tiny scout craft that came and went from these motherships. Still other areas would have only heard about the aliens on the news; there were even regions completely oblivious to the fact the human species was no longer alone in the universe. The visitors came to Earth from regions unknown a couple months ago and since then they have stood still in the sky. In all that time not one person has even seen what "they" look like.

When the aliens had first made themselves known to the world at large the reaction was one of both fear and wonder. While some reveled in the discovery that they were not alone in the cosmos others became possessed with dread. Governments of the world by in large made every effort not to appear hostile to the visitors and spared no expense in their attempts to contact the aliens. Every conceivable method to establish peaceful first contact with the visitors failed. The aliens remained silent, sealed within their massive ships. As the silence continued the fear on the surface escalated. It reached a head when the motherships began sending out smaller craft out to all corners of the globe. The chaos that erupted was on a scale the world had never seen. The initial panic was worldwide, cropping up in just about every major city and town. The secondary tumults were more localized and varied from region to region. These were the outbreaks of opportunistic violence, overzealous protests, and the exacerbation of pre-existing strife. The response to the second round of disorder produced tertiary riots in these and other cities.

In the developed world cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, Kiev, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Jakarta and Beirut were the hardest hit by civil unrest. Elsewhere the governments of Myanmar, Venezuela, Tunisia, Yemen, Nigeria, Sudan and Zimbabwe completely collapse sparking a humanitarian crisis the world is ill equipped to deal with. Many other Middle Eastern, African and Central American nations were badly destabilized and teetered on the brink of collapse themselves. Afghanistan only held together at the cost of the lives of American and Pakistani forces in the region. The instability wrought by the visitors also gave cover for violence to break out between nations. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel engaged in a 36 hour war which left scores dead and displaced most notably in the Palestinian territories. Iran invaded Iraq, decades old conflicts in Africa heated up again, and the detonations of dirty bombs in both India and Pakistan brought those countries into a brief exchange of arms with each other. There were border skirmishes between Russia and the Ukraine. North Korea was restrained by the Chinese from attacking the south which spared Seoul from a far worse fate than it suffered. The warfare in the Middle East and Africa along with civil unrest in the West brought fuel shortages to industrialized nations and famine to the 3rd world. Without as much as taking an aggressive posture the aliens had already caused the genocide of millions.

From their post on high the aliens received a display of humanity at its very worst. They were not however immune to the calamities on the surface of the world they hovered over. There were reports that the smaller alien ships had been fired upon, both intentionally and by mistake and that some of these craft had even been brought down. Still no one has yet to produce a picture of one of these alien beings and their identity remained a mystery. Fortunately for Earth the aliens did not retaliate to the aggression the earthlings visited upon them. They did not respond one way or another; they merely continued on with whatever they were doing in our skies. Nothing seemed to divert their attention from whatever enigmatic purpose they had come to Earth for. It got to the point where people got sick of waiting, eventually the aliens would make contact on their terms or, as many suspected based on the poor showing mankind had given them they would deem humans unworthy and leave without inviting us into the cosmic community.

As the weeks wore on and nothing happened with the visitors and humanity began to bring itself back to sanity the nightmare appeared to be over. The world was still on edge, but in many ways once the anticipation began to wane people simply went on with their lives unimpeded by the menacing object in the sky. Here in Seoul it was much the same, the initial fear and tumult had passed for the most part and after the scars left by a couple weeks of pandemonium and rioting in the streets life had gone back to much of what it had been. People returned to work, the schools reopened, and humans went on obsessing about the frivolous all too human things that humans obsessed with. It was very much life as we knew it, save only that gigantic triangular spaceship standing silently between the sun and Seoul, draping the city in eternal shadow. In spite of the return of the mediocrity of day to day life people still had many unanswered questions about the visitors. Where did they come from? How did they get here? Why did they come here of all places? What, if anything did they want from humankind? Were they peaceful? Little did anyone know that before the end of the day at least one of those questions would be answered. For now the alien mothership stood silently in the sky, keeping its secrets to itself.

In an unassuming part of Seoul Hye-jin walked into a quaint little cafe. Hye-jin was something of a hipster, enjoying kitschy obscure things and dressing in ironic fashions. This little cafe was one of those kitschy things she enjoyed as she kind of considered it beneath her to sip coffee at one of the chain eateries. The cafe catered to casual upscale audience of primarily upper middle class college students among whom Hye-jin was just one in the crowd.

She wore a navy blue woolen sweatshirt and pale lavender scarf even though it wasn't cold and had an oversized blue bow with white polka dots in her bright silver/lavender hair. She wore dark brown slacks and polished earthy shoes which gave her a more academic look to her attire. Her hair and makeup on the other hand boldly contrasted with that image. Her hair was cut an even length just barely above her shoulders and it was clearly visible she put a lot of effort into maintaining the style and the color of it, as she did with her makeup as well.

She was in her early 20s just about out of university and still had no clue about what she wanted to do with her life. Even as graduation day loomed near that question wasn't something she would often think about. Life in the real world was even less of a consideration to Hye-jin after the aliens came down. She just went about her studies, popped into trendy establishments, hung out with her friends, went to concerts and lived it up while she was still young. Today was no different; she was starting off on her Sunday morning routine. Later she would meet up with a couple friends and go shopping but until then she was content to lounge around here for a while.

Hye-jin sat down on a polished wooden stool in front of the bar in the back of the cafe and pulled out her smartphone and started going through it. Upon seeing her sit down her waitress, Eun-mi brought Hye-jin her usual blended coffee drink and took her order, a spinach and artichoke soufflé with a small bowl of miso soup on the side. She smiled and exchange casual conversation as she always did before running Hye-jin's order off to the cook. Meanwhile Hye-jin took out her smart phone to check her Instagram account. When the front page of her browser came up it displayed a short video of a light beam descending from an alien spacecraft into the open ocean somewhere between India and Antarctica. Out of curiosity Hye-jin clicked on it and was watching it when Eun-mi came over.

"You never expect aliens to do that kind of stuff out in the open huh?" Eun-mi commented after catching a glimpse of what she was looking at.

"I used to think that, actually I never used to think about that kind of paranormal stuff at all. It happens so often now people are starting to get desensitized to it." Hye-jin replied.

"I remember when they first came. People were going crazy and everyone was either like "It's the end of the world, we're all gonna die!" or they were talking like Space Jesus had come down to save us and make the world's problems disappear. Two months later and we're still here, alive and well, not enslaved and building some death ray to aim at a planet we've never even heard of. The world is still as fucked up as it ever was; war, disease, famine, poverty, racism, pollution, cruelty, crime and Justin Bieber still exist. Aliens show up and nothing changes; it's just a novelty act in the sky." Hye-jin continued.

"Yeah it's turning out to be not as special as we hoped it to be but it's not over yet. I mean its two completely different species that are trying to communicate with each other here. That's never been done before so you'd figure it would take a while to get it right. It could be the same for them if they've never come across intelligent life before while they were flying around out there. This could be their maiden voyage into space, we just don't know" Eun-mi replied. The teenage girl was wise beyond her years. Her well-reasoned answer was something that the college student did not even consider.

"That's true. I'm not saying that it wasn't something special just that people have short attention spans. I'm excited that this moment is happening in my lifetime" Hye-jin said.

"There haven't been that many generations in the whole of human history that have gotten to experience a moment of this importance." Eun-mi remarked.

"Yeah, though I kind of worry that out of the whole of our history they picked now to show up. We haven't exactly been sending them the best signals since they arrived. If they're watching us we're showing them the worst humanity has to offer. Maybe they won't want to talk to us after seeing all this. Part of me wishes this would've happened after we've gotten all our shit together as a planet, even if I wasn't around to see it." Hye-jin said.

"Maybe this is what makes us get our shit together." Eun-mi, always the eternal optimist replied.

"Maybe once all the fear and uncertainty passes we'll be better off even if the aliens never talk to us. Maybe simply knowing that we are not alone in the universe, that what's out there is so much bigger than just us that it makes all the divisions we fight over seem so petty. With the eyes of the universe upon us maybe we'll end up learning to treat each other better. This is a paradigm shift that in the end could serve to teach us that it simply isn't worth it to hold onto hate." Eun-mi explained.

"That would be nice but so far I'm not seeing it out there." Hye-jin replied.

"It will take time. The aliens might have to just leave in silence before we do anything. Right now we're just filling in the answers to the questions we don't know with our worst fears, that's what's holding us back." Eun-mi responded.

The bell rang outside the kitchen window drawing Eun-mi back to her job. While Hye-jin and Eun-mi chit chatted a news report came on the TV behind the bar in the cafe. Hye-jin glanced up at it when Eun-mi left to tend to newly arrived customers and pick up Hye-jin's order when it was ready. The volume on the TV was muted and block subtitles displayed the text of what was being said.

"For the second straight week there has been nothing but silence from North Korea following months of sabre rattling." the anchor, Chi Ji-eun reported.

The news program then went live to a ground level shot of the south side of the DMZ where a large number of South Korean tanks and mobile artillery pieces moved about in the distance behind the onsite reporter. Small alien craft crisscrossed into the frame and were treated no different than birds in the background by the news team.

"More puzzling is that North Korea has appeared to have pulled its forces back from the DMZ leaving the question open to speculation whether the North's nuclear ambitions have reached a point where it is seriously considering a hostile strike." the anchor continued.

The scene then switched to a second camera onboard a helicopter which panned out to show the North Korean side of the DMZ deserted. After a few more minutes of straight reporting the program shifted to a three way split screen with the anchor on the far right, a former general and so called expert in the center and a ground level shot of the South Korean side of the DMZ on the far left.

"General, what is your insight on what might account for this bizarre turn of events?" the anchor asked.

"It's really too soon to tell. Let us not forget the North has been no stranger to controversy both before and after the arrival." the former general replied.

"According to official reports so far our envoys have gotten nothing out of Pyongyang, neither have the Chinese and American diplomats with the UN." the expert continued.

"Any comment on the rumors that the North is preparing for a nuclear strike against Seoul and other targets south of the DMZ?" Ji-eun inquired.

"I believe it is highly unlikely but there's always a chance. Perhaps they believe the arrival of extraterrestrials would deter western nations from retaliating so that any nuclear exchange would be completely one sided. Personally I'd say it would be a bad idea for any nation to contemplate nuclear war with the world under such close surveillance by an intelligence we know nothing about." the expert answered.

"Concerning the aliens it is also rumored that the North fired upon one of their craft. Has there been any confirmation whether or not this was true?" Ji-eun asked.

"It's a well-known fact that several countries had incidents where their planes or ground forces fired upon the alien craft. The North was no exception to this. Now before any of your listeners start to worry about interstellar war I must remind you that the majority of these incidents ended with the missile's guidance systems failing with no harm done on either side. In fact the only incidents I can recall where a spaceship actually went down is when they crashed into our jets." the general reported.

"I recall that from several weeks ago. Have we learned anything from those downed spacecraft?" Ji-eun asked.

"The remains of the downed craft are in the possession of Russian and British intelligence agencies, neither of which are inclined to comment on the matter." the general replied.

"Playing their cards close to their chest I see. Thank you for stopping by General, hope to speak with you again soon." the anchor closed the segment with the standard pleasantries.

The screen then expanded to show only the ground level shot of the DMZ while the anchor made her closing remarks on the subject. As she was wrapping up the story a platoon of American soldiers briefly passed through the right corner of the broadcast team's shot.

The leader of that unit was 1st Lieutenant Ana Barajas, better known by her men as the "Iron Lady" or "Lady Napoleon" the latter being a jab at her height as she stood only 5' 2". Despite her stature Barajas had an intimidating aura about her. Her piercing hazel eyes looked as if they could burn a hole through six inches of steel. Her sharp chiseled face kept a stern expression upon it nearly all the time. She was built solid with ripped muscles that looked as if she was made of iron beneath her firm mahogany brown skin. Beneath her uniform she had multiple tattoos which formed a sleeve over her upper right arm, shoulder and a quarter of her back. She had a scar on the left side of her chin from where she had been cut by a piece of shrapnel from an IED. She had close cut dark brown hair which naturally spiked out in the front. Yet despite the hardness of her appearance she had a boyish feminity about her which was sufficient to dispel any semblance of androgyny about her. Back in the states and most of the lands she had served in it was clear that even with her strength upon strength she was all woman; only in Korea, a country known for its "pretty boys" could she be easily mistaken for a man.

Barajas was a former enlisted soldier before she became an officer. A common saying among military personnel was that former enlisted soldiers made the best officers, or sometimes the worst. Barajas was in the former category, being an excellent platoon leader though she could at times be difficult to work with. Her experience taught her how to see things through the eyes of those she would send into battle and thus earn their respect more so than would be due to some upstart academy grad. Her experience also gave her insight when her troops were trying to pull a fast one on her. She was hard but fair; she never pushed her men beyond what they could take, even if they didn't know they could take it. She might have been strict but she took care of her men and delivered when it counted. One thing she prided herself on is the fact she had been in many firefights and never lost a single soldier on her watch.

As she went about the day's business she felt a sense of satisfaction. This would be one of her last patrols along the DMZ. Barajas and her unit were scheduled to rotate back to the States at the end of next week. Being unmarried and childless Barajas didn't really have anyone special to return home to, still being back in her homeland would be a welcome change of pace. She had spent too much of her life in foreign countries, both hostile and friendly. From Panama to Uganda to Afghanistan to Korea it seemed she had spent more of her adult life out country than she did back in the States. She attributed that fact to why she had yet to find a man worth settling down with and she would be damned if she shacked up with an army guy. She hadn't intended to go about the path of a career soldier but that was how things had seemed to turn out. She figured after all the time she had put in so far she might as well go for twenty and retire.

Standing a few feet behind Barajas was the platoon sergeant, Sergeant First Class Edmund Drake and SSGT Tobias Knight, who was one of Barajas' squad leaders. The grey haired soldier adjusted his glasses and observed two alien craft whipping around in a circle and then ascending straight up into the sky.

"You really wonder what they are doing here. The mystery of not knowing is worse than anything. Are they incapable of speaking to us or have they just refused to do so? In a way it was better when we still thought we were alone in the universe." Drake said to Knight.

"There was one less thing to be afraid of. Even if they do come in peace I think I would be freaked the fuck out if I ever saw one of those things get out of their ships. Dragging the whole first contact issue out is just making people more nervous. My aunt in Boston told me that people just snapped over there for a couple days and the heavy handedness of the police ain't helping either. If they don't introduce themselves or leave soon I think the entire planet is going to have a nervous breakdown." Tobias replied.

"Or just forget about them entirely. I've noticed a lot of the civvies really don't pay the ETs any mind lately. They're all on to the next fad." Drake added.

"Aliens just aren't sexy anymore." laughed Tobias.

"I wonder how my boys are doing with all this going on." Sergeant Knight commented looking up at the enigmatic ships dancing around in the sky.

"You got kids Drake?" Tobias looked over to Drake and said.

"Twins and Tina has a grandbaby on the way. She's giving the child her maiden name, without the hyphen so the Drake family name will endure another hundred years she claims." Drake replied.

"That stuff is important to you?" asked Knight, batting an eye.

"Yes indeed. My family's had the Drake name ever since we came over to the Virginia Colony in 1682, probably long before that. I'd like to see it live on past me." Drake replied.

Knight didn't really put much importance in his own family name. He got it from his grandfather he knew that much. Before that he didn't know and didn't care. His legal lineage couldn't have predated any earlier than Reconstruction if he bothered to dig that far back and probably changed a myriad of times before that if his family even had a last name then. He couldn't give two shits and a turkey about the Knight family name; yeah it sounded cool and all but it really didn't mean anything to him.

"Ah, both girls I assume?" Knight asked.

"No, I've got a son too but Tim is kind of a loner and never has shown much interest in girls so the line will continue through his sister." Drake answered.

"Way to take the pressure of your boy." laughed Knight.

"I don't mean to pressure him. In fact I put Tina up to a higher standard to make up for it." Drake started to say.

At this time a group of UN peacekeepers and Nadeem Kayani, an inspector with the IAEA were returning from an unsuccessful visit to the north.

"Oh great, here come the blue helmets." snickered Sergeant Gleason, another one of her squad leaders.

Gleason was a thick hulking mass of a man towering over the rest of the platoon at 6' 10". He had what one could call a "wrestler's physique" thick muscular arms and legs and a somewhat firm chest but a flabby mid-section sporting a noticeable beer gut. He had a cinder block shaped head with a neck just as wide that it made Gleason look as if he had no neck to speak of at all. He had a close cut flat top and was clean shaven and smooth. His face had a rosy complexion while his arms and legs sported a farmer's tan, being tanned down to golden ruddy orange color where his skin saw the sun and almost powder white beneath his undershirt and shorts. Gleason was sort of the wise ass of the group. He wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed but he managed to come through when it counts.

When the UN delegation crossed over Barajas stopped them after a group of South Korean soldiers finished checking their credentials and allowed them entry back into the country.

"So did you manage to get access to any of their nuclear sites?" Barajas inquired cynically.

"What nuclear sites? That was their answer. The whole country is in denial." Kayani replied.

"I hate going to North Korea to begin with but this time they were more secretive than usual. I can't really say much but I've got a bad feeling about this." Kayani continued.

While Barajas and the UN delegation were talking defector ran across the DMZ towards the South Korean garrison near where Lt. Barajas was heading towards. The ROK soldiers pointed their weapons at the paranoid defector and shouted at him to stop but the man kept going. One of the soldiers shot and missed the man only to be reprimanded by one of the on duty garrison officers. The defector ran up to Barajas and grabbed her arm as he fell down to his knees, completely exhausted and gasping for breath. The American soldiers pulled their weapons on the man as the ROK troops moved in on them from the north.

"They're in Pyongyang!" the paranoid defector shouted after catching his breath. He shouted so loudly that he was panting again, struggling to breathe afterwards.

"Who?" Barajas asked.

"Them." The defector said in a grizzled growl while pointing up to an alien fighter craft circling overhead.

"So, those things are everywhere." Barajas shrugged her shoulders and curtly replied.

As the South Korean soldiers apprehended the defector and took him in for questioning the alien fighter craft he pointed at flew away from the DMZ and towards the gargantuan triangular vessel hovering over the Seoul metro area.

Beneath a similar ominous alien vessel, thousands of miles away a plane had taken off from Moscow on a nonstop flight to Seoul via Incheon International Airport. It was a connecting flight for many onboard who were neither Russian nor Korean. From there they would board planes to Japan, America, Australia and elsewhere. As the plane ascended the passengers looked eagerly out the window in hopes to catch a glimpse or snapping a photo of an alien flyer up close. They moved so fast and flew so high that they appeared more like tiny twinkling dots from the ground. In flight there was a better chance to see their true form in all its detail. The passengers' excitement was not contagious to the flight crew. For example, the pilot could care less, the fewer aliens he saw the better.

"This is your captain speaking. We have now reached our cruising altitude and will be arriving in Seoul at approximately 9:17 local time." the pilot, one Leonid Petrikovich announced to the crew over the speakers in Russian.

He flipped the switch to shut off the speaker and looked over to his co-pilot Sergei Kaverin before looking back out of the cockpit into the skies ahead of him. As the gargantuan wedge shaped spacecraft passed behind the plane smaller craft, comparable in size to jet fighters darted across the sky above, below and in front of them. Air travel had before more difficult since the aliens had taken up residence in Earth's skies. Ever since a British Airways flight had collided with one of the smaller craft over the north Atlantic new precautions had to be taken. The aliens' flight plans were erratic and the craft were capable of maneuvers unheard of by earthly jets which made their behavior difficult to predict and thereby difficult to avoid. It could be assumed the beings piloting them didn't want to crash any more than human pilots did so the protocol had been changed to ignore the otherworldly vessels in spite of the pilot's instincts to pull away from a near miss. It was annoying and nerve racking for Petrikovich, who already had his own issues with anxiety to begin with to be persistent tested by the alien craft that crowded the once clear skies over Russia.

"You suppose these space critters will go away someday?" Petrikovich asked his co-pilot.

"You would think they would do something. I never expected mankind's first contact with alien life to be so, boring." Sergei commented with mild disdain for the visitors.

"They need to do something soon. I am really getting tired of these things buzzing around my damn plane. I need a drink when we land." Petrikovich complained.

"Wait til we land Leonid." Sergei reminded him with a slight chuckle.

Petrikovich's imbibing on the strong drink was legendary among any who knew the man and Sergei made it a personal priority to relegate the effects of that activity to the pilot's time away from the job. He hadn't taken the job with the airline to be a life coach to an older man but that was what it had become.

Behind the cockpit a sweet, raven haired flight attendant, Yulia Konstantinov was serving beverages to a Frenchman and a pair of British ladies before taking the food cart into coach to hand out the in-flight peanuts. In coach a plain clothes FSB agent sat across from and behind a young, bearded Syrian man he was keeping an eye on. More towards the front of the plane Yulia handed out peanuts to a pleasant Turkish couple and a red haired American woman who was browsing music videos on YouTube.

Across the continent from the plane Lee Hyuna waited at a Seoul bus stop while watching the same video that the woman on the plane was looking at. This teenage girl was dressed in a bright hot pink miniskirt and a tight fitting top that was pale blue, almost white with pink sleeves. She had pink and yellow striped knee high socks and bright purple shoes. She wore a blue and yellow backpack decorated with ridiculously cutesy designs all over it. Her long, jet black hair was tied into two pigtails on the sides of her head that went down her back to her hips. She only wore light makeup in contrast to her flamboyant manner of dress while her brightly painted nails meshed perfectly with the rest of her get-up. The smartphone she held in her hands was decorated in a case similar to the cutesy-ness that adorned her backpack.

Soon enough the bus Hyuna was waiting on arrived and she stepped on board, paid the fare and walked back to a seat near the back of the bus. On her way back she passed a man with slick hair and a neat, closely trimmed moustache and chin strip beard resembling a shortened Van Dyke, dressed in professional attire reading a newspaper. In the seat across the aisle from this man a tough, somewhat masculine looking woman in a studded black leather jacket and pants crossed her arms and waited for the bus to take off. Hyuna sat down and watched a pair of brothers positively psyched up about something get on the bus and take a seat near the front. She couldn't make out their conversation over the sound of the bus accelerating away from the stop and getting back onto its route.

As the bus continued along its route across town it was passed by a dark green luxury car driven by a well-dressed woman in her mid-20s. The driver, Min-jung was heading home after picking up her son from a friend's house where he had an extended sleepover the night before. She was a well to do lady living in an upper class community in Gangnam District. She married into wealth as her husband had inherited a sizeable trust fund from his father, one of Seoul's premier businessmen. This had given Min-jung and her son quite the comfortable lifestyle. Though she could have dedicated herself to her hobbies and social life Min-jung still maintained a job working in middle management for a multinational firm in case her marriage happened not to work out in the future. She placed little faith in her prenuptials, besides having a professional life allowed her to get out into the world and associate with people beyond the rather dull self-important socialites in her immediate circle of friends. Her husband was currently doing a protracted stint in the ROK Army, which he claimed to be part of a plan to prove his own worth outside the shadow of his father. Min-jung thought her husband was stupid for staying in longer than required and often had urged him to resign his commission and take up the place that had been prepared for him in the family business. It would leave more time in his schedule for her and provide a more lavish lifestyle than the one she already enjoyed. While Min-jung had her own selfish motives for wanting her husband to give in and follow his father's advice she was content enough with his choices that she was willing to let him do whatever made him happy so long as she continued to maintain her standard of living.

She picked up her phone to call her husband as she passed under a highway where the local police had restricted access due to a military convoy en route from the US/ROK installations between Seoul and the DMZ to Camp Humphreys to the south of Seoul. Coincidentally in an ROK army truck following behind the American tanks and Strykers was Min-jung's husband, Captain Han Jung-nam. Though he could have settled into the career his father had groomed him for Captain Han had decided on an extended period of service in the military to prove himself in his own eyes. Captain Han sat in the passenger seat and patiently waited until he and his supply trucks would diverge from the convoy at large. Between the radio chatter and the hum of the engine he didn't hear the phone when his wife called. She was only calling to let him know she had picked up Do-yeon but still it irritated Min-jung when Han didn't pick up the phone. Right now the Captain was blissfully unaware of his wife's displeasure. He was only thinking about the mission at hand. His superiors had sent him north to retrieve war material and relocate it in hidden locations in the southeast suburb of Seongnam as a contingency plan in case the aliens became aggressive and attacked Seoul. Once he got down to Seongnam he would rendezvous back with Colonel Cho on whose staff Han currently served.

The Americans however were slated to be relocated whether there were aliens in the skies over Seoul or not. In one of the vehicles ahead of the supply trucks, an M1A1 Abrams tank, Captain David Bremer sat at the commander's station listening to the song "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead while rumbling through downtown Seoul. Bremer was a tall, dashing, clean shaven, muscular man who at times had been compared to a blonde version of a much younger Tom Cruise, something that the older members of his former platoon had made mention of. Bremer watched the city skyline passing by beneath the shadow of the alien vessel parked directly above him.

"How you doing there Tay tay?" Bremer called down to Private Richard Taylor, who was driving the tank.

"I'm holding up good sir." replied Taylor.

"Keep it then. As long as you don't run over anyone on our way down to Humphreys we're good." Bremer joking said to Taylor.

"Charlie convoy this is Alpha leader. You ready to make your break?" Bremer radioed back to Han and the truck convoy bound for Seongnam.

"Roger. Breaking off at the next ramp." the driver of Han's truck radioed back.

Meanwhile at Bremer's destination maintenance crews had been called in to work additional shifts over the weekend to repair and refit a large number of US military vehicles. In addition to repairing the usual wear and tear on these war machines several of them were having their onboard systems upgraded and hardened to withstand an inadvertent electromagnetic storm in the atmosphere generated by the postulated mechanisms of the alien ships' sublight engines or a direct EMP attack from either alien or terrestrial sources. Several M113 APCs, an M163 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, an Abrams tank and a half dozen Humvees were partially disassembled in the bays and being worked on. Some upbeat reggae music was playing over the speakers in the maintenance bay to soothe the irritable nerves of those that had been ordered to work while most of the off watch personnel on base had the day off.

Sergeant Lyndsey Sobieski, the chief maintenance technician on duty was walking between the vehicles taking note of what parts they required on her way over to the parts cage to retrieve them. Lyndsey was in her mid to late 20s though looked a good 5 or 6 years younger than she was in the face. She was a muscular looking blonde woman with her hair in a bushy pixie cut. She was average height as compared to the other soldiers on base which made her somewhat tall among the general Korean population off base though it was more her well filled out physique that set her apart in public. She had a tough but cute appearance and a bit of a rough demeanor that for some took some getting used to. She was more like one of the guys in mixed company and never had been much of the girly girl. In the past she never had much of a reservation about getting around with her fellow soldiers or anyone she fancied who was willing at any time for that matter though now she had become more of an ice queen when it came to getting intimate with anyone. She had a reputation of being a slut among some of her peers and of being a lesbian among some of those she had recently turned away. She didn't really care what they thought of her but would prefer it if she could distance herself from both of those reputations.

Lyndsey walked over to the parts cage and handed a list to the man inside. "Oh and I also need an alternator for an M113." Lyndsey asked Terrence Johnson, a DoD contractor working in parts requistions.

He was a shorter thickly built dark skinned black man with corn rows trailing off into braids as they went down to the back of his head. He had an unusually large nose and mouth in proportion to his face with a relatively small chin by comparison. He was dressed his shop coveralls and wore an expensive gold wristwatch, not a Rolex but close enough. Johnson handed Lyndsey the proper forms to fill out and went back to bring her the parts she requested. He brought two boxes out and went back to the back. When he came back he placed three more boxes on the desk between him and Lyndsey and waited for Lyndsey to complete the paperwork.

"So nice of them to make us work weekends while all the grunts are away." Johnson chuckled

"I hear you, at least it's a steady shift and we're not on the rotation for city watch. Besides it'll give me a chance to catch up so I won't have to come in as early tomorrow. Takes time for them to break their toys. They're usually not in here til around lunch time." Lyndsey replied.

"Gonna play hooky tomorrow?" Johnson asked.

No, just a wee bit of a late start. I'm catching the train up to Seoul after my shift." Lyndsey answered.

"Ah, I see. Hitting the clubs are we?" Terrence asked.

"No, I don't know what I'll do I just need to get away from this place." Lyndsey replied.

"Well then we better hope there's nothing broken on those tanks they're bringing down here this afternoon." Johnson commented.

"There better not be. I know the guy leading that convoy from my time in Iraq and if there is as much as one scratch on those tanks I'll have his balls in a vice." Lyndsey replied.

"Ouch! Remind me never to piss you off." Johnson chuckled.

"Even if there's something up with them I'll still be back around 0800 or 0900. Not going to snooze the whole morning but I'll like to catch a little shut eye after being out til 2 in the morning or whatever." Lyndsey remarked

"If anyone says anything I got your back, you know that." Johnson told her.

"I know Big Johnson. You're always there when I need you." Lyndsey said before picking up the boxes and carrying them back to the mechanics that needed them before she got to work on the tank she was working on.

Back in Seoul Bremer's army convoy passed by a concert venue where some idol girl band was about to take stage before a packed house before the trucks heading to Seongnam branched away from the US forces going to Camp Humphreys.

On the floor of the concert venue Kim Hyo-ri and her friends were gathered together to watch the opening act. Hyo-ri was one of the popular girls and known as the proverbial queen of the incoming junior class at her high school. She was the one that all the girls wanted to befriend and all the boys wanted to date. She was smart, attractive and kind, with a good heart, an optimistic attitude and a cheerful sense of humor. She was as it would be, beautiful both inside and out. As the performers for the opening act took the stage a girl standing a few rows in front of one of Hyo-ri's friends raised up her cell phone camera and started to record the performance.

Elsewhere in the city Chae-lin, a close friend of Hyuna's was watching the video as it was being uploaded from the girl's phone. Her boyfriend, Ji-yong stood impatiently at her side while the waited on a bench outside a row of boutique shops for the scheduled bus to pull up. Chae-lin was a year and a half older than Hyuna while her boyfriend was the same age. Chae-lin was of a more solid build than most Korean girls. She was firm, strong and definitely not rail thin, though in excellent physical condition. He face was more rounded than Hyuna's which took a sharp angular shape and she had larger eyes which lacked the exaggerated Asian features that Hyuna had. Her equally dark slightly shorter, yet still rather long, hair was streaked with blonde and purple streaks. She wore a black leather bomber jacket adorned with old school punk rock patches and a few of her own designs over a white and black horizontally striped shirt, insanely short jean shorts and polished black leather ladies boots. Ji-yong was ripped as well, being a bit more muscular and manly in appearance than was the current style for boys in Seoul. He wore a black and grey print T-shirt, black pants with the intentionally ripped knees and fingerless leather gloves. He wore a pair of faux gold chains around his neck and round sunglasses that were right now raised above his eyes being that there was no need for them in the shade of the alien vessel. His hair was bleached blonde and spiked up. The two of them overall looked like a splendid punk rock couple. They would have each gotten a number of tattoos by now if they could to complete that image but given the difficulty to find qualified tattoo artists with reputable work in Seoul that proved to be a challenge. They had often joked about going to Japan just to get some serious ink done.

After the bus arrived and released its brakes with an audible hiss the doors opened and among several other people Hyuna got out. She removed the headphones from her ears and ran to meet Chae-lin. The two girls gave each other a hug, Chae-lin being the larger and stronger of the two lifted Hyuna slightly off the ground during their embrace while Ji-yong stood back and watched. The two girls broke their embrace and Chae-lin stepped back and looked Hyuna up and down with a glowing smile on her face.

"So you actually showed up, all right!" exclaimed Chae-lin giving Hyuna two thumbs up.

"Someone here didn't believe you would come, said you thought you were too good to hang out with us." Chae-lin said sarcastically while glancing back over at her boyfriend.

"Are you kidding? Of course I was going to come! We haven't had a chance to hang out since that stupid UFO showed up." Hyuna remarked, glancing up only briefly at the sky before beaming a radiant look back to her friends.

"Aliens. . . sure know how to put a damper on a girl's social life don't they?" quipped Chae-lin.

"You bet they do!" Hyuna replied

"So are you going to the party tonight?" Ji-yong asked effectively changing the subject.

"I dunno, we have school tomorrow." Hyuna answered bashfully.

"Don't be such a puss." chided Ji-yong

"Dude, they aren't starting until after all that dopey alien loving street festival is done. We'll be out til like four in the morning." Hyuna protested.

"Bock bock bock, bock." Ji-yong made clucking noises while flapping his arms in the manner of imitating a chicken.

"Meow!" Ji-yong continued to mock Hyuna.

"Oh alright, I'll come with you but there better be cute boys there." Hyuna finally gave in and agreed.

Chae-lin and Ji-yong both started laughing.

"That's all it took. Oh, don't you worry, if the party doesn't bring the boys the streets are going to be stuffed with all the lookers for the whole alien festival thing. If we got to we'll just snag us a boy for you out there before we go." Chae-lin promised Hyuna eliciting laughter from her boyfriend in the process.

"Hyuna, you're such a slut." joked Ji-yong.

"Hey! I'm still a virgin I'll have you know!" Hyuna rebuked him.

"Riiiight." sarcastically commented Ji-yong.

"You don't have to believe me but it's true." Hyuna said in her defense.

"So this party where's it at?" Hyuna turned to Chae-lin and shifted the conversation away from her perceived promiscuity.

"Gangdong District, at a friend of a friend's place. I'll get you directions later on today." Chae-lin answered.

"You know Gangdong don't you girl, oh my Gangdong is so ghet-to!" Ji-yong playfully ridiculed her.

"Shut up." Hyuna remarked back.

She used to live there when she was younger, before her dad got a new job and they all moved across the river. It wasn't that bad; she had fond memories of her childhood there and probably would end up moving back someday. That was if she didn't happen to find herself studying abroad which was something that her parents had really pushed upon her when she was younger. It made her think of just how disappointed they must have been with her mediocre ambitions and achievements to match these days.

"Don't mind him; it's going to be cool. This guy's parents are out of the country all next week so we could crash there whenever we want if you don't want to go home afterwards. I could take you to school in the morning if you want." Chae-lin told her.

"So then, we've got all day to kick it. What are we going to do til the sun goes down and it all gets hella crazy around here?" Ji-yong asked.

"Let's head off to the comic book store. We'll hit up whatever you guys want to do along the way." Hyuna answered. She had been wanting to pick up several of the newest issues for the series' she followed.

"That's as good of an idea as any. Come on!" Chae-lin said as she led the way down the street past the boutique shops and into an area packed with tall apartment buildings. In one of the ground floor apartment buildings that the three of them walked by a family could be seen through an open window watching a popular daytime variety show on TV.

As the same variety show was displayed on the screen of several televisions in the display window of a mom and pop electronics store a man on a motorcycle sped by. The motorcycle meandered through the streets of Seoul until it came up to the gates of the US Army's Yongsan Garrison. The rider removed his helmet and displayed his military ID to the guard at the gate who waved him on in. The man once more donned his helmet and rode up to one of the buildings and parked his bike. He got off the bike and walked inside, removing his helmet on his way inside.

The rider, Private Aaron Carter was the newest addition to the US forces serving in Seoul. Fresh out of infantry training and feeling as if he could take on the world he proceeded to enter the building that was to be his new home for the duration of the alien crisis in Seoul. He was a tall and lanky individual with lighter milk chocolate colored skin, awkwardly large ears and a poofed up afro style haircut that was a little more than a tad outside of military regulations. He was not as uncoordinated as his appearance would suggest instead making rather graceful strides as he confidently strolled down the hallway and up the stairs to the TV lounge and game room where several of his fellow soldiers were gathered and made his presence known.

"What's up bitches!" he announced as he walked into a room where several other soldiers were playing pool, card games, arm wrestling, gossiping or watching TV.

The soldiers all stopped their conversations for just a moment when Carter barged in leaving only the Eminem song "Kill You" playing in the background. Once they realized who it was most of them went back to what they were doing.

"Guess whose back!" Carter exclaimed as he spun around and made a showcase of his entrance into the game room.

He had gone into the Army not one day fresh out of high school and landed here in country fresh out of infantry training. Without a doubt he was the greenest man on base but from his swagger and comfort in social situations you couldn't have guessed it.

"Well, well, well looks like this nub thinks he's cock of the walk all of the sudden." remarked SGT Cameron Parker, the leader of a squad assigned to the Seoul patrols since the arrival of alien visitors.

Fortunately for Carter he was not a member of Parker's squad. The jovial Sergeant treated those under him with tough love; he was fair, but tough. This was something that reminded Carter of his own father and that was something he wanted no part of. Now Parker was an inch and a half shorter than Carter but looked as if he was the bigger man due to the fact he was filled out more completely with broad shoulders and a firmer muscle build. Parker was a good four shades darker than Carter, black as night, with a tight cut flat top haircut and a bit of fuzz on the face. Parker had a no shave chit due to his sensitive skin so was in fact strictly within military regulations in spite of being a tad scruffy looking. He was an experienced soldier and well-liked by many on base. Out of everyone Parker had been stationed in country the longest and was due to rotate back stateside sometime next year. The aliens had kind of thrown off everyone's rotation schedule so the exact time when Parker would be returning to his old Georgia stomping grounds was as of yet undetermined.

"Where the heck have you been all day?" asked SGT Jeremy Blake, a burly, somewhat portly soldier with a slick shaved head and both of his arms sleeved with colorful and magnificently done tattoos. Blake was seated at a table in the corner of the room playing cards with a couple other soldiers.

"Out on the town man, I can't stay cooped up on this base. I'm a wild animal bro, I gotta roam free." Carter replied.

"He got himself a bike so he went off and ditched us, I see how it is." said another soldier messing around with Carter.

"You've been in country less than a month and the first thing you do is go off and get a motorcycle?" Parker asked as he racked up a fresh game of pool between himself and another soldier.

"What? I got to have a ways to get around you know? The buses here are full of weird people and the schedules are in symbol-speak. All of ya'll know nothing impresses the honeys like a hot ride anyhow." Carter said slyly.

"Yeah, yeah, that little crotch rocket you got out there is sure one hot ride." sarcastically commented Blake.

"That thing is gayer than my ex-boyfriend and believe you me, he was gay, gay, gaaaaaay. Why don't you go ahead and paint hot pink flames down the side of it and sparkling rainbows around the exhaust pipes." Blake cheerfully derided Carter.

"Haters gonna hate." Carter shrugged off Blake's' comments and smiled.

In the corner across from the pool table sat PFC Jesse Williams reading a hardback copy of "The Fountainhead" while occasionally chiming in on the banter between the other soldiers. Williams was a bookish nerd with the body of a linebacker. His head and face were shaved smooth daily to where one could hardly see the stubble poking through his coal back skin. His arms and legs like tree trunks connected to a slightly flabby mid-section. He didn't necessarily work out he was just a big guy, and as a result of his size had played several sports growing up, mostly at the urging of his father. He however picked the army over football as the best shot for him to go to college, desiring in the end to pursue a purely cerebral career in the sciences or engineering rather than seeking the glitz and glamour of the NFL. Williams and Carter knew each other from boot camp where afterwards an injury had set Carter back on starting infantry school with him. The reconnected at Camp Red Cloud briefly before Williams was transferred to Seoul ahead of him. They got along in kind of a love/hate sort of way. Carter would always rip on Williams for being so dull and overly attached to his fiancée back home, whereas Williams would make fun of Carter for being a walking, talking stereotype. In Williams' estimation Carter might as well have been a character from the Dave Chappelle show. Conversely in Carter's opinion, Williams was the "most un-black black man" he had ever met, a title that Williams found to be racist in and of itself. Williams was also the Army darling and Carter had been known for insubordination on quite a few occasions. Nonetheless both of them had great potential to become fine soldiers if they so desired.

"You can do what you want but I will agree it was kind of a hasty investment." Williams chimed in on Carter, Parker and Blake's conversation.

"Well I'm not looking to invest Baby Huey. I'll leave that to you and all your Econ-major buddies back in Jersey. I on the other hand am going to live it up while I'm still young," Carter replied back to Williams.

Carter wandered over towards the pool tables and hovered around Parker to observe his game. He moved around the outside of the table and watched them take their shots, every so often glancing over at one of the TV's that was tuned into one of the local news channels where a female reporter was saying something about the latest alien activity in what might as well have been gibberish to Carter. Of all the soldiers there he was the least proficient in Korean, being that he knew absolutely nothing. The junior enlisted guys save the interpreters usually only knew a few words in the local dialect or could understand it somewhat but not speak it back to people. The higher ranking NCOs and officers, along with those who had been in country a while knew a bit more depending on how much effort they had put in on trying to communicate with the locals. Fortunately for the soldiers English as a second language was widely taught in this country and they could typically manage with a very rudimentary understanding of the local tongue. While the news report went on, showing pictures of a silver disc docking with one of the massive triangles over Shanghai, Carter waited for Parker or his opponent to mess up and do something stupid.

"Ooooooweeeee my grandma could've made that shot." Carter made fun of Parker after he whiffed a shot.

"Carter's got the next game. I wanna see if he can back up all the smack he talks." Parker announced after wagging his head side to side at Carter's comment.

"Oh I can back it up Sergeant, just you wait." Carter boasted.

"I'm waiting Afro-Ninja, oh boy I am waiting." Parker said as he skillfully sunk his next shot and overtly displayed his satisfaction to Carter.

Carter went over to one of the plush chairs next to Williams and plopped himself down. Meanwhile PVT Sara Shimizu, a radio operator who went through boot camp with Carter and Williams walked in alongside another soldier who also recognized the two of them.

"So the gang's all here now? Seems they just can't stop moving people down here since the funny things in the sky showed up." Shimizu said upon seeing Carter there.

"Soto's here too in case you're wondering." she added.

"Small world we live in huh?" Carter remarked.

"Yeah the living conditions are tight down in the barracks but hey we're here in the big city where everything is happening." remarked PFC Mendoza.

"Right, right, sure beats the hell out of Red Cloud. Thanks aliens." Carter concurred.

"I say we throw a big party in the barracks after the patrols get back now that we're all in one place. I'll bring the beer you bring the tunes alright Carter?" Mendoza suggested.

"Sounds like a plan my brother" Carter replied.

"What about you Baby Huey?" Carter asked Williams.

"I'm down. I won't be drinking but I'll jam out with you, maybe play a little Xbox, four way Call of Duty?" Williams consented.

"Right on. You can count me in too." Fontaine called over to them.

"So what about you Sarge, you gonna drop by and have a boy's night in?" Carter asked.

"Nah Cam's been staying up in family housing now. He's too good to hang with his boys" Mendoza remarked.

"At least I get guaranteed pussy every night." Parker playfully riposted.

"I get guaranteed pussy every night too." Carter claimed.

"Bullshit Carter, you're full of it." Parker refuted his claim.

"You just don't understand, all the ladies they be wanting some of this." Carter said as he moved his hands up and down his body showing off his rather scrawny physique.

"Don't be teasing if you're not going to follow through." Blake joked.

"Hey, hey, easy there big guy. This merchandise, it's not for you." Carter told Blake.

"You don't want Carter anyways, he's a dick." Shimizu quipped as she walked over to Fontaine and Galloway and looked over their shoulders.

"Got room for one more?" she asked the two of them.

"Yeah, just log into the one over there and we'll patch you into our game." Fontaine replied.

"But I like dicks." commented Blake.

"You can get better. Besides I thought you had a boyfriend back in the states." Shimizu replied.

"I did, but he dumped me after he found out I was in the Army. I don't know if it was a bunch of political bullshit on his behalf or he was just jealous of all you fine pieces of man meat." Blake explained.

"Don't be eying up my meat you big horny lumberjack!" Carter comedic ally snapped at Blake.

"Lumberjack eh? So you think I'd look good in flannel?" Blake asked Carter with a wink and a half-cocked smile.

"Ah no man, that's not what I meant." Carter sassed back.

"Anyways I don't know what my ex's beef was. He just didn't want to be dating any army boys I suppose." Blake went back to explaining his breakup to the other soldiers.

"That sucks. Sorry to hear that man." Fontaine consoled him while he set up the next game.

"No biggie, it's on him for not asking when we got together. He's the sad sack that wanted to hop straight into the sack on the first date not me." Blake replied.

"What really sucks is I hear Korea still treats male on male relations as a big taboo. You should've tried to get stationed in Japan or something." Shimizu remarked.

"Germany. Hot damn, there are some fine looking men over in Deutschland." Blake commented.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you're a metalhead. That Viking stuff must really get you hot." Shimizu giggled.

"That's Sweden but close enough." Fontaine commented.

"Ahem, excuse me, for any of us fine young men who are not gay, can any of you scrubs direct me to where all the shawtys be at?" Carter stood up and asked the group around the pool table.

"Hmmm. . .Seeing as you're at that awkward age where you're too young to hit the club scene and too old to be trolling the high schools, it looks like your options are stuck between the internet, hipster coffee shops or that stupid K-pop concert festival thingy they have going on today." mockingly joked Parker as he nailed a shot sending one ball into the left corner pocket and another into the right side pocket.

"Sounds gay. Why can't they have any rock bands or rappers over here?" Carter asked half rhetorically.

"As a gay man I must object, equating K-pop to gays is offensive to gays." chimed in Blake from behind a card table across the room.

"Give me some Carnifex any day of the week, some classic Cannibal Corpse, Infant Annihilator, Skeletonwitch or Finntroll, Finntroll's good too. Hell even some old school shit like Slayer would be welcome." Blake continued.

"Oh yeah and Amon Amarth, I loves me some Amon Amarth." Blake said with a grin.

One of the men sitting next to Blake commented a few other bands and started gossiping off topic with Blake.

"I can't understand a damn thing your death metal bands are saying Blake, same as the fucking K-pop to me." Carter responded.

"That's the point." Jake chimed in.

"How dare you!" exclaimed Blake, standing up and feigning outrage.

"Technically they got rap around here but it's kind of fruit-ay for a guy that grew up on Dr. Dre." Sgt. Parker remarked.

"Ahem! Let's not bring gays down by association here." Blake jokingly protested.

"It's no Snoop or Biggie, or for you young bucks Kendrick Lamar or whatever the hell you jits listen to." Parker said as he surveyed the pool table and chalked up is cue.

"I think Private Carter likes it fruit-tay Sarge. My gay-dar is going off the charts." joked Blake, pretending to flirt with Carter.

Carter looked over at him with a puzzled glare. "I thought we established the fact that I'm off limits to you." Carter reminded him.

"What we need is to have Ol Snoop Dogg come down here and show these minor leaguers how it's done." remarked another soldier in the room.

"I hear you there brother. The local shit's still better than Kanye though." Sgt Parker quipped after he took his shot, knocking in one of his balls from behind the 8 ball.

"Anything is better than Kanye." Williams chimed in.

"Right, right." the other soldier applauded.

"Don't be hating Cam; you know Kanye is a motherfucking genius!" Carter mockingly chided Parker and Williams.

"Us young bucks still know who Snoop is Sergeant, and I don't even like rap." commented Williams.

"I'm surprised you do though. I'd figured you for some orchestra snob or one of those creepy guys that jives to all that smooth jazz Baby Huey." Carter mocked Williams.

"Stuff's good for setting the mood, nice and chill, and very relaxing. Jazz, indie rock, classical, it's all good to me." Williams said in a cool unfazed voice.

Carter laughed as he walked around the table and observer Parker's opponent taking his turn, a shot he missed and instead tapped two of the sergeant's balls in.

"Better than listening to some guy rapping about his dick for five minutes." Williams remarked, turning the page in his book and continuing to read at the same time.

"Still sounds lame, but not as lame as this K-pop shit." Carter commented as he backed up and watched Parker miss a shot, but not by much.

"8 ball, side pocket." Parker stated before taking what he thought was his last shot which ended up a little off and thus continued the game.

"It's not that bad Carter." commented SPC Jake Fontaine from a desk recessed into a half cubicle across the room and around the L shaped curve from the pool table where he and Private Adam Galloway were online playing the latest StarCraft game along with Private Shimizu.

Carter turned around to see who had said that and saw them there sitting at the computer station. Lo and behold it was the two nerds of the bunch of course. Private Galloway was a scrawny kid barely a day past 18. He was lanky, slim and half an inch shorter than Fontaine. He had disproportionately large feet that had necessitated he wore custom fit boots since he didn't fit in any common shoe sizes. In addition to his jumbo sized feet his frail figure made his head look oversized compared to his body. He had a fresh military buzz cut, was clean shaven and had a bit of an acne problem, which didn't appear as bad from a distance because of his dark complexion but closer up one could see the metaphorical mountain ranges on his cheeks, nose and forehead. Dressed in his civvies while on downtime now, he wore a button down flannel dress shirt and khakis along with thick horn rimmed glasses, dubbed birth control glasses or BCGs by the other soldiers, that made him look like eerily similar to Steve Urkel from the 90s sitcom Family Matters.

Fontaine stood 5'7" which made him short among the company of the other US soldiers but about average or even a bit tall when considering Seoul as a whole. The fact he kept indoors quite a bit gave him quite a pale complexion. Fontaine had dark brown to black hair that contrasted with his skin tone giving him a Goth look though it was totally natural. His hair was cut short but even, a little longer on the top than on the sides and the back, not a military buzz cut but smoother and cleaner looking than a chili bowl. He was somewhat athletic in his arms, legs and chest for someone who spent so much time gaming though a little flabby around the mid-section. He had the early stages of a beer gut though he rarely drank beer; rum was his preferred toxin of choice on the occasions when he went out with the guys. More or less however Fontaine spent his time off duty here on base plugged into a game system, going online or arguing the finer points of graphic novels with his new buddy Galloway and a couple others. He had grown up as much of a shut in from a rural southern family as he was on base so not surprisingly he had never had a real girlfriend or had even been with a member of the opposite sex; a fact he would be teased for on occasion my his squad mates though none of them actually knew.

"In fact some of it is actually pretty good." Jake continued.

"Go figure, I'd hear that kind of talk coming from a white boy." Carter derided Jake.

"Don't you even start with that country western bull crap Torres!" Carter immediately swung about and scolded SPC Torres who was sitting on the couch opposite Fontaine and Galloway watching something on the large flat screen TV next to them.

"I didn't say one word." Torres said in his defense.

"You were thinking it. I know it. You were thinking that damn Carter is such a music snob he needs to branch out and take a listen to a bunch of banjo playing inbreds singing about gay Georgia bloodhounds or their wives leaving them or tears in their beers or whatever." Carter said to Torres.

Torres laughed at the accusation. "Oh boy, I wasn't thinking anything of the sort but yeah. I don't particularly care for any of that cutesy stuff myself so I can't comment."

"See you got some sense boy." Carter replied.

"You know these damn Koreans are like everything that is lame about white folk all boiled down, concentrated and multiplied by three." Carter complained.

"White folk, black folk, we all bleed red Carter, best to remember that." Parker admonished him in a smooth casual tone.

"Well the aliens might bleed blue." Fontaine commented.

"Damn it Fontaine with your science shit, I was trying to edu-ma-cate this sassy jit over here." Parker said to Fontaine before turning back to Carter.

"The point is that you better watch it Carter, you're going to be here for a while if the Army has any say in it." Sgt. Parker warned him.

"Damn it man, I joined the Army to go shoot at people in foreign countries not wipe their asses for them." snarkily remarked Carter.

"You could be shooting at people here if that fat turd on the other side of the wall gets a bug up his ass." Fontaine reminded him.

"You don't want to have to shoot at people son, cause if you're shooting at them they're shooting back at you." Parker replied as he walked over to the wall and exchanged his pool cue for a different one.

"Better to build bridges than walls. Besides I hear you're getting to ride with the liaison officer tonight." Parker told him as he examined his new "lucky" cue stick.

"Game up Carter, you're on." Parker bid Carter to challenge him.

"I hear that guy's a real hippie, or a tool. I can't remember which." another soldier sitting around watching TV chimed in.

"Is he the kind of hippie that smokes the ganja or the whiny type that goes around hugging baby seals and bitches about normal folks eating meat? 'Cause if he's a smoker I can get down with that." asked Carter as he selected a cue stick while Parker set up the table.

"I don't know. I don't chum up to the officers much off duty." Parker replied with a laugh.

While waiting for Parker to set up the board Carter went over to where Fontaine and Galloway were to mess around with them a little in order to pass the time.

"What's this stuff you're playing, Minecraft?" asked Carter as he hovered over Fontaine and Galloway.

"The new StarCraft, Protoss expansion." answered Fontaine.

"They've been on that thing all day." remarked Blake.

"Looks like we got a couple of class A nerds here. If it isn't Professor Beaker Beakman and Steve motherfuckin' Urkel." Carter ridiculed them.

"If you just had the Urkel voice Galloway, if only." Fontaine chuckled to his friend.

"Speaking of, you don't have any accent at all kid, where you from, Nebraska or something boring as hell like that?" Carter asked, noticing Jake didn't seem to speak with any noticeable regional dialect.

"Mississippi, out in the sticks near the border with Cajun country." Jake replied.

One could say his plain and proper manner of speaking was the result of the Army's foreign language trainer since he was their interpreter. That however was not the case, for reasons unknown he never had picked up the bayou accent despite having lived there his whole life. So much so was his speech distinct that people back in his home town had always wondered if he was from somewhere else.

"Mississippi? That's about as deep into the deep south as you can get. I'm gonna start calling you Cornbread from now on." Carter replied.

"I'm surprised you don't listen to all that country fried cowboy crap that Torres listens to." Carter sassed off.

"Hey!" Torres objected.

"Oh I'm sorry, you Mexicans like all that extra sad Spanish country with the accordions and stuff." Carter corrected himself.

"I'm not Mexican Carter, I'm Salvadorian. Oh and I listen to American country by the way, not as much Tejano or Norteno as you'd think." Torres corrected him.

"Torres you sound like Cornbread too, not one trace of that Texas twang in you at all even with that depressing hillbilly music you listen to." Carter said completely disregarding Torres' last statement.

"The army must beat the accent out of ya'll to become interpreters huh?" Carter asked.

"Not at all, I've always talked like this." replied Fontaine.

"Then you must be an alien then. We best watch out for you Cornbread, you'll be sending our secrets up there to the mothership and pretty soon the spacemen up there will be knowing our shoe sizes and shit. Now Torres I get it cause he's from Texas and he's Mexican so the two accents cancel each other out, but you. ." Carter started to rant.

"Salvadorian." Torres interrupted and corrected Carter.

"Whatever it's all the same." Carter quipped back.

"No. It isn't" Torres insisted.

"Carter are you going to play me or you just going to stand over there talking smack?" Parker beckoned Carter back to the table.

"Keep your pants on Sarge, I'm on my way." Carter mouthed off and walked back over to the pool table.

"You break." Parker offered.

Carter took the first shot and sent two balls into the pockets.

"You know if it wasn't for the aliens we would be out of this country in a couple years, maybe even before my enlistment is up. Then what would you Korean interpreters be doing? Whoops, looks like it's off to the infantry for you." Carter turned back and said to Torres and Fontaine after taking his first shot.

"Well, I could always be reclassified as an interpreter in Farsi, it was my mother tongue after all." responded Sergeant Hakim, another one of the interpreters in the room who had been minding his business reading science articles on his phone over by the folding card table.

"I don't know about the rest of you, I guess you're just screwed." Hakim joked.

"You will still be sent back to the Middle East and get shot at so it's not a win-win for you either." Jake commented.

"Right you are there. It'd probably be worse for me too; the bad guys over there would be gunning for me harder than they would be for you." Hakim replied.

"Why is that?" Carter asked.

"The ones over there that we gotta watch out for would consider those like me an apostate. You guys are just the filthy invading pigs to them, it's nothing personal but for me there's a little more emotion involved. It doesn't help that those like me consider them to be the apostates." Hakim explained.

"Well damn, I guess it sucks for you too." Carter replied after finishing up his next shot and letting Parker take his turn.

After they took several turns back and forth Carter walked around the pool table impatiently scoping out what Parker was doing. Parker pushed him aside when he leaned out in front of him and blocked Parker's vision enough with his afro to make him screw up the shot.

"I get a do over; your hair was in the way." Parker asserted.

"Yeah right. Rules are rules Sergeant." Carter refused the claim.

"No really Carter I would have made that shot if your poof ball wasn't in the way." Parker insisted.

"It's not that bad dude, you're exaggerating." Carter smiled and dismissed him.

"Come on Q-tip, like seriously have you ever heard of something called a barber shop? I hear the fro went out of style in the seventies. Did your daddy dust it off out of the old closet where he keeps his rhinestone studded bell bottoms and give it to you as a birthday present?" Parker sarcastically asked Carter.

"He got it from his daddy yo! He got it from his daddy." Fontaine sung mockingly to Carter from across the room.

"Shut up Cornbread!" Carter snapped back.

"Actually Carter, it looks cool on you. The style came back last decade and some people I knew back home were still rocking it when I shipped out." Fontaine said to Carter.

"Cam's just jealous he can't grow it out anymore." Carter quipped while looking over towards Fontaine and Galloway.

"I can grow it out however I feel like growing it out I simply have more sense than to walk around looking like something from Super Mario Brothers." Parker retorted.

Fontaine and Galloway giggled at the comment, looked at each other and back at Carter picturing him with white hair speckled with colored dots.

"It would be kind of cool if he colored it to look like Toad." Fontaine remarked.

"Why not throw out all uniform regulations while we're at it?" sarcastically suggested Parker.

"Oh just take the shot then Sarge." Carter conceded.

"What do you guys got riding on this game?" asked Fontaine while Parker got his do over shot.

"Twenty dollars and a pack of smokes." answered Carter.

"I didn't know you smoked." remarked Williams.

"I don't but I can trade them to folks who do. Shit becomes worth its weight in gold out in a foxhole or so I've heard." Carter replied.

After Parker's do over shot netted no gain to him Carter leaned over and lined up the next shot as a couple other soldiers walked into the room.

"So where are you gonna be at tonight slim?" asked PFC Clarissa Soto as she pinched Carter's butt on her way past him causing him to mess up a shot of his own

The other soldier, Corporal Matthew Hernandez took a seat next to Williams and glanced over to see what book he was reading. Soto knew Carter from high school, where they had been longtime friends. They were the same age but Soto had graduated a year earlier because Carter had to retake a few classes his freshman year. While they had never dated they had an ongoing "friends with benefits" arrangement whenever the both of them were single, an arrangement that presumably would carry on into their military careers. Soto was a well-built woman, a real "brick house" so to speak. She had strong arms, toned legs, wide hips and a firm round butt that fit snugly into her uniform. Her D-cup breast also bulged out against the top of her uniform as well. Soto was the daughter of Dominican father and a black mother and fore distinguishing features of both. Her hair was thick, straight and a dark chestnut brown in color. She was currently wearing it tied up into a single ponytail making it look a lot shorter than it was. Her skin was like that of a rich mocha saturated with heavy cream down to almost a maroon shade. It wasn't dark enough to conceal the pot marks and other imperfections on her cheeks which resulted from harsh acne treatments during her earlier teenage years, imperfections she hoped she would grow out of but for now they served to add to her "tough girl" image. She rarely if ever wore makeup and for the most part preferred the company of men to other women. She knew more about sports than half the men in the room and could out wrestle about half of them too. She was the type that jumped at the chance to take up a combat role in the Army once that restriction was lifted for female soldiers.

Carter stood up after taking the shot and smirked at her. "Oh you gonna be the one putting the moves on me now girl mmm mmm you naughty little bitch you are." Carter flirtatiously replied.

Soto gave him a look of embarrassment and disapproval which faded to a halfcocked smile.

"There's no need for the lame pickup lines boy, you're getting some either way. I've got an itch that needs scratching, that's all. That jive you're spouting just makes you look foolish." Soto told him.

"I can scratch it baby." chimed in Hernandez from the other side of the pool table.

Carter looked over and stared him down territorially then resumed his lighthearted cocky attitude towards Soto.

"It's all good girl, you know I'm always down for some duty booty. I'll be down in Gang Dang Dong tonight if you want to slob on the schlong." Carter propositioned her.

"Sodomy is against the UCMJ." jokingly chimed in Williams.

"Aww pssshit, they don't give a damn about that shit and what, I didn't even say anything about putting it in her butt." Carter dismissed him.

"BJ's are sodomy too, check yourself Private Carter." Williams refuted him.

"Shut the fuck up baby Huey!" Carter snapped back at him after he couldn't think of anything else to say in return.

"The Army doesn't really give a shit about that. Either way Carter, don't be making plans, she's assigned to my squad and tonight we're up in Nowon District, well away from you and that dastardly little schlong of yours." Parker told him.

"What did I tell ya big guy! Your boy got game!" Carter bragged after sinking his last ball and following it up with the 8 ball.

"You got lucky kid, I'll give you that." Parker conceded to Carter as he handed over the agreed upon wager.

"Thank you, thank you. It takes a real man to admit he's been beat." Carter said reveling in his minor victory.

"So how about we go outside and play a real man's game now?" Parker proposed.

"Like what?" asked Carter

"How about football? American football not this pussy licking soccer stuff." Parker suggested.

"I got Huey!" Carter immediately said.

"I got Williams!" Parker said at the exact same time.

"I'm with the guy who said my name correctly." Williams stated.

"Ah damn! Fine then. Big gay lumberjack! You're with me!" Carter drafted Blake, the second biggest guy in the room onto his team.

"For what? Pussy licking or soccer?" Blake asked as he looked up from his phone having not paid full attention to what was being said around him.

"Excuse me, the pussy licking is for after the soccer game and that's only if your team wins." Torres spoke up.

"Don't you actually have to score to win? Most soccer games I've seen have all been ties." Parker commented.

"Yeah we do love our ties, I'll admit that. It's not the scoring that makes it fun it's the anticipation of scoring. One goal is all that it takes to make the game." Torres stated.

"It's kind of like the opposite of basketball." Carter commented.

"Exactly. A 1-0 soccer game can be just as exciting as a 96-93 basketball game." Torres explained.

"Cool. Leave it to the Mexican to know everything there is about soccer." Carter quipped.

"Salvadorian!" Torres corrected him yet again.

"Whatever. You want to come with?" Carter asked.

"Nah, I just showered I don't want to get all sweaty again." Torres declined the offer.

"Alright you stay in here and powder your nose with your girlfriends. The men in here will be outside." Carter said as he, Williams, Blake, Parker, Hernandez, Mendoza and three other soldiers walked out of the room.

"I'm coming too." Soto volunteered.

"No fair, I can't tackle a girl." Hernandez complained.

"I can sure as hell tackle you." Soto quipped.

"She's with me." Carter asserted before Parker could call dibs.

"I got your back Sarge. We can't let Q-tip and his girl whip up on us twice can we?" Hakim said throwing his lot in with Parker's team.

With that the group went outside to toss the football around leaving only the gamers and Torres behind. Torres got up and stood behind Galloway glancing over at Fontaine's and Sara's screens as well and watched them play. Fontaine and Galloway both played as Terrans while Shimizu was leading a smaller Protoss force against two Zerg players fielding large armies and one Terran player whom they had already soundly defeated.

"You guys are kicking some serious ass there." commented a soldier passing by.

"You kidding, we've got slaying Zerg down to a science." Shimizu remarked as the three of them ran through one of their opponents bases and completely trashed his structures.

Across town in Incheon their online opponent, a teenage boy named Ho-jun was picking up the slack for his less than crafty partner.

"Come on man, these Terran dingbats are kicking your ass. Need me to reinforce your hive clusters bro?" Ho-jun said through his microphone.

"Ho-jun! You can't stay on that thing all day. Remember you have homework to do!" his father called up to him on his way outside to take out the trash.

"I'll get to it dad. Let me finish this game first please." Ho-jun called back.

While Ho-jun's father put the trash in the trash can a police car passed by carrying a burglary suspect in the back. The police went into downtown Incheon and pulled into a police station where the suspect was brought in for questioning. On their way in the officer and the suspect passed by Huang Chi, a defense attorney who had just met with his client in jail and was on his way out to his car. Inside the police station uniformed officers and administrative staff went about their day to day business. The station chief walked over towards the desk of one of his top detectives, Chae Ji-hye carrying two manila folders.

"We've got possible arson and assault and battery Detective, take your pick" said the station chief setting down two files on Ji-hye's desk.

She looked up at the Chief then picked up the folders and went through them. Meanwhile on a small TV screen sitting on a desk adjacent to hers a news report was playing saying something about another failed attempt to contact the aliens that had taken place somewhere in Europe.

The news report playing on the small TV screen in the police station was also displayed on a larger television screen in a hospital which Tae-yon, a surgical nurse here on an internship, passed by on her way to the operating room. She was already running late and didn't have time to pay attention to it she just power walked through the hall weaving around the people in her way. This would be her last major surgery assist with under supervision before she had officially completed the skills requirements for her internship. It had been a long time coming for Tae-yon and at last she would be ready for full certification. She rushed by the nurses station on her way to the OR not even stopping to say hello to the people there.

"Tae-yon sure seems in a hurry today." a male nurse commented.

"Her internship is about to be over, what do you expect?" a female nurse replied after taking a sip from her coffee mug and setting it down.

Hundreds of miles away out in the Pacific the exact same coffee cup was being filled on board the USS _Ronald Reagan_. The cup was picked up by an auburn haired naval aviator in her mid-20s. After blowing on the coffee which was still too hot LT (JG) Tiffany Fox set down her coffee cup on the table of her ready room as the door opened and the CAG officer walked in. The pilots hushed their conversations and all rose to attention.

"At ease." the CAG said.

"As you are probably aware the skipper has suspended all flight operations for the day due to the elevated UFO traffic in the skies today. We're not going to risk another incident like the Portuguese had on Tuesday. If the god damned aliens can't watch where they're going that's their own problem now." the CAG continued.

A dull round of laughter came from the on duty flight squadron.

"We will keep you posted if and when flight operations will resume later. Until then you are dismissed, carry on." the CAG told the pilots and then left the ready room.

The pilots all resumed their idle chatter while the CAG walked out onto the flight deck and observed the alien spacecraft flying in a wide formation. The formation dispersed and the ships went off in various directions. A cacophony of sonic booms echoed across the sky as the small ships zipped away.

"If I didn't know any better I'd swear they were putting on a show for us." the CAG remarked.

Later on one of the fighters that had streaked away from the Reagan flew over the Korean peninsula and coasted on past Seoul before going out over the Yellow Sea towards China and beyond. As the fighter crossed overhead Carter and company's football game had just begun. As if the fighter thundering by made him do it Carter slipped up and dropped the ball that was snapped to him immediately prompting a dogpile from which Blake emerged holding onto the ball for his team.

"Way to go fumbling the ball on the first snap." Soto playfully ridiculed Carter.

"I couldn't touch his nuts! What if he got hard?" Carter complained.

Soto and Blake both gave him a look of disapproval.

"We got the ball back didn't we? Huh, huh, so there." Carter asserted.

"How about I play QB and you take tight end?" Soto suggested.

"Do I look like a tight end to you?" Carter sassed off, implying he wasn't exactly build as solid as he should have been to play that position.

"I don't know, hmm looks kind of tight to me." Soto joked while glancing down at Carter's rump.

"Fine you're on wide receiver." Soto told him after Carter didn't appear to get her flirtatious remark.

"Alright, so here's the play." Soto clapped her hands together and started telling her team their next play.

The snap went off without a hitch this time and Soto fell back and threw a pass to Carter. Carter caught the pass and came just short of a first down before being tackled by Hernandez and another soldier. The three men got up just as an alien fighter sized craft buzzed overhead.

"You kind of forget they're still there." Hernandez remarked looking up at the triangular mothership that had cast its broad shadow over the city for weeks on end.

On the next play Soto dropped back as if she was going to throw the ball to Carter again but instead once most of the other team had moved to cover him she ran around to the other side and went for it herself. Williams slipped past Blake but couldn't match her speed. Only Hernandez was close enough to pose any risk to Soto as everyone else had swallowed up Carter and their other receivers on the opposite side of the field. Soto juked to the side and faked out Hernandez before sprinting ahead at full speed. Soto slipped past Hernandez in the backfield and ran unopposed into the end zone. Hernandez made one last bid towards her but his hands made contact only with the air.

"Dude, dude, you just let her score on us. Where were you man?" Parker said to Hernandez as his team gathered back together.

"Oh come on, you know I can't tackle a girl." Hernandez complained.

"You were nowhere near her slick; you couldn't have tackled her if you wanted to. Don't give me this chivalrous nonsense." Carter derided him.

Once Parker's team got the ball Parker tossed a long bomb to Hakim and scored on their very first play.

"Ah yeah, that's some all-star shit there." Parker boasted.

Carter's team then took the ball and with a little more trouble than before inched their way to another touchdown after six plays and two first downs. They then successfully shut down Parker's team's next attempt to score after eleven plays.

"Ah yeah, this is just like boot camp! Who's the all-star now bitches!" Carter bragged.

"If I recall correctly we all gave you a nice sock party back in boot." Mendoza remarked.

"And he still hasn't learned to keep his yap shut." Soto laughed.

The game went on back and forth with each side scoring on their possession until Carter jumped out and intercepted a pass intended for Hakim.

"What are we playing to? First to 40?" Carter asked.

"Let's go to 50." Parker replied hoping to drag the game out and give his team a better chance to win.

After several more touchdowns, a few failed extra points and a two point conversion the final score was 56 to 48 in favor of Carter's team.

"I told you Cam, you can't beat me." Carter boasted in the midst of a celebratory dance before they all started back towards the barracks to get cleaned up.

"Don't get a big head kid, it wasn't like luck had nothing to do with it." laughed Parker.

"So we're even stevens now. I got the brains, you got the brawn. Want to go for two out of three?" Carter said.

"I'm down; we still have time to kill before we make our rounds tonight. Pick your poison Carter; what do you want to lose this time?" Parker replied.

"I don't know, umm how about we shoot some dice?" Carter suggested.

"Dice? Pssht come on, bring out ol' ashy Larry! You can do better than that Carter; we might as well have a pussy eating contest while we're at it." Parker quipped back.

"We could bump wieners and see whose stays hard the longest. Just like boot camp remember?" Hernandez sarcastically brought up a most embarrassing aspect of their boot camp experience.

"Don't you ever mention that shit again. Besides we all know Blake would win that shit." Carter sassed back.

"I'd lose the pussy eating contest though. Man that shit smells so rank!" Blake chimed in.

"Your balls smell rank!" Carter quipped back.

"Like a fine cheese my boy, it's something to be savored." Blake said just to screw with Carter's head.

"Let's just make it simple, we got back, kick the nerds off the system and I trounce your ass at Call of Duty." proposed Parker.

"Oh it's on Sarge, it's on." Carter accepted the challenge.

When Carter, Williams, Parker, Blake and the rest had come back inside from playing football at the park on base they found Torres and Fontaine singing a duet out of some upbeat indie song not intended to be a duet together in the karaoke lounge adjacent to the main barracks. The lounge was empty except for the two of them but they didn't care; they could clown around just the same if someone was watching or not.

"What the fuck is that noise? Sounds like a squirrel fucking a cat inside a trash can filled with ping pong balls." Carter remarked sarcastically.

"Nah, more like a frog raping a dog on a log inside a box full of angry bees." Blake commented.

"Over there. Our go betweens are singing a little love song to each other." Parker pointed out Fontaine and Torres to Carter as they walked by.

"We have the doucheyest interpreters in the whole damn Army." Carter sneered.

"Nah, they've just been here longer than you boy. It simply wouldn't be Seoul without a karaoke bar on base." Parker laughed.

"Get a room!" Blake jeered in good jest.

"We have one!" Fontaine shouted back to him.

"Oh yeah, that's right those two clowns are roommates." said Blake.

"You know what Forget Call of Duty. I want to see you two jokers go head to head in a karaoke competition. Kind of like American Idol but not as lame." Soto said nudging Carter.

"Oh, oh, oh I get it." Carter smirked at her.

"Get what? I think it will be funny." Soto replied.

"Oh sure you do. Prepared to be amazed baby." Carter told her.

"That's an awfully subjective contest, more of a popularity contest than an actual sport but I'll give it a go just to see Carter make an ass out of himself." Parker consented to Soto's idea.

"I'm down with it; we could have a little rap battle here." Fontaine also pitched his hat into the ring for the contest as Carter went off to see what songs were loaded in the machine.

"Sit your ass down before you make a fool out of yourself boy." Parker mocked Fontaine.

"Don't you worry about that, I can hang." Fontaine assured him.

"Shit man, we got to find something in English on here." Carter said as he rummaged through the library.

"Look in here. You can download some of the songs into their library." Fontaine said, tossing his iPod over to Carter.

"Half this shit isn't in English either." Carter complained.

"He's an interpreter you douche. It's called immersion, helps him with his job." Parker explained.

"This boy takes that immersion stuff super serious don't you?" Torres joked with Fontaine.

Fontaine looked away and blushed in embarrassment. "He pretty much lives it, seriously guys I think he's gotten to the point where his dreams are in Korean." Torres playfully mocked him.

"Damn boy, you've been in country for what, 2 years and you're already going native on us?" Soto asked.

"Not even." Fontaine bashfully replied.

"You're good at what you do kid but don't get too carried away, the Army doesn't last forever. Eventually you're going to have to go home." Parker commented urging Jake to lighten up and enjoy life a little more.

"It's all good Sergeant, I might not be here forever but I figure it's going to be a while. After all what use does the Army have for a Korean interpreter anywhere else." Jake replied.

In his mind the Army would have to be scraping the bottom of the barrel pretty deep to send him anywhere else. Once the alien crisis was over, contact had been established and the world went back to the way it was, as much as it could with the knowledge that mankind was part of a much bigger universe, the drawdown of US forces in Korea would resume and eventually Jake would return with them. With the way things were going by that time Jake would have finished his enlistment and be out of the army. What exactly he would do after that he didn't know. Probably take his service benefits and go to school in one of the major urban centers along one of the coasts. He had no desire to return home to that dead end town by a swamp in the middle of nowhere. He wanted to start his civilian life somewhere like NYC, LA or Seattle, somewhere that he thought actually mattered. Where he came from wasn't even flyover country so just about anywhere in the developed world could be considered a step up from that in his opinion. If college didn't pan out for him he could always leverage his skills to seek employment in the business world, whether it was with US based firms or DoD contractors the worst case scenario was that he could end up finding himself back here which wouldn't be that bad. As different as Korea might have been Jake preferred it to where he came from. His disdain for his hometown and country life in general was well known both growing up and among his peers in the Army. So with that in mind "going native" wasn't exactly a bad thing in Jake's mind; it was insurance in case his plan A didn't go through.

"At least his iPod isn't stuffed with all that alien shit." Carter remarked as he scrolled through the immense list of albums Jake had downloaded.

"Shh...Carter, the aliens are listening to us. We shouldn't presume to judge what they listen to" Williams whispered putting a finger over his mouth.

"Probably something that sounds like nails on a chalkboard to us." remarked Blake.

"Which is pretty much your black metal crap." Carter quipped.

"I could easily be something outside of our range of hearing so it would just sound like silence to us." Jake added.

"I think I got something here." Carter said picking out a song and loading it into the machine.

"So how are we going to work this?" asked Carter.

"We'll have three judges and after each of your performances we'll rate you on a scale of one to ten, duh." Blake said.

"Oh and I'm judge number one." Blake added.

"I'll take the second spot." Torres volunteered.

"I guess I'll be number three, unless you want it big guy?" Hernandez offered looking first to Williams who shook his head no.

"Move over, there needs to be at least one judge on this panel that does not have a pair of balls." Soto said pushing Hernandez aside.

"How do we know you don't have one? I think I should check to make sure." Hernandez said trying to reach between her legs but instead getting pushed back away from her.

"Sit your ass down Hernandez." Carter scolded him.

"Alright baby don't keep us waiting now." Soto urged Carter to hurry up and get to it.

Carter performed the song "Heartless" by Kanye West. He was pretty spot on with the singing though it was his body language and exaggerated gestures that gave a comical element to the routine, particularly to Soto who thought that it would have been better if Carter had just stood in one place and kept his hands down.

Blake gave Carter a robust score of 8. "I can't fucking stand Kanye but I got to give credit where credit is due. You're owed some props for how you nailed it even if it was a terrible song. The routine you did up there is what pushed you over the top in my book. You got energy kid and I like that." Blake said giving Carter a thumbs up.

Torres held up a card showing the square root of 3.

"What the fuck is that shit?" asked Carter.

"The square root of three otherwise known as 1.732050807568877293527. . ." Torres replied.

"Let's just round it up and call it 2 ok?" Williams suggested.

"Ok, ok." Torres laughed.

"Ah you suck." Carter chided the two of them.

"Alright baby so what did you give me?" Carter asked Soto.

She held up a 5 and smiled at him.

"How the heck are you only giving me a 5 out of 10 on that? I thought you were my girl yo?" Carter asked Soto.

"I call it like I see it baby; not gonna give you any special treatment. Blake might have liked your routine but that's because that ox can't get down with a beat worth shit. Personally I thought it detracted from the song so I knocked you a couple points for that." Soto replied.

"Right on sister. No biases here." Williams applauded her.

"That's alright Huey, I don't need special treatment to come out on top. Let's see what Cam's got now." Carter said before swapping places with Parker.

Parker performed the song "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong, a cheerful classic tune though Parker's voice cracked during some of the parts. His stage presence was superior to Carter's even though the singing wasn't exactly on par. He did get all the lyrics right which was no different than before and Soto liked his choice of song better. After he was done he stood in front of the row of chairs where the "judges" were seated for their criticism.

Blake gave him a 6. "You got all the words but it doesn't sound like the original. Your pace was off and sometimes you went a little off key. If we were doing the Joey Ramone cover I would have said it was damn near flawless but we weren't." Blake explained.

"You missed some of the notes big time. Mr. Armstrong would not be amused. You looked like you knew what you were doing, didn't go over the top and you just let it flow. If you had kept on key the whole time you would've got a 9 from me but that's a big flaw right there. Still it flowed nicely so I'm giving you 6 out of 10." Soto told him also holding up a 6.

Lastly Torres also held up a square root of three. "Not that shit again, you're fucking useless Torres." Parker laughed.

"So it's Carter 15 and Sergeant Parker 14." Hernandez commented.

"Oh yeah buddy I got you there. Told you I have it all wrapped up. I got skills in everything brother." Carter said showboating after he barely squeaked out a win over Parker.

"Well you beat me, fair and square I guess." Parker conceded.

"Cause I'm so gangsta." Carter boasted.

"Oh please Carter, if you ever saw a real gangster you would shit your pants." Williams ridiculed him.

Despite his professorial demeanor Williams grew up in the run down ghettos of Newark and had to put up with his share of thugged out gangbangers. Though at first glance one would have thought the opposite Carter had a sheltered upbringing as opposed to Williams. Williams spent much of his youth amidst street urchins and thugs who preyed on many a young brother going about his day. The police back home did little to protect the people at the mercy of the gangs. In Williams' eyes growing up it seemed as if the authorities viewed everyone in the neighborhood as if they were the same whether they were law abiding or criminal. With no perceived protection from the city it fell to Williams alone to handle himself when the unsavory types crossed his path. These were the types that his mama told him to keep his head down around and just keep walking. Her advice seemed to pay off; Williams came out of there a bright accomplished young man with as good a shot as any of making a better life for himself. The Army was his springboard out of that life; Williams was a bright young man and just about any school would take him when he got out. Meanwhile he also played the stock market and had proven himself to be a rather savvy investor using what funds he could cobble together by denying himself the gratuitous pleasures of youth. His ability to delay gratification was likely the single most important attribute giving Williams a strong trajectory for future success. He was already on track to landing a good job and a better life for his soon to be wife and someday future children than he ever had growing up. One day he hoped to be able to move his mother out of Newark and give her somewhere peaceful to live out her golden years. His own experiences along the road to pull himself up by his proverbial bootstraps helped shape the man that he had become.

"Nah, man they would probably shit their pants." Carter retorted.

Parker erupted with a hearty belly laugh at Carter's statement. "Now I know you are full of shit!" Parker laughed.

"You might have forgotten but this contest isn't over. We've still got one more contestant." Soto reminded Parker and Carter.

"Ain't no white boy gonna win this, it's over. Your mack daddy here is the winner." Carter quipped.

"Still got to give him a try." Soto told him.

"Alright Jake, you're up!" Soto called to Fontaine informing him it was his turn.

"Let's see, what should I do here." Jake said looking over what he was going to perform.

"Oh, and it can't be nothing in Korean! Got that!" Carter shouted to Jake as he rifled through the list of songs.

"This one will do nicely, yes." Jake said pretending to ignore Carter.

Jake performed the song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie to which he performed exceptionally well. Like Parker he didn't try to accompany it with some elaborate routine like Carter did he just stood up there and sang the song.

Blake gave him a 9 "That was superb bro; I really wished someone would have tried something hardcore though." he said.

Soto gave him a 4 "You did very well in singing it but I think you kind of tossed yourself a soft ball there and you were really stiff in your presentation. You seemed a little nervous and could've been louder so yeah, work on your confidence." Soto critiqued him.

Torres shocked them all by giving Jake a 3. Not a square root of 3 but a regular 3.

"Oops, forgot the square root." he said after the votes had been tallied.

"Too late, it's official." Williams said with a grin.

"Yeah, no do overs buddy. We gotta give this one to the scrub." Soto said thereby declaring Jake the winner.

Carter stepped back and clapped before turning to Parker. "Well that still leaves us even Sarge with one point for Sliminem over there." Carter said to Parker, conceding that their little friendly competition today would have no ultimate victor.

"We got to blow off some steam, I'd consider that a win for all of us with how insane our schedules had been lately." Parker added.

"Monday is totally going to suck ass I know. This was the first weekend since ET came down that we got a fair dose of downtime and now it's over so fast." Blake complained.

"Oh shit man, we're going to have to go on duty soon. We really shouldn't have spent so much time fucking around." Torres complained.

"I'm good. I got plenty of sleep this morning." Williams remarked.

"That's only because you don't have a life." Carter quipped.

"I'm gonna feel more alive than you two halfway through our patrols tonight." Williams replied.

"Well I guess that's what they make Red Bull for." chuckled Torres.

"No biggie guys, we'll just catch up on sleep tomorrow." Fontaine interjected.

"Come on now, let's go home. We might as well at least get cleaned up so we smell nice on patrol." Parker told them as they all headed out of the club and went back towards the barracks.

Fontaine and Torres joined their fellow soldiers and all returned to the barracks together. The sweaty soldiers all went off to their rooms to hit the showers while Torres and Fontaine returned to the game room where Galloway was sitting on the couch reading comic books.

"I've got some more in my bag over there if you want to read them." Fontaine offered.

"Sure, let me see what you've got." Galloway replied.

"Are you going out tonight?" Fontaine asked Galloway as he walked over to his bag and pulled out a small stack of comic books.

"No, I had the morning watch so I'll be here chillin'." replied Galloway.

"What you should be is in bed bro." Fontaine joked.

"I'm one of those that can't fall asleep unless it's dark." Galloway replied.

"Is that big alien sun blocker out there not dark enough for you?" laughed Fontaine as he sat down next to Galloway.

"My body still knows it's daytime out there." Galloway replied.

"What do you got there?" Galloway asked.

"We got Marvel Zombies, Robin Wars, Star Trek/Green Lantern crossover, this old Spider Man one and these three." Fontaine said showing Galloway what he had.

"Hmmm, I'll take that one, that one, and umm, that one." Galloway told him.

Fontaine picked out the ones Galloway wanted and set the rest down on the other side of him. He then handed the slightly folded comic books over to Galloway.

The same comic book that was on the outside of the stack given to Galloway was in the hands of Hyuna as she perused through a comic book shop that her friends had taken her to. She flipped through the pages skimming over the content of the book before she closed it and put it back in the order in which she found it in. She then picked out a few that she liked and stopped to flip through a couple more.

"Hurry up; we've got other things we want to do today!" Ji-yong pressed her as he passed behind her impatiently.

"Hold on. I want to get one more and I don't want it to be crap." Hyuna replied.

"Here, take this one." Ji-yong said randomly picking up an issue of The Flash and handing it to Hyuna.

"Fine. I'm coming." Hyuna said taking the book and putting the one she was looking through back.

She walked up to the counter to pay for her purchase and made casual conversation about nerdly things with the man working the register. All the while she gave the man flirtatious eyes and led him on as if she was more interested in him than she really was. When he bagged up Hyuna's comics he gave her an awkward smile. In response she teased the awestruck and confused young man with a cute but misleading gesture as she left. Hyuna legitimately loved to toy with boys' emotions. She liked to lead them along and then cut them off at the last minute; it was something of a thrill for her. To her it was a harmless little game but it earned her a reputation among some of her more stuck up peers that she was the type who really "got around."

"Hyuna, why did you have to string along that guy like that? Now he totally thinks you are into him and you'll go out that door without a care in the world for him. Meanwhile he'll go back home, probably jack off thinking about you and after days without as much as the tiniest little bit of attention from you he'll end up heartbroken and alone." Ji-yong inquired.

Hyuna raised her eyebrows, tilted her head to the side and looked at Ji-yong with a look that said "Are you serious bro?" Out of that relationship Chae-lin had to be the one taking the male role with Ji-yong throwing out some sappy plea to emotion like that. It wasn't as if Hyuna was using the guy to get free stuff, she would pay full price like everyone else. She didn't slip him a fake phone number or email address, or even worse gave a dude the number of another girl she didn't like. She had used that one before to get back at someone who was talking shit about her, oddly enough the guy and the dumb bitch ended up getting together. All Hyuna was doing this time was just having fun with him. She enjoyed getting attention, she fed on it and constantly desired more and if she wasn't mistaken the guy that just provided her the attention she craved enjoyed she feinted in his direction the attention as well.

"Dude, come on. It's not like I go up to them and straight up ask them out and when they say yes I come around and am like "denied!" It's harmless fun really. Both parties involved feel wanted and no one really gets attached you see?" Hyuna explained.

She shrugged her shoulders after receiving a blank stare from Ji-yong in response. She walked back to the rack and looked through a few more back issues of comic books that she didn't have.

"Someday you're going to snag some poor boy and he's going to end up snagging you back. When that happens I swear you won't know what to do with yourself." Ji-yong told Hyuna.

"What are you two gossiping about?" asked Chae-lin after coming out from a beauty supply store to find her boyfriend and best friend talking.

"Ji-yong is just being a prude that's all." Hyuna cheerfully responded.

"Oh really? If you're trying to get us into a threesome it's not happening girl." Chae-lin jokingly told Hyuna.

"Wouldn't dream of it sister." Hyuna replied with a wink.

The three of them then continued down the street on their way to make the most of their day. It was mid-day and the sun was high overhead and bright, though the three friends would have never known it. The alien mothership cast an enormous shadow leaving the city all around them in perpetual twilight. It was a little depressing for the scenery to not match their bright and cheerful moods.

"Do you remember back when Seoul had sunshine during the day?" asked Hyuna lamenting the perpetual shadow they had been living under for the past couple months.

"It's not all that bad. That big scary thing in the sky has kept the rain off our backs during the monsoon season." remarked Ji-yong

"That's true. Still it would be nice to see the sun again." Hyuna said with a sigh.

Her mannerisms shifted back to being cheerful and lighthearted, being a veritable ray of sunshine herself. "You wouldn't believe how many times I tried to get out of going to school by saying it was still dark out." Hyuna told her friends.

"Did it work?" asked Chae-lin.

"Nope. Every time it's night no it's morning that's just the UFO that is making it look dark; now get up and off to school with you!" Hyuna answered.

"Man, parents just don't understand." Ji-yong quipped.

Both he and Hyuna laughed at the way he said it. As they walked off together Chae-lin's phone beeped.

"Oh, oh, that must be your other boyfriend." Ji-yong sarcastically said.

"Oh hush, I don't have another boyfriend." Chae-lin quipped back.

Chae-lin took out her phone and opened the message one of her girlfriends had sent her. She read the message and opened a video attachment sent to her by a friend who was at a concert taking place today.

"What is it?" asked Hyuna.

"One of my friends is at that big music festival thing today. She's just sending me video from it." Chae-lin replied.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that thing was today or I would've gotten us tickets." Hyuna said to her.

"That's ok. I don't really like all that cutesy stuff anyways." Chae-lin replied.

"Who's playing at it?" Ji-yong asked.

"Mostly a bunch of rookies and no name groups, nothing any of us care about. Seriously who wants to hang out in a packed arena with a bunch of tweens and hipsters?" Chae-lin answered.

The three of them laughed together and continued around a corner and up another street.

Meanwhile Chae-lin's friend who was recording the concert stood a few rows in front of a large group of girls that had come over from Incheon to see the show. Behind Chae-lin's friend Hyo-ri was completely oblivious to the sea of cell phone cameras and was too busy having a grand old time with her veritable legions of friends. She was standing out in the crowd dancing and being surrounded by her close friends and hangers on. She came from an upper middle class family in Incheon and while her studies consumed much of her life she was still able to maintain an active social life including frequently going to events such as this one. Hyo-ri was smart, kind and cute with a pretty face and long black hair she usually kept tied in a single conservative ponytail in the back. She was sort of a preppy girl at school. She was always well dressed and sometimes obsessively kept up with trends though she wasn't arrogant to those in her group who could not nor had any desire to do so. She didn't wear a ton of makeup though she often laid on the eyeliner heavily and today was no different. Despite being seen as included in the stuck up top echelons of teenage social strata Hyo-ri was actually quite a humble and caring person, though due to the snobbishness of some of her friends and the general perception of others not too many people around her actually found out how approachable she really could be. Chae-lin's friend was among those who would never dare approach Hyo-ri out of the preconception that they two of them would share nothing but mutual disdain for each other. The differences in their social cliques disappeared as the fairly recently debuted girl group Twice came on stage and performed the song "Like Ooh Ahh." The crowd, mostly female but speckled in with a few boys as well erupted in cheers and chants. Chae-lin's friend didn't get into it as much as some of the others because she was concentrating on recording the concert more so than enjoying it.

After Twice did their set several other groups came on and did their thing all throughout the afternoon into the evening. The shadow of the alien mothership accentuated the lighting as if it was a night concert so the crowd got all the glitz of a late night performance and still was back home in time to hop in bed before school the next day. The fireworks launched as part of the pyrotechnic display popped in the midst of a pair of alien fighters which casually banked and swerved to avoid them. After the concert concluded one of the previously unheard of girl groups that debuted at the festival celebrated backstage. Unlike most of the groups which were composed of the native sons and daughters of the Republic of Korea this group was comprised of mostly Chinese members headed by one South Korean singer. These six girls jumped up and down, giggled, exchanged hugs and cheered with glee after what had been an amazing debut performance.

"That was awesome, we got to open for Twice" exclaimed Bae Haru, the sole Korean member of the group.

"Indeed girls this show will definitely generate exposure for us. There's still a lot of buzz around them and with us being Chinese artists in Korea the controversy alone will make us household names here." their manager, Liu Jin Ping, a jolly rotund man in his mid-40s replied as he was packing up their things.

"I think by this time next year you could look up overnight success in the phone book and you would see our faces next to it." said Yanmei, the ditzy bleached blonde peppy member of the group boasted.

"I think you mean the dictionary, not the phone book." Miao, the junior member of the group corrected her.

"You're right. That's what I'm the cute one and you're the smart one." Yanmei remarked.

"I thought I was the maknae?" asked Miao.

"You can be both." Ari, the eldest member of the group told her.

"Alright girls we can congratulate each other on the bus. We've got to get to Anyang; we have another show there tomorrow and I want you rested and looking your best." their manager told them.

The group joined in with grabbing their things while their road crew packed up their outfits and stage equipment. They then proceeded onto the tour bus for the short drive down to Anyang. From there they were expected to do five more shows throughout the major cities in the country and then catch a ferry over to Japan to perform there. Unfortunately they couldn't fly because the Japanese government had grounded all flights in and out of that country due to a possibly overblown concern over midair collisions with alien craft. A lot of countries had placed similar restrictions on flights for a period of time but since then most of these bans had been lifted. Japan was simply one of those taking a more cautious, conservative approach to airline safety and unfortunately for the girls was a major market for Korean girl bands.

After leaving the venue complex the tour bus passed by a column of US Army MRAPs heading back to base following on their afternoon patrols around the city in support of the local police and security forces. While the afternoon patrols were en route to return back at the Yongsan Garrison barracks on the soldiers continued to unwind prior to and after their patrols while the song "The Thing From Uranus" by Sloppy Seconds played in the background. Most of them were just leaning back on the couch watching TV waiting for the inevitable order to suit up and head out. Williams had picked up his phone and was continuously texting his fiancée who had just woken up back in the states. Blake and Hernandez were playing blackjack in the corner and Carter was leaning up against the pool table sipping Mountain Dew and talking about random things with the others.

"Dammit Carter! Flush your shit would you? Do I have to wipe your ass for you too?" Parker complained in a loud voice as he walked out from the restroom.

"Someone left a stanky did they?" Hernandez asked with a smirk.

"You wouldn't know the half of it boy. I go in there minding my own business, and before I sit down I see the biggest damn log staring back at me. Like damn, that thing's gonna clog up the plumbing." Parker mockingly complained.

"You know what they say about us guys with big logs." Carter gave as a slick remark.

"That you're compensating for something." Soto said, elbowing Carter playfully in the ribs as she walked past him.

"Since when does a black man ever have to compensate for something down there?" Carter quipped sarcastically at Soto.

"For Pete's sake Carter, enough of your stereotype bullshit. You sir are the reason dumbasses always assume I want fried chicken for lunch." Williams complained.

"I was just being nice, we had leftovers so I asked if you wanted some." another soldier apologetically chimed in.

"Not you, I was just making a point to Carter about his stereotypes." Williams told the soldier.

"I wouldn't say my gigantic cock is a bad stereotype, but dude, I'm not the one offering you the chicken. Hell, I don't see what the big deal is; someone offers me free food I'm going to take it.' Carter quipped back.

"It's not that big slick." Soto chimed in.

"Nah, baby why you got to be hating like that." Carter said, walking off after her and kissing her neck a few times when he caught up with her.

Soto brushed him aside, blushing a little as she continued on towards the soda machine in the hall. Carter then split off from Soto and walked over to the stereo and put on an old Weezer song. Soto walked back in and sat down at the table with Parker, Hernandez and Blake.

"Deal me in boys." Soto said to Blake as the song began to play.

"So after all this time ripping on that jit over there about his music preference you're up and listening to the white man's music yourself. Carter, my boy you are a piece of work." Parker derided Carter in jest.

"Black folk invented Rock n' Roll, most people don't know that but they did." Carter explained.

"I thought Elvis invented rock n roll?" mentioned Fontaine.

"Elvis didn't invent shit. Everybody knows that when they found Elvis they were looking for a white man with a black man's voice which means that black folk were already doing his thing before it became Elvis' thing." Carter sassed off.

"So he stole some stuff from some old Jazz and Rockabilly brothers, ever since then the genre's been as ghostly pale as they come. That still doesn't detract from the fact you're listening to the whitest song on that box." Parker said.

"That's bullshit Cam and you know it, there have been plenty of black rockers that most folk out there have heard of, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Bad Brains, Whole Wheat Bread, Lenny Kravitz, need I go on?"

"Pssshtt, Lenny Kravitz. Carter I think you just undid your case with that one." laughed Blake.

"You could have just said Alexis Brown or something." Blake suggested.

"Can you shove it with your gay ass metal bands?" Carter retorted.

Parker laughed. "Oh Carter my boy you are a class act." he said.

Just then Lt. Hui entered and Parker immediately called the room to attention.

"At ease." Hui calmly said.

Hui walked over and poured himself a cup of water and sat down at the card table with Parker.

"Carry on; I'm just waiting around here the same as the rest of you." Hui said feeling awkward about the soldiers' silence.

Carter immediately went back to teasing Blake and Williams while Parker turned his attention towards Hui.

"You're here early sir. We aren't slated to gear up for another hour or so." Parker remarked.

"I like to be prepared." Hui said.

"And prepared you are, if I could only get my soldiers to look as presentable as you. I can't even get that jit over there to cut his hair or wipe his ass for that matter." Parker joked pointing a thumb back at Carter. Hui chuckled a bit in embarrassment as Parker stood up and pointed him out to the men.

"Now that ladies is an example of being in perfect accordance with all army dress code regulations." Parker stated to the other soldiers concerning Hui.

Parker sat down and turned back to Hui who was covering his face. "Sorry to draw attention to you there but you exemplify what I've been trying to stress to some of these young bucks the past couple weeks." Parker apologized.

"So are you riding with me tonight or are you heading off across the river to Gwanak or Gangdong?" Parker asked.

"I'm assigned with Staff Sergeant Vargas tonight. They want to take me off of the northern runs for a while. Don't know where we're going but it's all Seoul to me, I have no idea where anything is around here." Hui explained.

"Ah, so you're from outside of the capital. Don't worry old Pederson back there is your driver. He's got you covered." Parker said.

"Vargas is a good soldier too. I'm you're in a jam listen to what he has to say. The man knows his stuff and is probably one of the coolest cats I've known when the heat gets turned up." Parker added.

"Speak of the devil, I should probably go let him know what time it is." said SPC Randy Pederson.

Unlike most of the other junior enlisted men Pederson joined the army later in his adult life after working in the civilian world for 12 years. Now in his early thirties he seemed too many to be someone who should have been an NCO by now. He was just shy of six feet tall, somewhat underweight and gangly for his size with a full head of medium brown hair and a push broom moustache. Pederson got up and walked out of the lounge and went off to find their squad leader.

Upstairs the aforementioned SSGT Antonio Vargas, who was also the team leader for Fontaine, Carter, Pederson and Williams, was biding his time in his own way until their duty shift started. Vargas was a 37 year old 1st generation Mexican American soldier with a long and distinguished career record with the Army. He had served multiple combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan as well as a brief stint in Panama before that and had been in more firefights than most of the soldiers in his batallion combined. He served as a sniper by trade and was an expert marksman even among that company. He could have been in the Special Forces if not for his age for he was in peak physical condition and could easily run circles around the younger troops on base. More so than that his mental toughness and sheer determination was second to none. He was often the workhorse of his unit and while promotions had come slower to him than most each one was well deserved. Despite being such a war machine his actual appearance was quite modest at first glance. He was about average height and seemingly average build. A few laugh lines, or scowl lines depending on who you asked had already formed on his rough stubble ridden chestnut brown face, the sign of a man who had lived a hard and arduous life. He had thick eyebrows and a closely trimmed moustache which in the field would often join with a light beard as his facial hair grew quite rapidly. His hair was sleek, full and a solid shiny black which he kept at a modest but professional length. It too would grow out of control quite quickly to a point when it wasn't regularly groomed. He had already been in his fatigues, dressed for duty well before their patrol shift was scheduled to start.

At the present time Vargas was sitting at his laptop mulling over an old email from his children back in the States. He had yet to respond to this one though it had been sent over a week ago. Communication between Vargas and his kids would at times take a while, though usually the holdup was on their end.

He had gone through a rough divorce a couple years back. Though he had never signed the divorce papers his wife pushed it through uncontested and it ended with a brutally raw deal for Vargas. Ever since the divorce his ex-wife had made every effort to cut all communication between Vargas and his children, something made all the more easy by his present deployment overseas. In spite of this his oldest daughter, Inez had defied her mother and the courts and still slipped her father an update on how she and her brother and sister were doing. She had always been the rebel of the three and was closer to Vargas than the younger kids. From what Inez had told him the others missed him as well, especially Melinda, the youngest daughter. Most of the email was Inez talking about starting her senior year in high school and her friends, rivals and stuck up bitches at her school. She was excited to graduate soon and talked about how she would immediately be moving out at that time. She clashed hard with her mom and especially with her boyfriends. Whether they tried to fill her father's role or completely ignored her she was irritated with them nonetheless. In a way Inez was an outlet for the anger and resentment which Vargas should have felt during the divorce but didn't. She also talked about how Melinda was sad that this was her last year of junior high and how Inez had scared her younger sister with all sorts of stories about how high school was like. She mentioned that her brother Carlos had become an excellent soccer player and was selected for the varsity team for the first time this year. He had also started boxing lessons at a local gym and got his first job at the tender age of 15 at the newly opened El Pollo Loco down the street from their old apartment complex.

Enclosed in the email were recent pictures of Vargas' children at an unspecified ski resort. They would never have had the money to take a ski trip when he and his ex-wife were still together. Whoever this new man in her life was he certainly was making bank. His ex-wife had gone through a lot of guys since Vargas was forcibly removed from her life and in spite of Inez's usually disdainful opinions on each Vargas hadn't kept track of them all or bothered to learn their names. It was something he really didn't want to know. As much as he didn't publicly admit it he was still in love with her. Every time she got with another it was like a burning dagger was plunged through his heart and twisted. For someone who had taken advantage of him, mistreated him and betrayed him he still found it in himself to forgive her every time and once more he found himself longing to be reunited and be a family again. Why he hadn't gotten over it and moved on after all this time he couldn't say. Maybe it was his strong religious convictions telling him he had to get back together with his ex or maybe he was just an emotional masochist. Truth be told Vargas would have accepted the role of a willing cuckold once he had discovered what was going on with his wife. However his ex-wife would have none of it and she was the one who initiated the breakup in shame. Even at this point he was willing to take her back. If it only was about sex then he could come to grips with his infidelity if it allowed him time and a stable home environment with his kids. His ex's infidelity was a matter between her and God in Vargas' eyes. As for his own actions he equated the sin of divorce as being on par with the sin of infidelity and himself would have no part in it. He truly loved his wife, through thick and thin regardless of the way she thought or acted towards him in the twilight years of their relationship and was still committed to her, resolving to never seek a new love so long as the slightest chance remained for reconciliation. He longed for an amicable resolution to their current separation even if it meant he shared a room with five other de facto husbands.

Pederson knocked on the door startling Vargas who was thoroughly lost in thought and reflection.

"Come in." he said.

Pederson opened the door but he did not come in. "I wanted to let you know it's just about time." Pederson reminded Vargas.

"Right, I got the orders here. I'll be down there in a few." Vargas replied.

Vargas hit send on his reply hoping that his daughters would be able to read it as Pederson walked off. He then closed his laptop and put it away before heading out the door himself.

Downstairs the rest of the soldiers in Vargas' and a few other units were watching the evening news on TV. Once again the reporting had something to do with the aliens in the opening segment.

"I've hear there's speculation that the aliens might be leaving soon. I've heard reports of them gathering up their little scout ships over Europe and South America" Williams mentioned to the others.

"Doesn't necessarily mean they're going anywhere. We really have no clue what drives these creatures, if they're even creatures at all. The ships could simply be automated probes which would explain a lot of things by the way." Fontaine responded.

"He's got a point there. If we were exploring another planet we'd probably send out robots before we sent people, just like we're doing with Mars." Hui said.

"Mars, pssht, we were supposed to have cities on the Red Planet back when I was a kid. We just got lazy." Blake commented.

"We got sidetracked because we had more important things to worry about on Earth." Hui interjected.

"Once the aliens are gone what's going to change really? We've kind of gotten used to them." Fontaine remarked.

"Yeah people seem to not care as much anymore. We were real excited for a while but then it was all tease and womp womp wahhh. . .denied! People just got tired of waiting." Blake added.

"Well for one most of us will be packing out of Seoul and we'll be getting back to worrying about that maniac up north." Williams said.

"Kim Jong-un can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. It's sad that the aliens came all the way here and didn't bother blowing that guy up. We Earthlings wouldn't have minded one less dictator running around, they could still say we come in peace after that and most of us would be cool with it." Parker said.

"There's quite a few places they could scrub off the map and the world would be a better place if you ask me." Blake chimed in.

Pederson passed by the door on his way down the hall and knocked on it drawing attention in that direction as Vargas was following close behind him.

"Wrap it up boys! Time to suit up and head out!" shouted Vargas as he appeared in the doorway.

"We've got Gangdong tonight." Vargas informed those on the team who might not already have known.

"Swell, another place I don't know my way around." Hui complained.

"You don't have to come sir; we've got Fontaine to do the talking for us." Vargas told him.

"Eh, might as well, the brass has been pushing me to go along with you guys. If tonight is going to be as big as they are saying it is you should probably have an officer on site with you to help with PR." Hui replied.

"Very well sir. I'll meet you down at the MRAP." Vargas told Hui.

"The rest of get suited up. I want my squad posted at our vehicle in thirty minutes." Vargas ordered the others.

As Vargas left Parker got up and clapped his hands together. "My squad better get moving too." he announced before leaving the room.

The soldiers all hurriedly secured their belongings and made their way down to the armory to pick up their assigned gear.

"Come on Hakim; let's make the Army proud so they don't ship you off to East Jackoffistan with a big red target on your back." Carter slapped Hakim on the shoulder as he passed by.

The troops then split off into their groups as they moved down the hall with Parker, Hakim, Soto, Blake and a couple others following behind Vargas' squad while Hernandez, Shimizu and Torres went off in a different direction to find their squad leader. The each got in line and waited their turn to check out their equipment from the armory.

"Do you suppose we'll see anything tonight sir?" Fontaine asked as he waited in line behind Lt. Hui.

"Probably not. I doubt the aliens want to have anything to do with a species that kills its own kind like it's going out of style. I mean look at us, an entire history of warfare behind us, we're burning up our atmosphere, poisoning out water, going about our lives with complete disregard for all other species on this planet. They probably think we're monsters." Hui replied.

The Lieutenant retrieved his body armor and riot gear and got out of line to allow Fontaine to get his.

"What did I tell you, a hippie." a soldier turned to Carter and said.

Carter and a couple of the soldiers with him snickered. Fontaine grinned, being too timid to join in with Carter and the more extroverted members of the squad Fontaine looked away to see Williams waving over for someone to help him suit up.

"The way the spacemen have been acting it's like they barely know we exist. Remember when that one crashed into an airliner a couple weeks ago? They've learned how to avoid us but taken little interest in going beyond that. I highly doubt they've paid enough attention to us to even put forth the effort to make contact." Williams remarked.

"You this whole thing with the aliens know it doesn't even feel real." Fontaine said as he helped Williams put on his body armor.

"I know what you mean. It's like it's been one long ass dream." Williams commented.

Fontaine slapped Williams in the back. "All tight, nothing's fouled up, you're set!" he told Williams.

"Good for you Baby Huey! Maybe next time you won't need someone's help to get dressed." Carter derided him.

"Better to ask for help and have it done right." Williams replied.

Williams slapped himself in the stomach. "I feel invincible!" he joked.

"But first, how about you give it a whack? I want you to punch me in the gut as hard as you can? You know to make sure it works." Williams asked Carter.

"Say what? You crazy." Carter replied giving Williams the old crazy eye.

"No come on, it'll be fun. Hit me." Williams told him again.

"Nah, Huey I don't want to hurt you." Carter declined tilting his head in feigned modesty.

"This stuff can stop a bullet I think it can stop your fist." Williams assured him.

"You sure this isn't an excuse for you to hit me back with one of those big old bear paws of yours? Cause I ain't cool with that." Carter perked his chin up and suspiciously asked Williams.

"I won't do shit. Come on, hit me! Show me what you're made of!" Williams egged Carter on.

Carter pulled back and delivered a strong underhand punch to Williams' gut. Williams grunted and backed off a little when Carter's fist went thud against his body armor then he looked over at the other soldiers and smiled.

"Ha! What did I tell you? Works like a charm!" Williams remarked.

"Alright, alright, do me now." Carter said.

"No you won't. We'll have no more of this tomfoolery here." Vargas said grabbing Williams' wrist to stop him from punching Carter.

Williams smiled, looked over at Carter and laughed.

"You guys hurry up and get outside. I'll be waiting in the MRAP." Vargas said as he and Hui exited the room.

"You think we'll need these?" Fontaine asked holding up a clear riot shield and tapping on it with a baton.

"Leave them. The police can handle crowd control; we're just out there for optics." Hui replied.

After they were all ready to go, Fontaine, Williams, Carter, Pederson and Hui gathered around in a circle.

"Oh yeah man we are gonna be so badass tonight! We're like ghostbusters cool!" Carter said pounding his chest.

Hui laughed softly and covered his face with his hand.

"On three then, Ghostbusters?" Williams suggested.

They all out their hands out on top of each other's and shouted "Ghostbusters!"

"No, no, no that isn't going to work. We're not the Ghostbusters guys we need a better slogan." Hui chuckled afterwards.

"The man's got a point. Don't know about ya'll but I hadn't seen no ghost? How we gonna be ghostbusters if we ain't bustin' no ghost?" Carter added.

"Umm, alright, then umm how about Space-busters? We out there keeping tabs on aliens from space so it fits no?" suggested Williams.

"That sounds so stupid but ok." Hui agreed.

The group then all put their hands together and sounded off "Spacebusters!" before hurrying off to join Vargas in the MRAP.

A line of MRAPs exited Yongsan garrison and joined with a row of police cruisers with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. After leaving the base and getting onto the highways heading towards their designated sections of the city the MRAPs and police cars split off and went their separate ways. Each MRAP was assigned two police escorts, one in front and one behind the MRAP. The police vehicles later spread out further ahead of and behind the MRAP with other cars between them to cover a larger stretch of road once they got onto their designated patrol routes. Vargas' crew one of those heading a little further out today to the eastern extreme of Seoul proper and would cross outside of the city limits into Hanam during a few points along their route. Being that they were heading a few miles out from the base during the thick of evening traffic it took a little while before they got off the highway and started off along their route. Pederson was seated in the driver's seat with Vargas in the back behind him. Hui sat next to the gunner's station while Williams and Carter were in the back. Fontaine was positioned on the top gunner's station since he was the interpreter and could most easily communicate with any civilians and police officers that approached the MRAP.

"Specialist Fontaine, what do your elf eyes see?" inquired Lt. Hui as they started down the first major thoroughfare on their route once they got off the highway.

"Not a whole lot sir. The spaceship is doing what it always does, nothing. Haven't yet run into the protesters or the drunks yet" Fontaine reported.

"Give it time. They'll be here; the night is still young." Vargas spoke up.

"Actually we're coming up on our first batch now sir. There are these crazy people out here dressing up as aliens dancing around. I'm serious guys." Fontaine reported down to the others.

"Those guys again? We saw the crazy alien dancers on Monday." Vargas remarked.

"Dancing aliens, ha, and no one on that spaceship wants to join in. Kind of tells you something huh?" remarked Carter.

You know what's weird about that?" asked Lt. Hui.

"What?" asked Fontaine in return.

"That of all the people who have claimed to be abducted by aliens none of them ever said that the aliens were green but what color are all the alien suits out there? Green." Hui stated.

"Das racist." joked Carter from his seat across from Hui.

"More like gray-cist." Fontaine added attempting to make a pun.

"You aren't going to see any real aliens tonight though so might as well enjoy the dancers. From what I'm seeing here these fellows are packing up and going home." Williams commented while looking at his phone in between texts with his fiancée.

"You're full of shit Baby Huey. I don't see them leaving, we still got that big ugly triangle in the sky." Carter replied after peeking up through the top hatch.

Fontaine looked down at him curiously. "Don't freak out Cornbread, I ain't going for your nuts." Carter told Fontaine.

"Maybe the one in Seoul is still there but in other places these fellas are bailing. I'm serious, I've got video to prove it. People all over the world are recording these things flying up, up and away." Williams responded.

"Man, you got to show me that shit for me to believe it. That's probably an online gag or something." Carter sassed at Williams.

Carter stood up, walked across the MRAP and hunched over next to Williams who pulled up a video on YouTube from Johannesburg, South Africa of one of the large alien ships gathering up several smaller ships and then ascending up and out of the atmosphere.

"We'll I'll be one sorry son of a bitch, these motherfuckers are actually leaving." Carter admitted.

"Shit hope they keep me in town a while longer before shipping us back up north, I haven't got a chance to hit up shit in this place." Carter said.

An incoming text message buzzed onto Williams' phone from his fiancée and Carter leaned in closer to read it.

"Do you mind not being so nosy with that big nose of yours?" Williams shooed Carter away.

"Don't know what you hiding over there. Ya'll ain't even talking dirty." Carter remarked as he walked back over to his seat and sat down.

"Folks still acting crazy out there?" Carter asked Fontaine

"Yep. A whole lot of silliness going on tonight. But hey, at least they aren't trying to burn the place down." Fontaine replied.

"That's always a big plus. I don't understand what makes people want to act like that. Aliens or no aliens, what purpose does it serve?" Hui questioned.

"Nah Lieutenant, folks don't need no reason to get cray cray. Back in Chi-Town we tear the place down every time one of our teams makes the playoffs." Carter remarked.

"Isn't that like every year?" asked Jake. He didn't know too much about sports but assumed this to be true since Chicago's teams were well known.

"Carter, you ain't from no Chi-Town. Stop making up stuff about yourself." Williams commented while feigning Carter's manner of speech.

"Nah, Huey don't listen to Soto, she's full of lies that woman. Lies I tell you!" Carter rebutted.

"Carter you want to see some mad lies, check this out." Williams said beckoning Carter to come take a look at his phone.

Williams turned to a trash TV program where a large sassy lady was claiming that one of the aliens was her baby's daddy.

"Aww man, that is whack! You know those things are scripted right?" Carter commented after watching a few minutes.

"You know that lady might be your mom Carter. See the resemblance? Look at the size of the beak on that one." Williams kidded with him drawing attention again to his nose.

"Aw hell no, you did not just bring my mama into this did you Baby Huey?" Carter sassed him back.

The two of them then proceeded to exchange a variety of "yo mama" jokes.

"I thought "yo mama" jokes went out of style in the 90s?" Hui asked Vargas who simply shrugged his shoulders.

After they finished sassing each other Carter peeked back onto Williams' phone and perused the other videos recommended on the side bar.

"Dude, play that shit. I want to see that." Carter said pointing to one of the videos.

At the same time a text from Williams' fiancée arrived which overrode Carter's request.

"Not now, I got to take this." Williams told him.

Carter remained looked over his shoulder as Williams and his fiancée texted back and forth in rapid succession.

"Ahem. I already told you once. Do you mind?" Williams asked acerbically feeling Carter's breath close to his neck.

"Go ahead, I'm just waiting her for you say what you gotta say and then we watch the video." Carter replied.

"Could you wait like, someplace else?" Williams asked harshly.

"You said we was gonna watch the video, what about bros before hos?" Carter replied.

"That's fine I'll watch it with you in two minutes ok? Can I please just talk to my woman in peace!?" Williams shooed Carter away.

"Shantay isn't a ho by the way." Williams corrected him.

"Psssht, you know what I mean." Carter brushed him off and scooted away from Williams.

While Williams texted with his fiancée and Jake surveyed the gathering crowds the MRAP entered into Hanam and began to make a large loop around the city before they would in time eventually return back to Gangdong District.

"Hey Fontaine did you bring your iPod with you tonight?" Vargas called up to him.

"Yeah why?" Fontaine asked.

"How about we hook it into the loudspeaker system and you can give us some tunes. That way we don't have to listen to those two arguing about nonsense all night long." Vargas suggested.

"It's not nonsense, he implied my mama was a ho." Carter corrected Vargas.

"And he implied my fiancée was one so there." Williams snapped back.

"You do know he's just fucking with you kid." Vargas told him.

"That's what happens when our generation grew up without yo mama jokes." Hui turned and said to Vargas.

Fontaine then reached down and handed the cable from his iPod to Hui so he could plug it into the MRAP's loudspeaker.

"Alright, she's all set!" Hui shouted up to Fontaine.

Fontaine then put on "This is War" by the Korean band MBLAQ which caused Carter to stop and glare at Lt. Hui as if he had anything to do with Fontaine's selection.

"Are you serious Cornbread? I thought you would be blasting some Willie Nelson hillbilly shit with that thing." Carter complained.

"Not everyone from the south is a redneck." Fontaine rebuked Carter.

"The boy can't help it; all he sees are stereotypes everywhere." Williams laughed.

"Nah, nah man. He's just hiding his roots so we don't think he's all hayseed out here but when he goes back to the barracks and thinks he's all alone I bet it's all Dukes of Hazzard up in there." Carter remarked jokingly.

"Specialist, I appreciate you trying to assimilate to the culture around here but the point was to shut this one up so if you don't mind putting on something more in applicable to the situation." Hui shouted up to Fontaine.

"Hmmm, more applicable." Fontaine mumbled as he fumbled through his iPod. While he was looking a line of alien fighters whizzed overhead on their way into an open glowing port on the mothership. This gave him an idea. He scrolled through and put on "Spaceman" by The Killers.

"You said applicable, I can't think of much more applicable than this when we've got spacemen flying around overhead." Fontaine remarked as the song kicked off.

Hui then looked over at Carter expecting a protest.

"Nah, it's alright. I can dig it." Carter said.

Hui looked around outside and saw another group of alien cosplayers and a few people with glow sticks and others being shooed away by curbside police officers for public drunkenness. While the music played over the MRAP's speaker system it appeared the night had now come alive. As the song went into the first verse the crew of the MRAP began to sing along.

"It started with a low light." Fontaine sang softly as he watched the alien fighters congregate and dock with the mothership above him.

"Next thing you knew they ripped me from by bed" Williams joined in.

"And then they took my blood type." Pederson sang from the driver's seat.

\

"Left a strange impression in my head." Carter sang as he got up walked down the MRAP and pointed two fingers to his forehead.

"You know that I was hoping, that I could leave this star-crossed world behind." Vargas now added his voice to their mobile karaoke night.

"But when they cut me open, I guess I changed my mind." Hui took over.

"And you know I might, have flown too far from the floor, this time. ." Carter sang with his arms making wavy motions to his sides.

"Cause they're calling me by my name!" the entire crew sang loudly in unison.

"And the zipping white light beams disregarding bombs and satellites." Fontaine sang almost longingly as he watched the streaking beamers dart to and fro in the sky.

"That was a turning point." sang Vargas

"That was one lonely night." sang Fontaine.

"The star maker says it ain't so bad." Carter and Hui sang together.

"The dream maker's gonna make you mad." Williams and Pederson then took over with Williams smiling and pointing towards Carter busting a move.

"Spaceman says everybody look down!" everyone sang in unison while all except for Pederson looked down at the ground.

"It's all in your mind." continued the entire crew.

As they went into the second verse of the song the loud music and Jake occasionally singing along drew attention from the crowds of onlookers on the street. They started clapping and cheering the soldiers on, a few even joined in with the song. Seeing that the crowd outside was getting into it when the next song came on, Party Up by DMX via his iPod's shuffle feature, Jake turned up the volume which in turn was amplified through the MRAP's speaker system. What was intended to broadcast messages to an unruly crowd instead became the soundtrack for the night's activities.

The MRAP continued on its rounds while a more varied crowd was forming and thickening. Up top Jake watched as they rolled down the street. Crowds of people stopped on the sidewalks curiously watching him and the police cars that were driving some distance ahead of him pass by. Seeing military hardware going through the streets of Seoul was still an oddity, even after the alien presence had been lingering there for weeks. He pondered on how things had changed from the time when he first started going out on these patrols, back when just about everything with the world had been turned on its head.

Depending on when and where in the metropolitan area they were the reaction from the local populace had varied greatly. Early on when news of the aliens arrival had first begun to spread through the general population of the developed world there were more protests and riots in the streets of Seoul. After the initial panic these displays were mainly directed at the military presence in the city with the fear of the unknown brought by the aliens fanning the flames. Now there had been a few serious outbursts of violence in that initial wave throughout the city where the Army had in fact assisted the local police forces in suppressing widespread civil unrest. These incidents were what convinced the local government these patrols were necessary and insisted that the Americans step up their involvement when the sentiment shifted towards abandoning the program. Conversely the militarization of the streets had also attributed itself to some of the demonstrations both benign and those that got out of hand.

By in large however Seoul was relatively calm compared to much of the developed world. From what Jake had heard from back home and from his fellow soldiers cities along both the East and West coasts of the US were proverbially on fire as were many major cities in Continental Europe and Latin America. The most notable of these cities were Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris and Rio De Jankier. Across the Yellow Sea in China it was rumored than the cities of Guangzhou, Beijing and Shenyang had seen serious incidences of civil unrest which were violently put down which in turn led to more flare ups in other cities. If one was to believe the Korean news agencies the Chinese government was doing very poorly in handling the widespread panic induced by the aliens' arrival though it was highly likely these stories were exaggerated for political reasons.

As a general rule the bulk of the human tragedy that followed the alien arrival had been in the larger more populous countries of the world or places where pre-existing tensions received that extra push from outside. The degrees to which the chaos had affected everyday life varied, from being an annoyance and a great expense with sporadic loss of life back home in the United States to causing widespread death, famine and even inciting the collapse of certain nations in the Middle East and Africa. This wasn't always the case however, some places one expected to be the most likely to succumb to widespread panic changed little, as was the case in Kenya and Mozambique. Most surprisingly to Jake's own personal experience however, was that places like Memphis and New Orleans had remained peaceful in spite of his assumption that they would be among the first to crack. Not that they didn't have their problems but comparatively speaking they were fairly mild.

Jake's mind soon forgot about the rest of the world and focused on what was in front of him in the here and now. Today the reaction of the crowd ranged from mild to disinterested at first. There were the regular street revelers flashing glow sticks and playing loud music. So far there were about three committed protesters with signs decrying the military presence in the city, they chanted and shouted but did not start throwing rocks or Molotov cocktails as similar protest had done when they had drawn greater crowds. It was easier to keep a protest peaceful when it was 3 people rather than 3000 stuffed with all manner of street urchins and malcontents among their ranks. The soldiers were certainly glad that things had calmed down significantly over time to the point where it lately had started to feel a little too dull and routine when they went out. In addition to the protesters there were the party boys, the drunks and the hooligans, pickpockets and riffraff who preyed upon unsuspecting people in the large crowds. There were also the men who used the gathering as a social event and went around trying to pick up women. Then there were the people who turned the occasion into a showcase for the performance arts. A passerby or two would see their antics and occasionally slip them some change while others jeered and cheered. Of course the majority of people in the crowds were just curious bystanders or the day to day people walking from place to place in their usual routine.

After an hour or so of following their long zig zagging loop weaving in and out of the district and surrounding areas the small number of protesters in the crowd swelled considerably. Now on the return trip where there had been only three before the usual protesters were out tonight in slightly diminished numbers than from weeks prior. On one side of the street were the "Keep Earth Human" protesters and on the other side were the "No Walls Between Worlds" ones. Both groups chanted their slogans and hurled explicatives and epithets at each other and the passing patrol. There were also other signs mixed in with the two groups that had nothing to do with aliens or the activities of the military and police. There were the ones calling for the removal of all US troops from South Korea, there were the pro-Communist North Korean sympathizers, anti-government groups, the environmentalists, the animal rights people, all of the assorted grievance groups and a contingent of people bearing signs derogatory towards the Japanese. There were the comedic "Bring back Crystal Pepsi" types that Jake had seen pictures of back in the states and even a guy dressed up as Spiderman in the mix.

"Do you really think they're paying attention to this up there?" Jake asked wondering if these people decrying or welcoming the aliens meant anything to the intended recipient of their message.

He couldn't really believe that any more than half of these protesters actually took what they were doing seriously. This was just something to get caught up in the moment for a lot of them, something to do because it was a passing fad. Feeling like you're actually changing the world is sexy, even if you're doing nothing of the sort.

One of the signs he saw had an alien holding up an American flag and said "Go back to your home planet!"

"Great to see that we're the in the same category as the space mutants." Jake remarked.

The increased numbers of people gathered served to slow down the flow of traffic thus leaving the MRAP spending more time in any given area. This also allowed people to approach the vehicle and start asking Jake questions which he answered to the best of his ability coordinating with Hui and Vargas over what to tell them.

Now while ships were departing Earth in other cities around the world in Seoul the alien mothership still remained. As news spread over the internet there were sporadic celebrations and flash mobs along the patrol route. In contrast to the chaotic conditions that occurred during the arrival the aliens departure was nothing of the sort. Tonight the atmosphere was jovial and the people in the streets were quite friendly and playful towards the patrols as they passed by. The festive attitude of the crowds tonight was preferable to the days when those shouting obscenities, mooning them with bare butts and throwing rocks and bottles at the patrols were the norm. The fear of uncertainty concerning the aliens was diminished as apparently the creatures had found nothing of value on Earth and were leaving without as much as revealing their faces to the throngs of humanity below.

Among the people out tonight along the patrol route were Hyuna and her friends. They were well ahead of the MRAP on the patrol route, standing on the sidewalk while street side revelries clogged up the already thick traffic crawling down the road.

"Wow people are really going all out tonight." marveled Chae-lin.

"It'll be really sad if the aliens don't leave tonight and it turns out this "celebration" was for absolutely nothing." Hyuna commented.

"You don't need a reason to party girl. Don't be so stiff." Ji-yong told her.

"You mean like those guys?" Hyuna replied pointing over at the protest lines across the street.

"These people are idiots." remarked Ji-yong as he saw some of the protesters.

"Like the aliens are really going to do anything different because a bunch of us are down here screaming this and that. They probably can't even read Hangul." Ji-yong commented.

"That one over there is in English, what about that?" Hyuna asked pretending to be innocently asking a question.

Ji-yong and Chae-lin laughed more at the way she said it than what she said. As Ji-yong turned to his side towards some strobe lights going off outside a nearby noraebang a tipsy man spilled a sloppily mixed cocktail in a red plastic cup all over him.

"Dude, party foul yo! Get the fuck out of here." Ji-yong grumbled at the man moving him aside.

"Here." Chae-lin pulled out a few napkins from her purse and handed them to Ji-yong so that he could clean himself up.

While he was doing that Hyuna saw one of the people dressed in an alien costume get too close to the "Keep Earth Human" protesters and accidentally bump into one of them while doing a little dance. The protester shouted at the costumed man and reached after him but was held back by his friends. The alien suited person compounded stupid with more stupid and got into the agitated man's face and taunted him. This incited someone nearby who wasn't with the protest to throw a stiff right hook at the costumed character and knock his alien head slightly off to the side. The angered protester pushed his friends aside and hopped the barricade where he grabbed the dancing character by the chest and pummeled his face until the head of the suit fell off. The incident drew the attention of the police who arrived a few minutes later to separate the belligerent man and the street performer. The officers cuffed the aggressive man and one of them stayed with him explaining that he couldn't act how he was acting as if the grown man was a child while another officer helped carry off the guy in the alien suit, now bleeding from the nose and mouth.

"Oh my God, check that out!" Hyuna exclaimed seeing the scuffle.

"What did I miss, aw darn it's already over." Ji-yong said when he looked up.

At that moment some wannabe thug kid tried to snatch Chae-lin's purse while they were distracted but this led Ji-yong to shove the boy away.

"That's right! Keep on walking!" Ji-yong threatened the boy as he ran away through the crowd.

Ji-yong looked over at the police officers but decided not to bother them as well, this was just one big jacked up party and crazy things were bound to happen. Fireworks went off down the street and loud music started to play out of some of the cars. A guy wrapped in old newspaper from head to toe streaked through the crowd throwing candy into the air. While another man wearing shoes, a shirt but no pants sprinted out of a mini mart door marked "no shoes, no shirt, no service." Ji-yong started to sing along with the music coming out of a minivan passing them by and turned to Chae-lin and Hyuna to join in. Chae-lin went along with him but Hyuna seemed too embarrassed.

"Come on girl, it's a party you got to get into it! How you gonna get down at the after party tonight if you can't mix it up right now?" Ji-yong goaded Hyuna into letting herself go.

She bashfully joined in with the chorus but didn't sway with the beat like her friends did. The people in the cars passing by many of whom were just going home from work or on the way to go out to the clubs downtown would on occasion falsely capitalize on the fact that they had become the center of attention. They would sometimes even steal the show from the coalescing alien armada being gradually sucked into the mothership. People from the vehicles and the crowds called out to each other and the streets were filled with an endless cacophony of noise.

Now with all the screaming and shouting amidst the revelry of the aliens' imminent departure Hyuna and her friends had built up quite a thirst.

"Hey we'll be right back. We're going to go get slurpees." Chae-lin told Hyuna before she and her boyfriend left.

"Yeah save us a spot will you?" Ji-yong sarcastically asked before Chae-lin drug him off.

"Fine, fine. Bring me back one too!" Hyuna shouted at her friends as they pushed their way through the crowd.

"Not those nasty blue ones either! I want cherry! Or Coca-Cola!" Hyuna shouted though by now her friends were too far to hear her. She knew they were going to get her a nasty blue one, they always did.

While Hyuna waited for her friends the Army MRAP was slowly inching down the street towards her from a few dozen blocks away. Jake was smiling and sometimes laughing at the things he saw outside while they were held up in bumper to bumper traffic. Vargas and Hui seemed disinterested in the festive mood pervading the night. Vargas was reflecting on what it must be like for his daughters now while Hui was just feeling very awkward. The Lieutenant was rather young man himself but just didn't seem to fit in with this group. It wasn't because they were American either, he felt like an alien in Korean units as well. Hui was just more of an asocial recluse than anything else. He just didn't seem to get people in general. The Army would probably just be a temporary stint for him and afterwards he could snag some programming job or something that would allow him to work isolated and alone from other people.

"Do they have anything from El Paso or Juarez on there?" Vargas asked Williams.

"Let me check." Williams said. "Nope, but they've got a lot of videos from the west coast popping up all of the sudden." he said after scrolling through the newest videos posted online concerning the alien withdrawal.

After making a quick reply to his fiancée Williams pulled up one of the more highly rated videos for himself and Carter to see. Meanwhile Vargas continued to worry. His girls were tough, especially Inez. He had enough of a hand in raising them before he was pushed out of their lives to see to that. Carlos was something of a mama's boy but his older sister would watch over him just like a big brother would have. Inez was more of the substitute father for her siblings than any of their mother's boyfriends would ever be. He kept telling himself all of them would be ok no matter how crazy it got, even his ex-wife.

"Screw you guys I'm going home. That's what they are telling us here Huey." Carter said to Williams as the watched the Los Angeles mothership leave from seven different angles.

"Carter, come on, you can leave me alone now? I can't keep my girl waiting." Williams told Carter, nudging him out of the way as he removed the videos from his phone and went back to texting his fiancée back home who now had three unread messages stacked up for Williams to respond to.

"Pussy whipped Baby Huey, aight aight I know when I'm not wanted." Carter told Williams.

"Yo Cornbread, what does your ass see out there?" Carter called up to Fontaine.

"My ass sees the inside of my underwear. My eyes see a lot more of the same. The spaceship isn't going anywhere." Fontaine replied.

"You don't have to answer him you know." Williams said to Fontaine.

"No one was talking to you Baby Huey. Just zip it and go back to kissing your bitch's ass." Carter snapped playfully yet disrespectfully at Williams.

"Calm down private." Vargas warned Carter.

"Her name is Shantay and she's not a bitch." Williams replied.

"Damn Baby Huey, take it easy there, can't you take a joke?" Carter said to Williams.

"You know what I'm just going to go over here and do my thing now. Maybe I'll take a peek at the freaks doing the cha cha cha out there in a bit." Carter said distancing himself from Williams.

"Kids." Vargas and Hui said in unison to each other regarding Carter, Fontaine and Williams. The veteran soldier and the young officer laughed and shook their heads.

Meanwhile Jake was looking up at the steady lights sparkling in a darkened sky now that the sun had gone down and the city lights had come on. There were lights above and lights below now while all the mere humans dwelt in what appeared to be a corridor of light between the two. The smaller craft were now fewer and further between as they docked with the mothership and disappeared into its enigmatic innards. After taking the time to appreciate it all it really was a pretty sight Jake thought. He looked away from the eerie soothing glow of the spaceships above the litany of earthbound lights from the Seoul streets and skyline and focused his eyes back onto the crowd to make sure there were no issues developing within it. A few minutes later Jake's attention was quickly brought back down inside the MRAP by Carter tugging at his leg.

"Yo Cornbread! Mind switching places? I want to take a look-see out there, from what me and Huey have been seeing on the nets it should be an interesting night." Carter asked Fontaine in a somewhat demanding fashion.

"Sure, why not. The ships still aren't looking like they're going anywhere." Fontaine politely replied.

"You're going to let him get to see the departure?" Williams asked Fontaine.

"Meh, there will tons of videos posted of it tomorrow. Seeing that thing move isn't going to be much different than seeing it stand still." Fontaine replied casually.

"Here, take my phone. I want you to record the ship leaving." Hui told Carter.

"Alright, alright." Carter said then moved over towards Hui.

"It's not an iPhone, man get with the program sir." Carter joked as Hui pulled out his phone.

"Ah shit, it's all in Korean too. You're going to have to show me what these squiggles mean, at least the ones I need to use to record this shit." Carter complained.

While Hui was showing Carter how to take video on his phone Jake remained at his station, surveying the crowd. Meanwhile Hyuna's friends had just returned to see the MRAP on its approach. As the MRAP passed by the location where Hyuna and her friends had congregated Jake happened to turn his head in the right direction and for a second or two noticed her looking straight towards him. For longer than Jake had noticed her Hyuna's eyes were fixed on at him, the shy reserved boy from the back country who had long sought to get away from his bleak mundane life now seated at the gunner's station atop a US Army MRAP. She was clearly looking at him, not through him as one in the crowd staring off into space. It was more like she was a bird of prey eyeing a hapless rodent which it intended to make its latest victim. The thought of seducing one of the "occupying army's" minions and quickly dashing his hopes was alluring to Hyuna who had the wild idea to take it as something of a challenge. The two of them were too far out of reach for Hyuna to play any such mind games on Jake. They were too far apart for the two of them even to know the other one existed aside from being a face in the crowd. For Hyuna it was the mere physical distance that separated him from her standing behind the police barricade. For Jake it was not only that but the fact that Hyuna was in an astronomically higher stratum of society than he was, both in terms of her beauty and socioeconomic status. This mere peasant gave the illustrious noblewoman on the sidewalk no greater concern than any other among the great multitude gathered out on the streets tonight. Still he felt something ever so minute and indescribable as their eyes touched over the gulf of air that separated. Only briefly did her gaze meet Jake's as they passed by. At this moment Hyuna, being the outgoing, somewhat immature girl she was she raised her arm high overhead and waved at him. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Fontaine waved back at her. Sometimes the civilians took notice and would call out or make gestures to the soldiers on their patrols. The unspoken exchange that went between them as their eyes locked for that miniscule moment in time would soon be forgotten by both of them as the MRAP rolled on. It didn't take long for Hyuna to move on to the next thing to catch her attention leaving Jake as just another attraction on a parade route. Jake's mind remained fixated more on events in the heavens than upon the ground as the aliens gathered together their smaller ships and packed themselves onboard the titanic mothership. With such more memorable things going on at the time Jake didn't even bother to commit the silly girl and her friends to memory. Still as he looked back to see her eyes trailing off after him she was the last thing he saw before he climbed down and swapped places with Carter. Jake gave Carter a fist bump as they passed and a firm slap on the rump as he climbed up onto the gunner's station before Jake sat down in Carter's seat and enjoyed the ride from the inside. Little did they know this was the end of the last normal day of their lives. Life as we know it would soon be changed forever.


	2. Chapter 1 and 2

_**Author's Note** : First of all thank you for taking the time to read this. Being someone who discovered this show towards the end of its run I'm a little late to the party so to speak. This is my attempt at a total remake of Falling Skies in an attempt to capture the potential that could have been, at least from a writing standpoint. All of my other FS stories are essentially branches off of this. Most of the story follows the characters initially introduced in the first chapter and expands through the people they meet. _**_That being said there is no main character per se and any character could potentially die or be harnessed at any time._** _There will also be certain special chapters which will give updates on the war around the world as well as insight into events occurring in other star systems (i.e. there will be a few chapters dedicated to Cochise prior to coming to Earth. The main plot may also expand to other worlds as well depending on which ending I ultimately decide to go with.) I'd originally intended just to do a quick prequel with this and be done with it in a month, alas it went on and grew into something more. Now that the scope has expanded inevitably I'll have to go for either a title change or a direct sequel that ties all the converging side stories and this one together. (I can't really call it FS: Korea when it extends to other countries and planets now can I?) There is potentially enough material to where I can also write a Falling Skies: UK companion story to this as well but so far I'm only going to be slipping in what would have been a pivotal chapter in the UK arc into this one (probably somewhere in the range of chapter 140-160) As I've stated in the canon character arc of this (The Boston Massacre);_ _ **this will be a complete AU/remake so forget what you think you know because I am going to be taking this in a totally different direction.**_ _(Did you really want to know the ending before you started reading anyways? Who knows, this time around the aliens might actually win.) The deviations aren't that pronounced prior to the arrival of the Volm but following the approximate time of the Season 2 finale this will be an entirely different creation. (There will be no Espheni Queen, I can say that for sure without giving much away.) I plan on adding considerable depth with the aliens and their agenda, tactics, culture and so on will be considerably different (to some degree I will be extrapolating on what Season 2 appeared to be pointing at)._ _ **With the humans I will try to provide a decent range of diversity of backgrounds, worldviews and circumstances to explore how different people/groups handle the invasion. Some of these worldviews may be offensive to some people,**_ _I am trying to depict humanity as we really are with all our flaws, biases and failings not how we would like ourselves to be. That being said this will probably have a darker feel to it than the series had. Note that the opinions presented in the story are those of the characters and the characters alone and as such will conflict with each other. Certain characters which I may have a hard time accurately portraying (Hamza, Vargas and Kwang-su in particular) and if anyone could offer advice on how to better portray the worldview and character traits I am looking for in them it would be appreciated as well._

 _I'll try to update this one frequently and as long as at least one person is still reading it I will see it through to the end, even if I take a break from it I won't leave it to die unfinished. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. If I don't have a well thought out explanation for something then it probably is an error and I will correct it. This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction so any advice/comments to help me become a better writer are welcome._

 ** _Update - 14 Feb 2016:_** _I'm working on a format change for all my stories. (so far I only have Chapters 1 and 2 done and the updates after chapter 88 will be in this format as well.) It will be a slow process and I will still be posting regular updates. Also working on a prologue chapter set earlier in the day prior to the invasion to flesh out some of the characters better. It is likely to be a huge update (going on 47 pages now) and is also a slow process since the concept originated as an "opening credits" sequence and has to be converted to prose._ _Will post it as soon as it is complete. Any suggestions for improvement are most welcome and will be taking all constructive criticism into account when revising the story._

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Chapter I: Shock and Awe

4 Oct 1200 GMT

Earth Orbit

The tall spindly creature gazed down upon the shimmering blue world beneath him. Its diminished flat features were set in the perfect poker face. It exuded a truly alien aura void of all warmth and relatability from a human perspective. Behind that blank, emotionless expression an unfathomable amount of thought going on. Its mind spread out in all different directions, touched those of its brethren and its sister races within its extended brood in spite of its apparent focus on what was in front of it. Its slick solid black eyes elongated to match its tall thin face gave a cold indifferent stare towards the modest blue world that the Masters had charged to his care. An observer would say the creature was looking through it rather than at the planet though it was firmly fixated on the world and all its minute detail. It was a pleasant sight, still basking in the glow of its own sun unlike the darkened world of fire and ice upon which the creature was born. It wouldn't be a bad place to live for his kind though that was not why these beings were here. A new home was not difficult to come by. They could terraform countless worlds to give them more habitable space for them and their subject races to dwell upon. The numbers of his own species spread out across no fewer than three galaxies separated by vast distances in time and space did not necessitate a new homeworld or outlying colony to inhabit. They were very much in comfort within their artificially constructed worldships in the vastness of the black expanse between the stars. It was not out of the desire for elemental resources as well. They could engineer exotic compounds from the basic elements by manipulating them at the nano and femto scale, even to the point of fashioning an entirely new periodic table with bizarre properties unheard of to human scientists. As for the basest elemental resources from which they could perform their craft this world held nothing special for their acquisition as well. Within this very star system there were more lucrative mineral resources to be mined from asteroids and gases to be siphoned from the outer planets to fuel their onboard power plants. While this planet did hold a somewhat strategic place amongst the space lanes that too was not what intrigued the Masters most.

What this planet was to them was a perfectly grown culture of beings which could be developed into an invaluable resource. For all their master of the physical sciences with knowledge far in excess of the human imagination the one thing they could not do was to create life out of nonlife, they could not draw existence from the Void. To obtain this most precious of resources they had to rely on that which had been previously formed. The petty creatures that dwelt below were so far beneath them on an evolutionary scale that they were like microbes to them. From a human perspective it could be assumed that the starbourne entities would be like gods to them if the entity observing them had even allowed the thought to enter his mind these beings were capable of conscious enlightened thought apart from raw instinct. They were feeble, they were short lived and weak, but they were not without value. These beings while being similar to other creatures they had conquered in some respects had their own unique characteristics, having developed to the particular conditions of this world and its place within the galaxy and the greater universe as a whole. In spite of their primitive nature these microbes had not even begun to reach their full potential, a potential which he and his fellows could develop and exploit to its maximum effect. They were the most valuable resource in this star system. There was no shortage of them; the entire planet was covered with them. The fields had been sown long beforehand; all that remained was to reap the harvest. These resources were in high demand though it still was not what had vexed the creatures the most. What was most perplexing was that when taking a step out of time and space all of the most positive potentialities to their designs ran through this world at this point in time. Why they could not explain, even with their massive intellect and mental processing power they could not see how each chain of events, each actualization of each reality had something to do with a crucial adjustment to be made here and now.

In spite of these near mystical prophecies the rationale for their operations on the blue planet were routine and proceeded as thus. Truth be told their operation here was of minimal importance to their overall design but truly so was every other world they came upon and every other world they will come upon. No individual planet, star system or even galaxy was of any tremendous value but it was the aggregate of all the minute adjustments they made which fulfilled the grand design which they had been shaping and will be shaping. For the fate of the universe could be altered by aligning as much as few atoms spread out all across the stars in the right places, so was the grand design. There was much riding on the long game for this design; one could say everything was riding on it. For the beings overseeing the widening conquests their very existence was at stake. As for this world they had spent the past 65 rotations of this planet analyzing it, calculating every potentiality and estimating the potential risk and reward for each course of action they could take. With a firm consensus among the designated system lords and sub-regional administrators a decision had been reached. It was a crude method which they had chosen but an effective one nonetheless. They would go for quality over quantity and with patience the desired quantities could be restored as well. Speed was also of the essence here, they would have to suffer diminished yields or risk none at all. Hostile powers would be soon closing in around them on this front. They had brought a sizeable enough fleet to expand through this juncture point in the space lanes and push their foes, an assemblage of the most ignorant spacefaring races in this galaxy, into a defensive posture while they cultivate this world and the worlds behind it. This salient couldn't be guaranteed to hold forever so their business had to be completed and firm defensive positions had to be established in order for them to move on and continue with their work where it was needed elsewhere.

It was lamentable that there was so must resistance to their efforts by those starfaring species which opposed them. Furthermore it was regrettable that the Espheni could handily remove all the unfounded opposition to the efforts. They had hoped a diplomatic solution would get many of these races to come around but being agitated by the Volm before the Espheni could reach them they had been hardened which forced the Espheni to consider a military solution to their ignorance. Despite being seen as aggressive conquerors the Espheni had not put much effort into developing military applications for their vast knowledge and by extension their weapons technology was, by interstellar standards, quite primitive. However it was still leaps and bounds above what defensive measures humanity had at its disposal at the present time. Their perceived deficiency in combat was largely due to the fact that the Espheni did not see themselves as aggressors, invaders or conquerors. Their agenda was never about death, destruction and empire building; it was about life, absolute knowledge and perfection. Even against advanced races such as the Volm the Espheni did not see their actions as hostile. Of course in the current case how could one think in terms of war and enslavement when dealing with such lower life forms as those which the Espheni primarily selected for inclusion and adjustment? What they were planning for Earth as they had done to so many worlds before it wasn't war. The clockmaker doesn't go to war with a broken alarm clock he is trying to fix, the doctor doesn't go to war with a case of the sniffles and the mathematician doesn't go to war with an equation he was trying to solve. That is exactly what this was; the universe expressed mathematically was nothing more than an equation, one that the Espheni were solving for X.

After much precise planning the game was set; all the pieces were in place. With one swift move they anticipated to render the malignant microbes beneath them inert and harmless, ready to be processed into a usable substance. With a single thought he directed his will through his brethren who in turn directed their subjects in a synchronized motion to initiate the chosen course of action. The pieces were now moving. Without the knowledge of the insignificant tiny beings on the sphere below them the planet was placed into checkmate. Within the next rotation of this world upon its axis it would be claimed and the fleet would be free to move on to its next objective.

4 Oct 1800 KST

US Army Garrison, Camp Humphreys, South Korea

An M1A1 Abrams followed by three army transport trucks pulled into the security checkpoint at the gate of Camp Humphreys and stopped. The tank commander, Capt. David Bremer, dismounted from his post, climbed down and met base security with a manila envelope containing his orders and other official documents. The guards stopped and saluted and Bremer returned the salute in standard military courtesy before handing the envelope to the guards. One of the guards looked through the paperwork Bremer handed him while the others inspected the vehicles and personnel that had just arrived.

"They're moving the 72nd here sir?" asked the guard.

"Eventually. Hell, the whole 2nd ID's going to be stuffed down here eventually. Meh, it's the spacemen that have the brass all in a tizzy now. They're afraid that the North is going to provoke them and they want some of our hardware pulled back further from the DMZ so if the bug-eyed butt-probers start shooting back they'll stick to DPRK targets and not ours." Bremer explained.

"I see sir. Do you know if anyone's actually been successful in contacting the aliens? I heard on the news that the Europeans sent up a rocket to try and rendezvous with one of the capital ships near the moon." the guard asked.

"I don't know anything you don't know. The whole civilized world's been trying to say hello for weeks. Washington's been at it since day one, but you can't make 'em talk if they don't want to talk. They seem to prefer just looking, and butt-probing most likely but hell, who am I to judge." Bremer replied.

The guard laughed under his breath while the rest of the security detail cleared the vehicles to proceed.

"Look's like you're all clear to proceed sir." the guard told him.

"Very good. As you were." said Bremer.

"Say you wouldn't happen to know if there's any decent nightlife around here?" Bremer asked as the guard started to walk away.

The guard turned back to him and replied "Around here, no. If you go up to Pyeongtaek there's a few bars you might want to hit up, though if you don't mind the drive keep going north towards Suwon and people will be a little more amenable to our types if you know what I mean." the guard told him.

"I know, army towns and the army don't mix do they, Corporal." Bremer joked.

"No sir they don't. Have a good evening sir." the guard said before Bremer went back to the tank.

The vehicles then went through the base to the location where they were to be housed and Bremer checked them in. He and the other soldiers that arrived with him then also proceeded to get checked in on the base. After all the necessary paperwork and processing was completed the soldiers were dismissed to temporary housing in the barracks. Bremer tossed his duffel bag into his room, changed out of his uniform, took a shower and got dressed in some of his nicer civvies. He then went downstairs to find a number of other soldiers watching TV. They had a feed of Fox News showing a burning field of wreckage somewhere in the Middle East with the headline "Iraqi insurgents shoot down UFO." front and center with the usual scroll of assorted dribble going across the bottom of the screen.

"Damn Hajjis gonna start an interstellar war." Bremer grumbled.

It wasn't the first time people had shot at the aliens since they arrived without repercussions but even spacemen had to have a limit to their patience.

"Hey Cap'n. Messed up shit huh?" said PVT Taylor, a fellow tanker that had come with him from Camp Casey.

"Sure is. Say, tay tay you want to come along for a night on the town? Strictly off duty, private." Bremer offered.

Bremer was good about keeping his fraternizing with enlisted personnel during off-duty time completely separate from his professional duties, though he had numerous disciplinary infractions for other things during his time in the army. He could have been a major or even lt. colonel by now if he had tried. That wasn't who he was, Bremer liked to get down in the trenches with his men. He worked hard, and he played hard, still a southern California party boy at heart.

"Might as well. A lot less depressing than watching the news." Taylor replied.

He stood there with a "let's go" look for about a minute before Bremer realized he was ready.

"You're going in that?" Bremer asked.

Taylor was still in his uniform.

"Yeah." Taylor replied.

"umm, ok." said Bremer.

The two of them left the barracks and called up a cab to meet them at the main gate.

"Uber still works, ha ha!" Bremer laughed when his ride appeared.

A young, well dressed Korean man in his early 20's stepped out and opened the trunk for Bremer to toss a bag containing his spare uniform in it.

"Just in case we don't get back til morning." Bremer said to Taylor with a wink.

The two of them then got into the cab, buckled up and glanced over at the driver before he drove away. The cab driver made small talk with the two soldiers on their way to a somewhat upscale club located a considerable distance from the local military installations. After a while Bremer remembered he had to call his wife and took out his phone.

"I need both of you to be quiet for a minute." Bremer said.

"Ok." the driver replied.

Taylor nodded in compliance. Bremer called the number and waited, one, two, three rings, he was just going to have to leave a message. It was always easier that way, there were no unneccessary questions. He wouldn't be so lucky this time; after the fourth ring his wife answered.

"Hey baby, miss me?" asked Bremer.

"Of course you silly." his wife Brittany answered.

"Just wanted to call you and say we made it safely to Camp Humphreys. I know you're probably on your lunch break so I won't keep you too long." Bremer said.

"Still better you called now rather than 3 in the morning like last time. You have to remember I'm half a world away from you." Brittany said.

"Time zones are a bitch aren't they dear." Bremer joked.

"For now, someday you'll be out of the army and I won't have to worry about you all the time." Brittany said.

"Hey, hey now, I married the Army before I married you." Bremer sarcastically responded.

"We're not Mormon, so you're going to have to divorce Mrs. Army there, she can just be your side gig ok?" Brittany quipped back.

"Fair enough." Bremer said.

"Now you go get some sleep soldier. I'll talk to you tomorrow when you call." Brittany said.

"Goodnight dear, love you." Bremer said.

"Love you too." Brittany said then hung up.

Bremer ended the call and put away his phone.

"At least you two don't do that, you hang up, no you hang up shit. Jenkins does that all the time with his girl back in the States and it's annoying as hell. Oh my gosh and the kissy faces, if anything is more annoying its that." Taylor said.

"Do I look like a ditsy 14 year old girl to you?" Bremer asked in jest.

The cab eventually made it to the club and Bremer paid the tab in cash. The two soldiers got out and waved goodbye to the driver after Bremer got his bag and closed the trunk. He nonchalantly slipped off his wedding ring and put it in his pants pocket. What happens in Korea stays in Korea, was his philosophy, just like Vegas.

The soldiers went into the club and headed straight for the bar.

"I'll have a white Russian and a Kirin Ichiban on tap." Bremer told the bartender then turned to Taylor.

"What are you having?" he asked. Taylor was a little surprised, he knew the Captain knew he was only 18 and figured most officers would be strict about that sort of thing. "I'll take a gin martini." Taylor stuttered.

"...and a gin martini." Bremer told the bartender.

Moments later the bartender brought them their drinks. The two soldiers turned around to face the dance floor which at the moment was full of couples and more than a few unaccompanied ladies. There were multi-colored spotlights and strobe lights that moved over the dance floor to the sound of some upbeat pop-punk electronica with heavily synthed lyrics, mostly in Korean, with the occasional English word thrown in there.

"Of course they have to play this garbage." Bremer joked.

"Hey, at least the scenery is nice Cap'n." Taylor remarked, studying the women packing onto the dance floor.

"Stop acting all creepy kid, if you want to nail a girl you gotta just be chill. Make them want to come to you." Bremer said.

"That makes no sense sir." Taylor said.

"Sure it does. You just haven't had enough to drink.

Soon enough after both of them had a few more adult beverages in them they were out on the dance floor dropping moves to music Bremer hated. If it got him laid however he could pretend to get down to just about anything. Bremer had two young women grinding up against him from the front and the rear, while Taylor was off by himself, catching the occasionally glance from an interested party. Taylor wasn't exactly in his zone with the ladies though. He seemed to have the most comfort when dancing with a Korean guy in a grey pin striped tuxedo vest over a yellow shirt, with whom he exchanged conversation with between songs. Simply pleasantries, in English at that for Taylor spoke not a word of the native tongue. It wasn't a waste of a night, he was getting to know a new friend he had made. Might have not been the same as Bremer with a girl on each arm, but it was something, Taylor thought. Bremer took a few picture with the two girls he had been dancing with on one of their smartphones, making numerous poses.

"Don't forget to send me those later baby." Bremer said, bobbing his head to the beat while talking.

Bremer was having a grand old time it appeared. He brought it every night, representing that party hardy attitude he imported straight from SoCal. He sashayed back over to Taylor who seemed to be hanging out by himself nursing a drink just outside the edge of the dance floor.

"You alright kid?" Bremer asked.

"Yeah, just taking a breather to you know, get more drunk like you said." Taylor replied.

"Ah yeah. Got yourself a Manhattan this time I see. Is it any good?" Bremer asked.

Taylor took a sip. "Not sure. I don't know how a Manhattan is supposed to taste. I like it though." Taylor replied.

"That's all that matters." Bremer said with a bit of a laugh in response.

Just then one of the several girls Bremer had been talking too came up to him, exchanged pleasantries with him in Korean and kissed him right then and there. The act seemed to irk a couple of the other girls who were also angling to claim Bremer as their prize for the night. These ladies would invariably be stepping up their game to out do each other no; not exactly what Bremer had planned but it benefited him nonetheless if he played it right. The woman moved her hand up Bremer's shirt and tugged at his collar as she walked away, finally letting go leaving Bremer to wrap up his business with Taylor before being beckoned back to the dance floor.

"Sir, just how is it that you get all the girls?" asked Taylor.

"I don't know tay tay." Bremer said with a false yawn of pride.

"It could have something to do with my rock hard abs, my devilish charms or my sweet moves on the dance floor." Bremer boasted.

"Well, or it could have something to do with the fact I told them I'm a billionaire oil tycoon from America out here on a business trip, who knows, my Korean is a bit rusty, so I could have "accidentally" said something like that." Bremer slyly remarked before slinking back off onto the dance floor.

"Come on Tay Tay! This is our song!" Bremer shouted over to Taylor as he started to dance.

"No it isn't! I've never heard this shit!" Taylor laughed back.

"Just get over here I've got some friends to introduce you too." Bremer called him over.

Taylor found his dance partner from earlier hovering around the dance floor himself and the two of them struck off onto the floor to make each other look a little less unsure of themselves until they were fully in their groove. Bremer once again beckoned Taylor over after laughing at the ridiculously cheesy dancing he was attempting. Taylor and his friend clumsily danced over to Bremer and the crowd of girls he was drawing. Bremer wasn't a total jerk, when good fortune smiled on him he was most willing to share with his friends. Still Taylor felt more comfortable with his well-dressed male consort than all the stunning ladies Bremer tried to hook him up with. A few more songs played and the DJ shouted some gibberish over the speakers and then played "Get Low", a familiar club song to Bremer from back in the States, albeit a bit old. Halfway through the first English language song the club had played all night the power suddenly went out.

"What the fuuu..." complained Bremer.

The girl behind him almost tripped and fell onto him when the lights went out. Bremer managed to catch her and pulled her near. She exhaled in relief, grateful that her head didn't hit the ground. Bremer felt her heart race as he pulled her up and helped her regain her balance. He had a way of getting a girl's pulse to quicken though this time it wasn't him that did it. The power outage had everyone a little spooked.

"Want to head out?" he whispered to the woman.

She tugged on his hand to lead him away. The girl in front of him sensed his movement and grabbed his other hand and followed them.

"Tay, tay, come on. There's two of them." Bremer said as he brushed past Taylor.

"I'm good. You go on ahead. I'll wait in here til the power comes back on." Taylor replied.

When Bremer and the girls felt their way off the dance floor and started blindly poking towards the door the entire club shook to it's foundation. As the club shook a bright white light shone brightly through all the cracks that had formed in the building. Several seconds later a loud boom thundered outside.

"The hell was that?" Bremer mumbled.

There was a bright reddish orange light shining in from outside. Bremer and the girls along with a crowd of people stumbled out of the club and looked out beyond the hill that they were situated on to see two massive pillars of fire rising from the south and southwest. The pillars formed into that characteristic mushroom cloud and expanded in size, making the pitch darkness of a total blackout appear illuminated in bright orange and red like the evening sun. The stars and moon were blotted out by a thick sheet of ash, dust and smoke that had radiated out from the impact sites. The blazing inferno below reflected off the bottom of this black canopy recasting the light and the heat of the inferno back down below. These weren't just random attacks Bremer quickly reasoned. The explosions had come from roughly the location of Camp Humphreys and Osan Air Base and were large enough that they could be seen here, miles away. Whoever had attacked them was targeting military bases and he feared this time it was not the North to blame.

"What happened?" Taylor asked, tripping over himself as he exited the club to join Bremer.

"Private tay tay, my friend, we are fucked." Bremer said coldly, his eyes transfixed on the immense pillars of flame soaring into the sky.

The girls on his arms clung closely to him and trembled and the others who had come out along with them recoiled in horror at what they were seeing.

"We are so fucked." Bremer reiterated aghast at the sight before them.

4 Oct 1630 ChST

USS Nevada SSBN-733

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean

Captain Richard M. Denning stood on the bridge looking across the open ocean while the Nevada had surfaced to receive a high level encrypted transmission. In the days since the aliens had arrived the US Ballistic Missile Sub, or "Boomer" fleet had gone back to its original mission; that of massive retaliation and nuclear deterrence. This time it wasn't the threat of aggressive global Communists which they were on guard against it was the potential for hostility from a vastly superior foe that had traversed the great gulf between worlds in order to get here. It was a great burden on the white haired naval officer of twenty two years to have the responsibility to fire the first shots back in response to an alien invasion. Hopefully these otherworldly beings hadn't traveled light years just to pick a fight with a bunch of hairless apes. He watched the afternoon sun shimmer on the surface of the water. The life of a boomer sailor kept one away from the sunlight for months at a time so it was a sweet and simple sight to behold. Captain Denning could have retired a couple years ago, something he thought now would have been a wise idea, but where would he go? He was a committed career Navy man, without a wife and children to tie him to shore. It was his home. He felt no more fulfillment than when he was out at sea. He sometimes wondered if he had made the right choices in life. He was now an old man in his own eyes and firmly set in his ways. Denning's reflections on his life were cut short before they could really take root by the demands of duty.

"Captain. The transmission concerning Operation Falling Sky has been received. Commander Sorensen is waiting for you in the wardroom." Lt. Alvarez, the current Officer of the Deck, reported.

"I'm on my way. The control room is yours. Deploy the comm buoys and make ready to dive." Capt. Denning replied.

He went into the wardroom which had been cleared except for CDR Phillip Sorensen, the boat's XO, and CTC Brandon Lewis. CDR Sorensen approached the Captain and spoke quietly to him.

"Captain, we've received the nuclear launch codes from the President and SECDEF, awaiting authentication." reported Sorensen.

"SECNAV's daily briefing has also arrived when you're done sir." Chief Lewis added.

"Very well. Let us authenticate the codes gentlemen." Captain Denning replied.

They each retrieved their keys and went through the proper sequence to verify the launch codes and orders they had received. It was indeed odd that something that was never supposed to happen outside of a drill had now become so mundane for the Captain and his senior staff. Operation Falling Skies as it was called was the protocol in place for all nuclear armed ships and installations to respond to alien aggression with overwhelming force. Every day since the aliens entered orbit there were new orders coming in from Washington authorizing the use of nuclear weapons on a contingency basis if the command to rescind the order was not received within 16 hours. Thankfully every day thus far the order to rescind came in, usually around the 12th or 13th hour. Today was no different, the same orders came in and they checked out as legit. After the authentication process was over the Captain and the XO secured their keys and returned to their duty stations.

While nuclear war was a real possibility the general public remained blissfully unaware. Operation Falling Skies was kept under wraps; perhaps it was the best kept government secret in the era of the 24 hour news cycle. The public face of the government was to portray peaceful intent towards the visitors and try and keep the civilian populace calm. However there was great concern over a potential devastating attack from the skies if the visitors proved to have intentions that were less than pure. That was where Operation Falling Skies came in. Unlike the land based ICBM's that were told to stand down until an attack actually occurred, the US Navy's boomers, hidden far from prying eyes from space and from the media, were to be at full readiness to deliver a retaliatory strike against targets in the atmosphere or in low orbit within range of their missiles. The primary alien vessels were in lunar orbit and given their observed capabilities would be in no danger from a nuclear strike. The mid-sized capital ships, the giant triangles and smaller disc shaped craft that had been seen docking with them were however the prime targets for a retaliatory strike. The hope was that the lunar motherships were simply the transport vessels for the smaller capital ships and by destroying those ships the alien's offensive capabilities would be neutralized long enough for the people of Earth to devise a method for striking the ships beyond the moon. There were already focus groups meeting around the world working on solving that dilemma but so far they had come up with no real solutions only theories.

As for the mid-sized capital ships, the triangles mainly remained in low orbit but occasionally performed maneuvers in the atmosphere. These were the preferred targets. The disc shaped craft were principally atmospheric, though they had been observed entering and leaving the atmosphere to rendezvous with the giant triangles. Many of the discs would hover over major cities for days at a time which made them less than optimal targets for a nuclear strike as the collateral damage would be enormous. It was believed that the world's air forces would handle the discs while the nuclear triad would exterminate the triangles. The Nevada's orders listed 14 giant triangles as their targets, one per each of the ship's Trident missiles. All of the MIRVs would be spread out and directed at different portions of the same ship. At first glance that seemed to be excessive but fears of an advanced anti-ballistic missile system being deployed by the aliens demanded such attention be brought to each individual vessel. If this was human technology they were dealing with the strategy would certainly be overkill but as the alien's defensive systems were unknown the higher ups at the Pentagon would rather be safe than sorry.

Now that the doomsday clock had been wound up for the day Captain Denning looked over the daily briefing from SECNAV. He discussed the orders of the day with his senior staff and then dismissed them to their duties. He reclined back in his chair and closed his eyes briefly before chaperoning his boat back to its undersea habitat. The dive bell sounded on the Nevada and the boat sank beneath the waves. Captain Denning hoped that today would come and go as it always did; that the launch orders would be rescinded and at last the aliens would either make contact or leave. They had been standing silent for far too long. This endless wait had to reach a climax soon. A golden age or an apocalypse awaited the world at the end of this journey but until then it was a taxing experience to those charged with holding the line. Playing nuclear chicken should not have to be an everyday occurrence; and so the crew of the Nevada waited.

4 Oct, 2100 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

The city lights of Seoul spread out like a radiant sea shimmering beneath the ominous wedge shaped craft hovering over the city. The UFO was centered directly over Yongsan District in the heart of the city but its immense form easily loomed over several districts encompassing much of Seoul beneath its shadow during the daytime and its otherworldly glow now at night. Smaller fighter jet sized craft silently approached the wedge shaped UFO and entered into nearly invisible hangars on the sides and underside of the craft. Occasionally a giant disc shaped craft would approach the bottom of the triangular monstrosity and enter through a port in the center of three large bluish-yellow glowing circular hemispheres on the bottom of the craft.

Miles to the east of central docking port of the alien mothership SPC Jacob Fontaine along with four other US Army soldiers, and a Korean soldier were heading through Gangdong District on what had become a routine patrol for the past 7 weeks. Ever since the UFOs arrived there had been sporadic riots and looting going on throughout Seoul and the soldiers from the Yongsan Garrison army base had been deployed to assist the local police force in maintaining order. The chaos was worse early on when there was a mix of euphoria and fear fueling the riots, the type of emotional fuel employed depended on if you saw the aliens in a positive or negative light. There were secondary tumults throughout the city that cropped up from time to time, typically limited in scope and often totally unrelated to the aliens. The issue of the visible military presence in Seoul was a touchy one. It was often debated whether the army did more harm than good. The civilian leadership discussed pulling the troops off the streets repeatedly but this was nothing but lip service to the aggravated parties. The soldiers not only were there to maintain order but to be the first line of defense in case the aliens were provoked. North Korea had not particularly handled the extraterrestrial visitation well and it was a legitimate fear that their foolish attempts to capture and study alien technology would lead to an interplanetary exchange of some kind. If that happened it would probably be a while, given the aliens' total silence for the past two months, before negotiations with the more enlightened nations of the world managed to straighten up the misunderstanding with the visitors.

Over the following weeks as the ominous triangular ship hovered silent over Seoul the situation calmed down. People were hoarding, but doing so in a peaceable manner. That was expected to change tonight, because tonight the ships were leaving. A best case scenario would give Seoul an out of control party that wrecked the town, the worst case would be a full on riot that also wrecked the town. In their mission to foster goodwill and cooperation with the people of Seoul Jacob Fontaine served a vital role. Jacob was an army translator and acted as a liaison between the locals and the US forces in the area so he was always assigned to these patrols, ever since day one. This wasn't his first trip through Gangdong District either. He had gone through these same streets so many times he could tell you what was coming up at every intersection. Today the roads were packed with both vehicles and foot traffic. The congestion was a little more so than usual due to the continuation of a street festival and flash mobs of revelers that persisted long after sundown. The news that the aliens were on their way home was spreading around the world and in cities and towns everywhere people took to the streets to celebrate. In spite of a lack of formal first contact with the aliens the past few months had been a major milestone in human civilization and were worth celebrating.

The MRAP the soldiers were riding in creeped along while local police stood post on the streets amidst the crowds of people. Their patrol car escorts were far ahead of and behind the MRAP and could not been seen from their vantage point due to the heavy traffic. Inside the vehicle Fontaine sat quietly glancing around the interior of the MRAP while his PFC Jesse Williams sat across from him texting his girlfriend back in the States on his phone. PVT Aaron Carter, a recently arrived soldier stood watch at the top gunner's hatch. Officially Jake was supposed to be manning the top hatch but he had abdicated that job to Carter who wanted a topside view of the alien evacuation.

"Talking to Shanae-nay again?" Carter glanced down at Williams and asked.

"It's Shantay, and yeah." Williams replied, looking up from a picture of an alien ship passing over Atlantic City on its way into the upper atmosphere.

"Pussy-whipped much? You've been on that thing every spare moment of the day." chuckled Carter.

"I don't get it. They travel light years to get here, sit around a while, don't bother to land or even peek out of their fucking ships and now they just pack up and go. What? Are earthlings that fucking boring to these guys that we don't even get a wave hello?" snarkily remarked Williams in his characteristically thick Jersey accent, completely ignoring Carter in his attempts to try and mess with him.

"Maybe we're just not advanced enough for first contact. We're still using fossil fuels for Pete's sake." replied Lt. Hui, the ROK army officer traveling with them.

"Always the hippie eh, Lieutenant?" quipped Williams before looking back down at and typing on his phone.

Lt. Hui just smiled and shook his head.

"They could be afraid of us too. I mean there's this fat little video game nerd up north just itching to nuke something. I'm sure plenty of people have tried to shoot one of those things out of the sky." Fontaine added.

"Fat. Video game nerd. That about sums it up doesn't it?" laughed Lt. Hui.

"He's right though. Darth Kim Jong-douchebag and his Imperial stormtroopers have made numerous attempts to shoot one of those things out of the sky." Vargas remarked.

Fontaine and Hui both laughed heartily at the Star Wars reference imagining Kim Jong-un stuffing himself into a Darth Vader costume. Meanwhile at the gunner's station Carter was looking out the top hatch of the MRAP and watching the alien mothership along with several medium sized craft of a similar configuration to the fighters begin to ascend into the upper atmosphere. A gasp followed by a rush of conversation fell upon the crowd outside. People pointed up, took out their cell phone cameras and took pictures and video. Children asked questions and marveled. A pickpocket capitalized on the distraction by swiping a wallet right out of a businessman's pants pocket.

"I'm counting UFOs...I signal them with my lighter." PVT Carter sang as he took out his lighter and held it skyward against the backdrop of ascending alien transport craft.

"You can't sing Carter, give it up!" joked Williams.

"..and in this moment I am happy, haappppyyy..." Carter continued to sing until Williams walked over and gave him a "love tap" in the gut.

Grunting, Carter got back to his post and shooed away a drunkard charging at the MRAP screaming something in Korean about the end of the world.

"Get, get out of here fool!" Carter tried to shoo off the drunkard.

"Cornbread! Come help me out bro! I can't make sense of what this joker is saying." Carter looked down the hatch and called out to Fontaine.

Fontaine tried to make sense of the things Carter was shouting down at him to translate which were first screamed towards him by the paranoid street urchin.

"He's a crazy hobo; just tell him to go away." Fontaine said.

The only one in the vehicle who had remained quiet and seemingly unnerved the whole time was SSGT Antonio Vargas. Vargas was also the only one among them that had seen actual combat. The driver SPC Randy Pederson was getting drowsy and tuning out all the noise around him. It was more relaxed inside the MRAP when the soldiers had one of their ipods routed through the loudspeaker. Now all of the commotion from outside filtered into the cab and was quite irritating when Pederson was trying to focus on driving in dense traffic. As they crept along Pederson noticed the onboard GPS had frozen up.

"GPS is out." Pederson called back.

"It's probably just the spaceships causing disruptions with the satellites as they leave the atmosphere. I heard somewhere their propulsion system generates some kind of a magnetic field. It should all fix itself soon enough. Just keep following traffic till then." Lt. Hui replied.

"Yes sir. Not like we're going anywhere fast anyhow." Pederson acknowledged.

Overhead the ships disappeared into the night sky. The illumination of Seoul was now of a purely terrestrial origin. Once again the moon and stars could be seen by the local residents and nature once again reigned. While night as it had been known for millennia prior to alien contact returned to the world PFC Williams' phone died right before he could send a goodnight message to his fiancée.

"Damn battery! It said 60%!" Williams griped.

Adding to his frustration Williams, along with the rest of the MRAP crew was shaken as Pederson slammed on the brakes. Outside of the MRAP the entire city from horizon to horizon suddenly went dark and all the cars in front of him died lights out and everything. The packed cars stopped abruptly or coasted forward into each other. Many fender benders were heard both in front of and behind the MRAP as unprepared and blinded motorists could not react fast enough to the failure of their vehicles and loss of artificial lighting near the road. The MRAP lurched forward jolting Carter off balance into the side of the hatch when it came to a stop.

"What the hell was that?" asked Carter.

"Everything just went dark all the sudden and all the cars stopped." replied Pederson.

"If you had been paying attention you would've noticed." Williams quipped.

"Damn, Korea without lights is fucking dark man." commented Carter peeking out over the still mass of vehicles and building.

"Nice words of wisdom there Cap'n Obvious." Fontaine laughed.

He heard people get out and move about the street, dumbfounded by the situation. The confused citizens talked amongst each other and a few began to approach the MRAP in hopes that the soldiers, being in touch with the authorities knew more than they did concerning what was going on.

"Cornbread I think you should get up here. People be speaking gibberish at me and I don't know what to say." Carter called down to Fontaine.

"Best to shut that hatch for now and get strapped in. Things could get crazy." Lt. Hui told Carter.

Fontaine told Carter the words to say to dismiss the people and inform them that the Army knew no more about what was going on that they did. Once Carter had relayed the message he sealed the hatch, climbed down and strapped himself in. Moments later, before anyone in the MRAP could utter further words of bewilderment, in the distance to the west a red streak of light fell from the sky so fast that if you blinked you would've missed it. It was followed by a blinding flash that lit up the darkness in an instant. For a moment Seoul was brighter than the sun at midday. A fireball with the intensity of ten thousand suns swelled up from the point of impact at a fantastic speed with a forceful shockwave proceeding from it which toppled buildings and tossed people and vehicles as if they were mere grains of sand ahead of it. Pederson noticed a car slam into a man that had been thrown backwards into the air and winced at the sight of it. Ahead of him he could see the mass demolition of structures in the distance against the blinding glow of an expanding sphere of all consuming flame. Closer to the MRAP those buildings that were not completely ripped apart had their roofs torn off and windows shattered. Several vehicles launched from far away struck the front of the MRAP which slid back from the force of the impact and turned to face southbound before it thudded up against another vehicle behind it. When the shockwave itself struck the MRAP it too, despite its weight was knocked over on its side and pushed a significant distance until it slammed hard up against an overturned car which was smashed together with several other vehicles. The thunderous roar of the explosion boomed with deafening volume after the supersonic shockwave had already passed by. When the MRAP finally came to a rest and the violent shaking outside had settled down SSGT Vargas looked around the vehicle to check on his squad. The lights which had stayed on when everything first went dark were now off. The only light now came from the great fires raging to the west in the wake of the explosion shining in through the front window.

"Is everyone alright?" Vargas asked.

"Yeah I think so." Hui responded.

"I've got a bit of a headache but I'll manage." Carter sounded off.

"Fine." said Williams.

"I'm ok but I'm not so sure about Pederson. I think he's dead." Fontaine called back after peeking into the driver's area and seeing a mangled steel plate ripped from the back of a garbage truck that had smashed through the window with tremendous force whose corner had impaled Pederson at the base of the neck. The entire front of the MRAP was badly smashed in and nearly impossible to access at this time.

"I can't really get to him though with how fucked up the front is though." Fontaine added.

Vargas unbuckled himself from the seat, took out his flashlight and went to check on Pederson.

"Looks pretty gruesome. He sure ain't getting up from that." Vargas commented when seeing what had become of the driver.

Hui got out of his seat and surveyed the crushed mess that was the top front section of the MRAP.

"There's no way we can get him out of there in one piece as it stands now. We'll come back for the body when we can open this tin can up." Hui advised.

"Agreed. We at least owe his family a clean corpse." Vargas lamented briefly then turned to the others to attend to the pressing concerns of the here and now.

"Everyone gather up any equipment we can use. Williams, check the rear door." Vargas ordered.

The soldiers unbuckled and carefully found their footing in the overturned vehicle, taking caution not to drop out of their seats. They each looked around the vehicle as Vargas had instructed while Williams went to the back and tried to get the rear door open but it only spread a couple inches before meeting a pile of mangled vehicles and a fallen light pole.

"It's not budging." Williams called back.

Hui opened the top hatch to reveal an open path outside. With how the MRAP was positioned now the top hatch was actually on the side now.

"We can get out through the gunners hatch." Hui reported.

"Alright. Good deal sir." Vargas replied.

"Now what do we have men?" Vargas asked.

"A few shotguns complete with rubber bullets, canteens, flashlights, some riot gear and some tear gas canisters." Carter replied.

"Damn liberals...can't even trust the fucking army to carry live ammo." Vargas complained.

Fontaine handed Carter and Williams a gun and kept one for himself. Fontaine helped Williams out of the MRAP then crawled out himself. Williams steadied Fontaine as he hopped onto the street and both of them waited to help down the next person who came through the hatch.

"To be fair we were out here to deal with potential civil unrest, not an asteroid." Hui commented before he helped Carter out then followed suit behind him.

Vargas was the last one out of the vehicle to join the others who were staring out at the devastation. Behind them their MRAP was buried beneath a garbage truck and two cars now smashed beyond recognition. In front of and behind them the buildings were still pretty much intact but when they turned and faced the west everything was leveled to the ground in a manner resembling the Tunguska incident had it occurred in an urban setting. Further out towards the heart of Seoul the fires still raged, reflecting their fury against the thick black smoke blotting out the night sky. At the core of their devastation a mushroom cloud rose up like a great oak tree and spread a thick coating of blackened soot to blot out the moon and stars which so briefly had returned to shine down about the people of Seoul only to be hidden away again.

"Dear God..." Vargas mumbled awestruck with fear.

Hui exhaled deeply and coughed from the smoke. The air was thick with ash, dust and brightly shining embers swirling in the convection currents caused by the heat of the impact which at its core had struck with such intensity as to vaporize the ground itself and change the local topography. Each of the soldiers' throats burned from inhaling hot particles of ash which caused them to cough painfully. The embers that touched their skin and clothing seared small dots into the fabric or felt like tiny stings against the skin.

"Do you think it was E.T. or the fat Nintendo nerd that did this?" Carter asked, trying in futility to overcome the shock of the situation.

"Nintendo nerd...I hope. E.T. wouldn't make any sense now would it?" answered Williams, his voice cracking with fear.

It wasn't sense that led Williams to believe this but hope. It was a fool's hope without a doubt but hope that Williams clung to nonetheless. North Korea striking Seoul with a nuke in the midst of a UFO scare, that just affects things here, reasoned Williams. Aliens however were a different story. They wouldn't be content with simply striking an army base in the heart of Seoul. An alien invasion would likely be global in scope leaving no region of the world untouched. The thought of this attack going beyond a strike on Seoul raced through Williams mind and struck his very soul with paralyzing fear. The fear that this could've happened to Shantay back in the States scared him more than the danger of his present predicament. He had survived the worst of it he thought, but could she? The imminent danger he was in soon snapped him away from his worry once Vargas began barking out orders.

"Williams, go get those gas masks out of the MRAP, we're gonna need them," Vargas ordered.

"Yes sir." Williams replied and went to fetch the gas masks.

Vargas wiped his eyes that had started to water up from the superheated particulates in the air and put his hand on Fontaine's shoulder who was staring dumbfounded into the west. Fontaine was simply at a loss for the moment. The crisis hadn't even registered in his mind. What he was seeing felt like a video game, not real life. It was just all too much to process right now.

"We need to get out of here. Try and find survivors and head east for now. If this thing was nuclear we need to get as far away from the fallout as possible." Vargas instructed the group.

"Breathing in this smoke isn't good for us either. So everyone don their gas masks until we get further away." Vargas instructed the group as Williams emerged from the MRAP with their masks and began handing them out.

The group turned to him and nodded then donned their masks. Without a word they turned east down the devastated street and headed away from the smoldering center of Seoul still engulfed in a mighty pillar of flame.

Chapter II: Survivors

4 Oct 2153 KST

The MRAP lay wedged in a pile of wrecked vehicles tossed backwards from the explosion. Its occupants had emerged into a world very different from the one they had known only mere minutes ago. Smoke and dust filled the air in Gangdong District following the impact at the heart of Seoul. Overhead a thick blanket of smoke spread out from over the impact site and choked out the moonlight. The only light to be seen was from the fires burning both in the distance and in and around the damaged buildings and vehicles in their midst. The fires gave an ominous haze to the fine smoke and gases drifting through the streets and alleys around them. Burning embers danced like fireflies on the breeze. The streets were nearly desolate in the area around the MRAP. Everyone who was in any condition to move had already fled far out of sight of the soldiers before they had exited the vehicle. Only the dead and wounded remained, cast out on the ground or entombed within their vehicles. The soldiers looked around and spread out to examine the damage more closely while staying close enough together to stay in contact.

The soldiers checked the bodies on the ground and peered into cars as they advanced eastward as a whole, often finding grisly results but few survivors. They had much to be thankful for it seemed as the strength and weight of the MRAP had spared their lives from the force that doomed those in cars to certain death. Of those that survived most were unconscious or could barely walk. They pulled a few people out of the cars and helped injured pedestrians get into a more comfortable position. The soldiers had grouped the survivors together against buildings for when emergency crews would arrive, assuming emergency crews would arrive in due time. When exactly they could not be sure for there was undoubtedly much for them to do in Seoul this night.

"This one's dead." Carter reported, checking the body of a businessman lying on his back in the street.

"These too." Fontaine added after checking two college age boys slumped up against an abandoned newsstand.

"I've got a breather over here!" Williams called out after examining and elderly man sitting against a van further down the street.

Vargas and Fontaine rushed over to help. Williams was right, he was breathing but looked awfully tore up. His right arm was completely limp and blood stains were on his knees and abdomen. His face was scratched up a bit from flying shards of glass and his mouth oozed blood from teeth that were knocked loose when the shockwave knocked him onto the ground. Vargas and Fontaine looked at each other, then at Williams and then all three looked down at the wounded man. Williams and Vargas each reached under the man's arms from both sides and Fontaine steadied him as he was lifted up. As the soldiers started to move him the old man regained consciousness. He struggled to speak but only managed to cough, choking on his blood and the smoke tinged with smoldering particulate embers in the air.

"Here, take this." Vargas said to the man removing his gas mask and placing it on the elderly gentleman.

The old man didn't understand his words but appreciated the gesture as he breathed in easier, still struggling against his own weakness. They laid the old man against the wall of an intact building on the side of the street next to a young woman, unconscious but alive that Lt. Hui had pulled from the wreckage of a vehicle. As they moved further east more of the buildings they saw were more completely intact. Scorched and shaken buildings replaced demolished buildings or those with their roofs and upper floors ripped off. Looking further away from them towards the east the vehicles too ceased to be as badly wrecked, twisted, mangled and jumbled together in overturned clusters. Instead the vehicles they could see far ahead of them were just sitting neatly in rows as they had been when sitting in the night's traffic, neatly parked and abandoned. The soldiers now could even start to see movement of people ahead of them illuminated by a large number of flashlights and glow sticks. At the edge of their vision down the street a great throng of live and active people were pushing their way through each other to escape from ground zero. As the soldiers continued to approach the crowd more and more of the people they discovered along the way were alive as well. Vargas found a woman trapped in her car amidst one of the piled on wrecks. Fontaine sprinted to her aid and was trying to talk to the screaming woman, instructing her to calm down. Meanwhile she kept shouting and pounding on the windshield.

"It's leaking gas." Vargas said after inspecting the vehicle.

"We have to get her out." he continued ordering his men into action.

After the soldiers failed to pry open any of the doors which were too banged in and wedged into other vehicles, Vargas decided to smash the windshield and bring her out that way. Fontaine calmly instructed the woman to shield her face. Then Vargas using the butt of one of the shotguns smashed the windshield, shattering it entirely. He and the other soldiers near him cleanly pushed in the parts of the windshield that remained in place and swept off as much of the jagged glass as they could. Vargas and Fontaine then pulled the woman to safety using the jacket Williams had pulled off a dead man's body to protect her arms and legs from razor sharp glass as she climbed through the window. Meanwhile Lt. Hui noticed the number of survivors trapped within their vehicles or buried under rubble that had been abandoned by the denizens of Gangdong District in their flight were many.

"There's too many survivors still trapped here, we'll never get to them all. We need help." Lt. Hui stated.

"I'm inclined to agree Lieutenant. Do you know where a hospital or fire station is around here?" asked Vargas.

"No. I'm afraid I do not. I grew up in Busan and never set foot in Seoul till a month ago when I was assigned to Yongsan Garrison. I've been a bit of a shut-in there as well, a workaholic, you might say." Hui answered regretfully.

Fontaine removed his gas mask and handed it to Vargas. "I know where a hospital is, at the most maybe 5 clicks from here. I can go and get help, besides I'm the only one other than the Lieutenant that speaks the local language well enough to get people to listen." Fontaine told Vargas.

He was right; this part of Gangdong District was very Korean in all respects. There were few English speakers here and even fewer that spoke the shared language with their American allies well enough to effectively communicate in a crisis. Fontaine was probably the best man for the job, and given that his physique was the most lacking among the unit he also served the least value when it came to the feats of strength and endurance required to carry the bodies of numerous invalids to safety.

"Very well. Go and get help and be quick about it. We'll try and find as many survivors as we can. If we're not here when you get back or circumstances prevent you from reaching us we will rendezvous at the intersection of the 43 and the 100 at 0200." Vargas replied.

Fontaine nodded following Vargas' instructions and hurried away.

"Good luck soldier." Vargas called out to him as he left and the rest of the team continued to scour the area for survivors.

Fontaine made his way northeast from the rest of his squad's position. The once bright city streets to which Fontaine and become so familiar with were now unsettlingly dark. With the flames more distant and fewer in number the blackness of the night was overpowering but not for long. He soon found a field of glowsticks and flashlight beams guiding him towards a vast crowd of frightened citizens. When he reached these lights the streets he traversed now were full of people, most of whom were trying to flee to safety, at least places they thought to be safe. As with any disaster situation there were a decent number of looters, vandals and miscreants amongst the crowd as well. The few police officers trying to maintain order were largely ineffective against the chaos. They simply did not have the numbers to stop all the laws that were being broken en masse before their very eyes. Fistfights and angry shoving matches erupted as men and women tried to force their way ahead of the crowd. A young woman found herself knocked down and trampled to death by the mob in the process. A man came out of a hardware store with battery powered floodlights and distributed them to families and groups simply trying to avoid the madness. Further down the way a group of youths bolted out of a 7-Eleven with their arms full of snacks, one of them spilling a Slurpee all over himself as he tripped over the curb in his dash to get away. Fontaine ignored the crowds and kept his distance from those acting like scared and foolish animals as best he could. He approached one of the police officers that was shouting at another group that was smashing windows without cause to cease their actions and disperse.

"Everyone please proceed in an orderly manner." was a phrase Fontaine heard bellowed out over and over again. A phrase that was often spoken but rarely heeded. Nonetheless the crowd did continue to drift along forward, pressing its way east away from where the meteor bomb had struck.

"Excuse me officer, are you in contact with emergency services?" asked Fontaine in Korean.

The officer laughed. "We are emergency services son." the officer replied.

"All our equipment on when the bomb dropped was fried." the officer explained.

"Now I'd love to help you but as you can see we can't handle what we have going on right in front of us." the officer told Fontaine.

"Hey! You two break it up! No pushing! We'll all get out of here faster if we stay calm and proceed in an orderly fashion." the officer turned and shouted at a section of the mob that started to become unruly.

"Alright, I'm sorry to have bothered you. If you happen to see any medical personnel or get a working radio please send help over that way. My squad has located a number of survivors just down that way to the west, many of which are in bad shape and need medical attention." Fontaine asked the officer.

"We'll do what we can." the officer replied then turned his attention back to the crowd.

"Thank you." Fontaine said before rushing off again towards the location of the hospital he remembered seeing on a previous trip through this part of town.

Fontaine joined the herd; he had to, at least for a while in order to get to where he was going. There were so many people packed tightly together here brushing up and pressing against each other. The heat of so many bodies packed up against each other was making him sweat. Ahead of him the twinkling river of tiny lights and dirty, sweaty bodies flowed like a river of molasses down a hill. The flickers of flashlights, fires, glow sticks and other weak sources of light guided the seemingly endless throng along its path. Fontaine ignored the obvious pickpockets and perverts copping feels in the crowd and continued to mush on.

Fontaine made his way through the crowds to the point where he would break from the evacuation route and now was heading due north. The bulk of the great herd of humanity was still heading east thankfully and was starting to thin out a little as he proceeded on his way. The gradual reduction in the numbers of people around did little to aid the pace of his movement as he was now going against the flow. With the thinning of the crowds the light sources that broke the blackness lessened with the crowds. After Fontaine was temporarily blinded by a bright flashlight shining right at him held by a man traveling in the opposite direction it took his eyes a few minutes to readjust to the low light conditions.

Not too much further the numbers in the throng started to drop off drastically but so did the presence of police protection. There was no one here to even speak up against the random acts of cruelty and violence that spattered onto the scene to victimize a mostly law abiding crowd. Jake watched a man get sucker punched to the ground and then robbed. He wanted to help but couldn't get through the crowd in time. Even further north Jake was able to start picking out the faces of people he saw as their numbers became even more diminished. He surveyed the streets taking note of the good, the bad, and the ugly which he saw until another bright flashlight once again shone directly in his eyes for a second or two. After rubbing his eyes and squinting he turned his attention in the direction the light had come from. A block ahead of him he noticed a young teenage girl carrying that very flashlight that was in his eyes several seconds ago. Her brightly colored jacket and goofy backpack caught his attention and stood out to him though it was nothing unusual for Seoul fashion scene. She was heading in the opposite direction as Fontaine, towards the crowd while wagging the flashlight side to side in front of her. Before Fontaine took his eyes off her and on to the next person that drew his attention all the sudden two men burst out of a music store beside where she was walking and knocked her over. One of the men dropped the stack of CD's and cash he was carrying upon colliding with the girl. He cursed something in Korean and turned to his partner.

"Pick them up you asshole!" his partner told him.

"Let's take this bitch back with us too." the first man shouted pointing at the girl he had bowled over.

The second man shrugged as if to say "Oh well, whatever. Go for it." while the first man tried to seize the young woman on the ground. She resisted and scratched her attackers face when he knelt over and tried to pick her up in a tight hold. She broke the hold before it was placed on her and her nails drew blood from the man's face but this only infuriated him more.

"Why you little bitch!" the first man snarled.

The first man stomped down hard on the side of the girl's right knee causing it to snap out of socket and bend upwards unnaturally. Fontaine winced at the sight of the dislocation as if he could feel the young woman's pain as she yelped out in insufferable agony. Fontaine couldn't allow himself to be a bystander to this. He had seen society break down a little tonight but this time he felt as if he had to do something about it.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted, charging towards them like the proverbial knight in shining armor, albeit his armor was dusty army fatigues which weren't shiny in the least.

"Shut the fuck up you cocky American dickweed!" the second man called back, setting down his loot and cracking his fists in anticipation of a fight.

The first main stooped over to hoist up the girl, now whimpering in pain on the ground with tears welling up in her eyes. In a moment of clarity Fontaine stopped his mindless charge and shot the first man in the stomach with a rubber bullet, knocking the wind out of him before he got to the girl. The first man staggered back clutching his abdomen as he tried to breathe again. Fontaine cocked his weapon again and took aim at the second man. The look on his face was dead serious; there was no denying that he meant business.

"Both of you leave now!" he commanded sternly.

"Ah shit man. This ain't worth it. Let's get out of here." the second man griped, running off and leaving his loot and his friend behind.

"Wait for me fool!" the first man grunted then gasped.

The first man pulled himself to his feet and hobbled after his partner, later picking up speed when his breathing resumed its regular pattern. Fontaine then ran over to check on the girl. Her knee didn't look so good. He was no doctor but he definitely knew that it didn't look right.

"Are you ok?" he asked kneeling down next to her.

She giggled a bit and tried to get up. Fontaine was puzzled, that wasn't exactly the response he was expecting.

"Are you alright? Can you still walk on it?" he asked.

"Your accent is terrible." the girl laughed, speaking in perfect English.

"Oh, you speak English?" Fontaine asked.

"Better than you speak Korean." the girl replied trying again to get up but her wounded knee wasn't having it.

Her knee gave out as soon as she put a noticeable portion of her weight upon it. "Whoa." Fontaine said catching the girl before she slipped down.

"They might have dislocated your knee or something, let me help you." Fontaine said.

He helped the girl to her feet and supported her on the side she was hurt on. He steadied her and allowed her to rest her weight against his body.

"Yeah. It hurts pretty bad when I try to put pressure on it." the girl told him.

"Listen, I'm heading to a hospital myself. I can take you there if you'd like. You really need to get that leg checked out." Fontaine offered.

"Yeah. That would be nice." the girl answered looking over at him.

When her eyes met his she tried to crack a smile through the pain.

"Alright. Now just take it easy, let me do the heavy lifting here. We'll get there." Fontaine reassured her as they prepared to set off.

She tried limping along using Fontaine as a crutch but it still was difficult, uncomfortable and they were unable to move very fast. Fontaine then had a different idea on how to go about moving the wounded woman.

"Here, hold this." he said handing the girl his shotgun.

She took the gun and looked back at Jake as he prepared to lift her up and carry her.

"Ready, one, two, and up!" Fontaine said before he hefted the girl into his arms and held her at chest level.

Fontaine was surprised he was actually capable of lifting someone up like that. He honestly didn't know he had it in him. All of that Army PT must have really started to pay off he thought. It didn't keep him from looking a little soft around the mid-section but damn it gave him some upper body strength. Now she really wasn't that heavy to begin with but still it was a human being we are talking about here and not a duffel bag full of rocks, it doesn't take as much for something to feel heavy when dealing with live weight Jake told himself. After marveling at his own strength for long enough Jake resumed his trek towards the hospital.

"Thanks for helping out with those guys back there." the girl said after a period of silence lasting several city blocks had passed. By this time the crowds had dispersed and only light foot traffic remained.

"No problem. I wasn't going to let anyone get hurt in front of me. Not on my watch you know?" Fontaine said in a most awkward fashion.

"My name's Hyuna if you were wondering." the girl told him.

"Oh, um... I'm uh, Jacob, Jacob Fontaine. Nice to meet you Hyuna." Fontaine replied.

Hyuna giggled and looked over at him. "Again, your Korean is terrible, army boy. Can't even get my name right." she joked.

"We can use English if it's more comfortable for you. I'm perfectly capable." she said with a wink and a grin.

"What's the American army doing out in Gangdong district anyways?" she asked.

"We were on patrol helping the locals keep calm in the city. Actually I'm a translator in the army, that's why I was taken along." Fontaine explained.

"Really?" Hyuna laughed

"I wouldn't have guessed, seriously." she joked.

"Maybe it isn't your Korean that's bad, maybe you just can't talk to girls huh?" Hyuna speculated goading Fontaine in the process.

"No it's not that. I talk to girls all the time. It's all this stuff that's been going on that has me all scatterbrained. You know, aliens, nukes and shit." Fontaine awkwardly replied as if his manhood had just been wounded.

"Sure." Hyuna said sarcastically.

"Really, that's it." Fontaine insisted. "Even if I was uncomfortable with the ladies, which I'm not, that wouldn't have any bearing with you. You're just a kid. What are you like 12?" said Fontaine in response.

"Ahem, I'm 19 and in University." Hyuna responded, feigning insult.

Fontaine didn't retort to her comment, thinking not to cause offense with something that could be misconstrued as a racist comment against Asian women.

"Honestly all the alien stuff doesn't surprise me in the least." Hyuna confessed as they rounded a curve in the road where it started up a hill.

"Seriously? Most people have been saying it's like one of the biggest events in the history of mankind. All the freak-outs in major cities seem to have attested to that for sure." Fontaine inquired.

"Yes it's a big deal, but it shouldn't be so big of a shock. With how big the universe is there has to be more than just one intelligent race of beings out there. If we were all there was then why the heck make the universe so big? I'm actually surprised we hadn't had visitors sooner." Hyuna told him.

"My father took me out to an observatory once when I was little and I kinda got into all the space stuff from then on." she added with a slight laugh.

"Oh ok." Fontaine replied for lack of anything better to say.

At that moment six alien fighters flying in formation streaked overhead going northbound. The blue glow of the craft momentarily illuminated the dark street below and reflected against the ash laden sky canopy above. Fontaine looked up and followed the craft with his eyes as they quickly faded into the horizon.

"The zoomies are back." he commented.

"Zoomies? You call them zoomies?" Hyuna asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Fontaine replied.

"On the news your president called them beamers. I figured that was the standard American terminology for them." Hyuna answered.

"Meh, I didn't vote for the guy." said Fontaine.

Hyuna laughed a little. "For a shy little American army boy, you're funny you know that?" Hyuna quipped.

"Um...ok." Fontaine replied letting his uneasiness with Hyuna's overt friendliness show through.

Getting compliments from girls, even those he wasn't particularly interested in felt weird. It wasn't uneasiness in general like Hyuna had implied it just seemed odd. He wasn't much of a person deserving of compliments to begin with and well it just felt out of place. Well tonight was a night in which all sorts of things that weren't supposed to make sense had happened so why not.

Hyuna giggled again at his blank awkward response. "Anyways I actually think those things look like butterflies, pretty blue glowing butterflies." Hyuna told him.

The two of them continued making small talk with each other off and on to pass the time as they made their way up the hill and further down the road. They passed through and around sporadic groups and throngs of people occasionally, sometimes having to detour with the chaos got too thick for them. The flows of humanity were like streams flowing into rivers and they were like salmon swimming against the current, that is if salmon could also hop up on shore and flop their way around the rapids until they got to calmer waters upstream.

Eventually they reached the hospital parking lot; it was busier than it had ever been. There were people laid out on temporary mats across the parking lot with lower level nursing staff and orderlies making rounds tending to them as best they could. Along the road more wounded were being brought in using converted food carts, toy wagons, shopping carts, dollies and makeshift rickshaws. To their surprise the main hospital building still had its lights on.

"Must have a backup generator running or something." commented Fontaine.

"Well let's first get you to a doctor. Then I've got to find someone to help with the other survivors my squad had found." Fontaine said.

As they walked towards the hospital seeking anyone that could assist them an alien fighter passed overhead and went to the southeast. Many in the hospital crowded turned and watched as it shot out some kind of energy sphere that detonated in a massive burst southeast of them. The force of the blast shook the ground beneath them and kicked up the dust that had begun to settle from the initial bombardment back into the air.

"That looked like it was in the direction of Cheonho bridge." Fontaine commented.

"I don't think the beamers are friendly anymore." Hyuna added.

"Ah...yeah..." Fontaine sighed in despair.

There was no doubt who was behind the attack on Seoul. No longer could people seek strange comfort in blaming a fat douchey video game nerd wielding imperial authority in the North. The attack clearly had originated beyond this world and it was far from finished. A second wave of alien aggression had been initiated. For Fontaine and Hyuna, and indeed the whole city, their troubles had just begun.


	3. Chapter 3: Triage

Chapter III: Triage

5 Oct 0030 KST

SSGT Vargas had just met up with a group of survivors who had fled from an area closer to ground zero. They were about two dozen in number, mostly men in their twenties and thirties. Lt. Hui stood next to Vargas translating for one of the survivors while Williams and Carter were still tearing apart cars looking for survivors. "They say there's a column of soldiers heading this way with several functioning APC's. They're bringing survivors from Gwangjin district with them but should have plenty of space left in the vehicles to move our wounded as the fatalities were much higher on that side of the river." Hui explained, relaying the information the survivors told him. "Good. Hopefully Fontaine sends back some assistance as well. We've almost done all we can." Vargas told Hui. He then thanked the survivors and wished them luck on their way. At that time the lone beamer streaked across the sky and bombed the Cheonho bridge, were the troop column was expected to be by now according to the survivors accounts. A slight shockwave followed the bright flash and explosion but was miniscule compared to the earlier bombardment. Vargas cursed under his breath and turned to the other soldiers. "Now we know who the enemy is." he declared. "If I was to wager a guess I'd say we've just been hit with a kind of variable-yield tactical nuke, a neutron bomb based on the strength of that shockwave. They just took out the bridge, and our backup, but we can't stay here." Vargas announced then turned specifically to Lt. Hui. "Can you ask these people to help with the evacuation of survivors? Start with those that are most mobile and likely to make it out of here. Tell the rest of the survivors that someone will be back for them. Lie to them if you have to." Vargas told him. Hui nodded and relayed the request to the group of survivors from Gwanjin district. He then instructed Williams and Carter to do the same. The survivor group and the soldiers then started to make their way east, towards the rendezvous point where they expected Fontaine to be waiting for them.

Back at the hospital Fontaine tried to enlist help from the nurses and volunteers bringing in the wounded on his way to find a doctor for Hyuna. Each time he was brushed aside, told to wait his turn or told that they were too busy to help. They found a doctor checking a young toddler's ankle. "It looks like he just twisted it. Keep him off it for a while and he'll be ok." the doctor told the boy's mother then hurried away. "Excuse me, doctor." called Fontaine. "What is it?" the doctor replied, looking away from his next patient towards him. "She's hurt her knee pretty bad, can you help her?" asked Fontaine. The doctor gave Hyuna's leg a cursory glance "Probably going to have to set it and put it in a brace, if that doesn't work she might have to go in for surgery later on. Hard to tell without a functioning X-ray machine." the doctor mused. "Set her down over there and someone will be around when they get a chance." the doctor instructed them and immediately went on to the next patient. "Will have to amputate below the elbow. Not going to make it. Don't bother. I don't see anything wrong with this one. Get some bandages for this kid." the doctor rattled of orders to the head nurse following him quickly one after another. Fontaine wasn't even given a chance to ask about the survivors his squad had found. He set Hyuna down beside a parked non-functioning ambulance that was being used as a makeshift operating room. He then flagged down a group of men bringing in a rickshaw filled with bloody, badly wounded people pulling up to the back of the ambulance. He helped the men move the patients behind the ambulance then turned to one of the men. "Excuse me. There's a large group of survivors just east of the intersection of Jinhwangdo-ro and Seongan-ro." Fontaine started to ask. "That's too far away. We've got too many wounded coming in from nearby too go out that far right now." The man interrupted. "The veterans hospital is closer to there. They might have the staff available to help?" suggested one of the other men before they took the rickshaw and left. Despondent, Fontaine went back along the ambulance as another pair of beamers flew overhead and dropped bombs likely somewhere over the river in Gwangjin district. Another squadron of beamers flew over them to the north. Fontaine stopped and watched the sky as more alien craft descended and darted away. The number and frequency of the craft was increasing rapidly it seemed. They all seemed to ignore the mass of civilians at the hospital as well as all the people fleeing to the south and east. In fact from Fontaine's viewpoint it looked like all the air strikes were avoiding Gangdong district entirely, as if they were pushing the survivors of the initial attack away and gathering them all on the east side of the river. He tried not to concern himself too much with alien strategy at the moment as it only made him more afraid of the situation. Fontaine sighed and shrugged his shoulders. It was getting late and he thought he might miss the rendezvous if he tried to make it to the veteran's hospital but he had still presumed to try. He started walking away from the ambulance when a voice called out to him. "Wait.. don't leave me here by myself." said Hyuna as Fontaine passed by. Fontaine sighed and looked down. "I guess I can make the rendezvous after all." he thought to himself as he sat down beside her. "I'm just going to wait here a few minutes until they take care of your leg ok? Then I've got to go find my unit." Fontaine told her. Hyuna nodded. "I understand. Thank you." she said. He sat down next to her and watched the sky as the beamers raced overhead like fireflies in the night.


	4. Chapter 4: Counter Punch

Chapter IV: Counter Punch

5 Oct 0055 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Vargas and his squad pressed onward towards the rendezvous point. The increased air traffic unnerved the survivors, the civilians reflecting it more so. Williams also was visibly troubled. He knew now that his girlfriend back home was almost certainly in the line of fire, same as he was. They reached the main group of people fleeing the city where foot traffic almost came to a standstill. When the bombing began the looting and petty vandalism nearly ceased and the frenzied mob became single-mindedly focused on getting away as fast as they could. The soldiers and those carrying the wounded turned south, which was the only way they could go without being trampled. Then a familiar sound roared overhead. It wasn't a beamer that gave them a flyby but a human aircraft, an old Chinese MiG. It raced off into the west where it opened fire on a pair of beamers that easily dodged the missiles whose guidance systems appeared to no longer function. The plane then unleashed a barrage of gunfire, managing to take some skin off one of the beamers before the other went straight up, performed an impossible vertical turn on a dime and descended straight down on the MiG firing energy bolts that tore straight through the plane causing it to explode. The soldiers looking on had their hopes dashed almost as quickly as they were raised. "Was that one of ours?" asked Carter. "No. Chinese, or probably North Korean." replied Hui. "They probably had some of their equipment somewhere that was shielded from the effects on an EMP." Vargas suggested. "Or wasn't as reliant on electronics to begin with, that particular type of MiG is quite obsolete, which is why I thought North Korea. The Chinese wouldn't be using something so out of date." Hui added. The soldiers made their way under a highway and continued south to southeast as best they could. To the south they could hear explosions. They were still too far to see the fires of the explosions themselves but could still the bright bluish-white flashes that lit up the black canopy of night every time a detonation occurred. Here the roads were deserted in stark contrast to the crowds that packed the streets just a few blocks north of the highway. As the group approached the intersection of a major surface road a convoy of seven old canvas covered deuce and a half trucks full of soldiers and civilians drove past them. One of the soldiers shouted something and the convoy came to a halt. The American soldiers and the other survivors with them were shocked to see functioning vehicles after what they had experienced over the course of the night. Now that the vehicles were stopped the group could see who and what each was carrying. The rear truck was halfway full of ROK soldiers and three rear trucks ahead of it were carrying civilians and the wounded to varying degrees of capacity. The next truck ahead in the convoy was full of crates and the two trucks in the front of the convoy were carrying soldiers along with a handful of plain clothes civilians. At the head of the convoy were a pair of vintage jeeps from the 50's or 60's. A Korean army officer and his subordinate stepped out from the passenger side of the cab of the second truck, walked around the back of it where they were joined by five enlisted soldiers and headed towards the group of survivors. "Everyone stay where you are. We're here to help." ordered the subordinate officer as the pair approached the survivors. Lt. Hui turned and relayed the command to the American soldiers. "If the most wounded among you would please be brought to the front of your group." the junior officer instructed. Three of the Korean soldiers approached the American soldiers and took the wounded persons that they were bearing to one of the trucks. The senior officer looked over the survivors and took a deep breath then turned to the three soldiers. "Greetings American soldiers. I am Major Yu Kyu-won and this my lieutenant Seo Dae-sung. I would be hoping that our meeting would come with better circumstances." the major introduced himself in decent enough English so that they could understand. "If you are not already knowing your base has been annihilated." he informed the soldiers. "I figured as much sir, just didn't want to believe it." replied Vargas. "Say, how did you guys get vehicles up and running so quick?" asked Vargas. "This is Korea. We have lived in the shadow of nuclear war for over half a century. We have equipment hidden for protection in case of an attack. These trucks are old and hardened, the blast will not disable them." Major Yu explained. "Most of my men were with me in a bunker near Seongnam standing ready since the visitors came in case something like this happened. That is how we managed to mobilize so quickly when this began." Yu continued. "We've spent most of the night trying to get these civilians to safety. We were hoping to try for the veteran's hospital. Some of them are pretty badly banged up." Vargas explained. "Veteran's hospital has been abandoned. We are relocating civilians to Seongnam. We will take them to get treatment there. As for you I have need of your service." Major Yu explained. "Our orders sir?" asked Vargas. "When the attack began we lost all communications. Even those we thought had survived the EMP were being scrambled by some kind of active interference. In the weeks before the attack we spread out several units in strong places. Large enough to respond effectively but small enough we hoped they would be ignored by the visitors if they proved to be hostile. We have no knowledge of any of the other groups placed outside Seoul. What's worse the bombing is making it difficult if not impossible to move. What we need you for is to help punch a hole in the enemy's air cover so we can get people through to link up with other units that may be still operating around the city." Major Yu informed them. "I'm assuming you've got the equipment to do this. Our rubber bullets won't make a dent in those things." Williams remarked. "Was that plane yours?" Carter asked. "No. I do not know where that plane came from, though it shows us there are indeed others in the fight as well." the major answered. "Don't you worry about equipment. We have several shoulder mounted stinger missiles with us." Major Yu continued. "Now, even though these missiles were in a shielded bunker their guidance systems are useless against the visitor's craft. They must use some kind of passive interference or countermeasures we don't know about." the major explained. "So, which of you has the best aim when it really counts?" Yu asked. "Been hunting all my life and I do pretty damn good on the range." answered Carter. "With all due respect I must be honest sir. We're exhausted and neither of my men have ever fired a weapon in actual combat. However, PVT Carter is an excellent marksman and I have absolute confidence in his ability." Vargas added. "Nonsense. You will come with us. I have something else for PVT Carter and the other one" said Major Yu. While the major was briefing the soldiers Lt. Seo was getting what civilians he could loaded into the trucks. The rest, the most healthy men among the survivors he directed them to take the same route to Seongnam and that they would return for them after they had dropped off the wounded, women and children at the refugee center that had been established in Seongnam early on. The soldiers were led by the major alongside the trucks to the three in the front. "Major one more thing if you would, we have a man that we sent out for medical assistance earlier tonight. He was to rendezvous with us at 0200 where the 100 and 43 meet." Vargas spoke up. "We'll send someone to pick him up as soon as we can." Major Yu replied before Vargas had finished speaking. "Lt. Hui, go with the civilians and make sure they arrive safely." ordered Major Yu as the civilian vehicles were getting ready to depart. Hui joined a pair of Korean soldiers and boarded one of the civilian trucks while Vargas was directed to one of the trucks full of soldiers. The three civilian bearing trucks got out of line soon after and passed around the convoy to continue on. Lt. Seo directed Carter and Williams to one of the jeeps where a man in jeans and a soiled white and grey flannel shirt got out. "This is Guen Tae-won, one of our engineers. You will be going with him." Lt. Seo told the pair then left them to join Yu and the other soldiers. "Where are we going?" asked Carter as they got into the jeep. "The troops are going to give us a pause in the carpet bombing to the west. When that happens we slip past the enemy air cover and head towards Incheon linking up with other units and gathering as many men as we can along the way. You two are going to drive any functioning vehicle we might pick up en route." Tae-won explained. The military deuce and a halves were now going around the jeeps and moving their fighters into position. "Won't they just bomb us once the diversion's over though? I don't think a few missiles is going to give us much time to get all the way to Incheon from here." Carter inquired. "From what we can tell the enemy's strategy in this area seems to be one of containment but only in a limited sense. Aside from certain areas they are only striking at our fighting hardware like tanks, APC's, artillery, anti-aircraft vehicles and what have you. Something like a jeep or an unarmed truck they ignore. So what we hope is that once we are clear of the enemy's "line" they won't bother giving chase." Tae-won explained. "I won't say it isn't a gamble." he confessed as he put the jeep into gear. "That's reassuring." Carter sarcastically remarked. "We picked up a group of survivors from Gangnam district that crossed the line earlier tonight. If they can make it so can we right?" Tae-won reassured him. The jeeps then started heading southbound at a distance behind the civilians until the civilian trucks turned southeast. The jeeps continued on, turning west later on. A handful of civilian stragglers, looters and others still remained on the streets and holed up in the abandoned buildings. Williams was still despondent and quiet. He had hardly said a word since the attack began. Sheer exhaustion and an effort to focus solely on the task ahead kept his most worrisome thoughts at bay. Nonetheless, the emotions those thoughts would carry still haunted him. Carter was more clear headed it seemed but his concentration was starting to drift away as fatigue set in. By the time the jeep turned west the soldiers could see the intense bombardment on the horizon start to slow down. Within a few minutes the bombardment had ceased all but for a sparse sprinkling of smaller explosions to the northwest. "They've stopped with the nukes it looks like." Tae-won told his sleepy crew. "See over there, those are conventional explosions for sure." Tae-won said pointing to the light bombardment to the northwest. Ahead of them the twinkling lights of the beamers loomed over the bombed out skyline. He accelerated towards the enemy's aerial line, hoping by the time he got there that an opening would have been created.

A couple miles to the north Vargas sat quietly as the trucks meandered through the city streets heading west by slightly southwest. Despite his physical exhaustion his senses were hyper aware. The steady vibration of the vehicle felt oddly relaxing between. A handful of conversations amongst the Korean soldiers faded into unintelligible noise over the hum of the engine. Ahead of them a row enemy fighters congregated over the city skyline. A few fighters hovered in a widely spaced line stretching off to the north whilst the majority of them made wide circles over several kilometers. At regular intervals one fighter would come to a stop and another one would take off on patrol. Occasionally a few fighters would fly away to the north and disappear. It wasn't long before they were close enough to see the glow from the underside of the fighters shining onto the ground around them. The squad leader began repeating instructions in Korean to the soldiers in the truck. Outside the thundering of explosive detonations ceased giving more of an air of calm to the situation. Minutes later the soldiers would be placed into position. The trucks would now slow down to a crawl or stop, the squad leader would repeat a quick command and one soldier would get out, run to the supply truck where he was handed a shoulder fired missile. Then he would dart away into a nearby structure as the trucks sped up and rolled away. The pattern was repeated several times as the trucks went around the area locating ideal locations for the soldiers to position themselves. There were three soldiers left in the truck when the squad leader came over to Vargas. "Get into position. Wait ten minutes. Look towards the north. We will fire a flare. When you see the flare take aim on the nearest fighter. Take the shot and bug out right away. Don't wait. Head to Seongnam to regroup with the rest of the unit. Good luck." the squad leader told Vargas in choppy monotone English. "Go! Go! Go!" the squad leader said with quiet urgency as Vargas hopped off the truck and ran to the supply truck. He received his missile and the trucks turned north down the next street. From what he could tell he was going to be the southernmost end of the net when this all went down. Vargas ran into a nearby hotel and raced up the stairs onto the roof. A fighter passed overhead completely ignoring Vargas as it flew by. Vargas sat down the missile launcher against the stairwell entrance and took a seat beside it. He looked to the north and waited for the command to attack. It was quiet now. The bombardment had completely ceased. Vargas was primed and ready, like a sprinter waiting for gun that signaled the start of the race. The seconds felt like hours and in what seemed to be an eternity it came. A faint red flare shot up into the sky to the northwest. Three missiles were promptly fired from a row of large office buildings just south of where the flare went up. The missiles roared in a straight line towards three hovering beamers forming the core of the enemy line. Like a reflex the three beamers banked sharply up and to the south. However the first missile struck the third beamer in the right aft quarter of the craft blasting a flaming hole open in it. The damaged beamer spun out horizontally and crashed into a bombed out multi-story department store tower. At the same time six beamers swept in off formation from the south, four came in from the north and one made a wide swing in from the east. Seconds after the first volley nearly two dozen missiles burst forth from various locations. Most of the missiles missed their mark. Two beamers in the process of evading missiles came within inches of each other before pulling away highlighting the impressive maneuverability of the craft. Out of the whole volley only one made a direct hit, destroying it's target and two others made glancing blows that left the craft intact and very much functional. The fighters as a group were still too far north for Vargas to have any chance of hitting them. With this level of evasion he had to be close. Vargas observed the enemy as more missiles were launched one by one which they gracefully evaded. They moved as if operated by single mind. It was like watching units in a real-time strategy game operated by a supercomputer. The coordination between them was too precise for most individual pilots. This group think mentality could be their weakness as well Vargas reasoned. Those craft that were hit were never the ones that were targeted by the soldier launching the missile. Rising to his feet he thought to take a shot on the lead fighter of a large group in hopes of nailing one of the wingmen. However he didn't have the opportunity. The beamers to the north fired upon the buildings around where the missiles were coming from and leveled several of them. The explosions were precise and non-nuclear thankfully enough or Vargas would have been vaporized that instant. He wouldn't have time to wait now that the counterattack had begun. He shouldered his missile launcher and tried to find the nearest craft to take down. Just before he pulled the trigger he realized the enemy now had chosen his target for him. Behind him, coming from the east a lone beamer descended towards an apartment building where another soldier fired a futile shot and ran. Vargas turned around, crouched down and at the right moment launched the missile prior to the beamer passing closely above him. It was a direct hit blowing open the underside of the craft which then broke apart and fell in pieces to the ground. The explosion was close enough that it knocked Vargas onto his back. He quickly regained his breath, pulled himself to his feet and raced down the stairs. Upon exiting the hotel Vargas sprinted into an alley heading southbound and vanished into the labyrinth of residential streets beyond that.

A short distance to the south Tae-won sped under a highway and around a pile of rubble where the expressway had partially collapsed above him. As the civilians they rescued earlier had told him the 61 bridge was destroyed but the smaller bridge on the surface street next to it was still intact. Most of the beamers were still preoccupied in the north as he crossed over into Gangnam district. The crew in the jeep cheered when they reached the other side of the bridge and entered a cluster of tall residential buildings and warehouses. Their jubilation almost appeared to be short lived when a beamer swooped over them from the east. However the beamer simply flew on past them towards the southwest. Whether by their own plan or alien arrogance they had made it safely through the line.


	5. Chapter 5: By the Dawn's Early Light

Chapter V: By the Dawn's Early Light

5 Oct 0309  
Seongnam, South Korea

The trucks carrying civilian evacuees from southeast Seoul joined up with another column of trucks doing the same before they rolled into the parking lot of Seongnam Stadium together. There the trucks stopped and the soldiers escorting the civilians got out and helped the civilians out of the truck where they were met by volunteers. A tent city had been established inside and outside the stadium complex serving as the command center for the evacuation effort. Food, water and medical supplies gathered from the city were kept inside the stadium and distributed by military and police personnel to maintain order and conserve supplies. Volunteer groups would come and go to bring more supplies and vehicles to the area from other parts of Seongnam. The survivors, once given rations and basic medical care were then directed to assigned locations to be sheltered in. These locations included local businesses, schools, government buildings, vacant housing units and the homes of several families who opened their doors to assist the displaced. Those who were badly wounded were taken to a separate location in the stadium complex or nearby facilities for more extensive treatment. The secret military installation that Major Yu had referenced was a fair distance further to the west, buried in the side of a hill. It now was emptied of all it's hardware and vehicles save for one APC to evacuate the command staff there. Lt. Hui exited one of the trucks and was met by a pair of Korean enlisted soldiers who gave him a salute. Hui returned the salute. "Greetings lieutenant. If you would please follow us, Colonel Cho is waiting to debrief you." one of the soldiers said. Hui followed the soldiers into a humvee and drove away from the stadium complex to the military facility. Normally the facility would have been unnoticed by the untrained eye as a cleverly camouflaged entrance blending into the slope of a hill at the end of a dirt path covered with an overgrowth of weeds. Now it was clearly visible as beyond the open blast doors was the only source of artificial light Lt. Hui could see. The dirt path had quickly become well worn with the rapid deployment of forces when the bombardment began. It was a short drive compared to the time it took to get around Seoul. When the soldiers arrived Hui was taken inside where he met with Colonel Cho Min-woo, the commander of the installation and highest ranking ROK officer known to still be alive. The Colonel was a statuesque man, still in prime shape despite the graying of his hair and weathering of his skin. He was quite tall for most Koreans, towering over Hui who wasn't particularly diminutive himself. Hui popped to attention and saluted the Colonel who saluted back. "At ease Lieutenant. So I hear you're the first one to make it out of Gangdong District. What is the situation there?" said Col. Cho. "Last I saw it was utter chaos. A lot of people panicking in the streets and many people cut off from escape due to the bombing. We were trying to rescue wounded civilians when the air strikes forced us to flee." Hui reported. "So there are survivors. We weren't sure if that first blast took out Gangdong district the same way Yongsan, Gwanjin, Seocho and most of Gangnam district were completely flattened. We also have heard unconfirmed reports that everything north of the Han is similarly destroyed." Col. Cho said contemplatively. "Yes sir. Many survivors. If you need me to go back I'll show your men where to find them." Hui added. "You look like shit lieutenant. Get some rest. We're still getting the last of the survivors out of Songpa and southern Gangnam district relocated. Tomorrow, after you've got a clear head on your shoulders I'll send you out with the first convoy into Gangdong district to start pulling people out." the Colonel told him. "Before you go however, let me ask you one more thing. How much did you see of the enemy? Anything you can add about their capabilities, tactics, motivation, and so on?" Cho asked. "I didn't see much of them sir. I know nothing you probably haven't already heard." Hui answered. "Very well. CPL Hong will see to your arrangements for the night. Dismissed." Cho said then went back to his work with the senior command staff looming over maps and diagrams in the room behind them. Hui was then taken back in the humvee and brought to an motel that was being used to house army officers and NCOs

5 Oct 0600 KST

Fontaine awoke to see daylight breaking over the hospital buildings behind him. "Shit, I must have fallen asleep." he quietly groaned to himself. He was still tired, groggy and thirsty. His vision was hazy at first as he sat up straight from the slouched down position against the ambulance he had fallen asleep in. Hyuna was still fast asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. Her leg was now securely wrapped and in a knee brace. He must have missed whenever the doctor came around. The bombing that he had fallen asleep to had stopped. The only sounds were of that of people talking and moving about their business. He could even hear the subtle sounds of nature, something he rarely heard here in the fast paced ultra-modern world of Seoul. The birds chirping reminded him of his hometown in rural Mississippi, except that the weather here was much cooler and more comfortable this time of year. When his senses had come to realize he was not still dreaming immediately he panicked. He had missed the rendezvous. Not just by a little either. His unit more than likely would be long gone and he could be in for some shit once this mess was all over. Maybe not, they could have spent the night at the rendezvous point. They all had been up just as long and the others had been working just as hard if not harder digging those survivors out of the wreckage. They had to welcome the chance to get some shut eye. He hoped that if he hurried maybe he could catch them before they left. As he was regaining his composure a young woman was bringing bottled water to the people around the ambulance. She looked to be in her mid to late 20s with straight shoulder length black hair. She was in a grey hoodie and sweatpants with a white shirt underneath. She carried several bottles of water in a cloth bag over her shoulder. "Are you thirsty?" she asked holding out a bottle to Fontaine. Fontaine groaned a yes, his voice parched enough to show his thirst. "Here, and take one for the lady too." she said giving him a bottle for Hyuna as well. "I'd never expect to see another American around here. Not a lot of foreigners in Gangdong district." she commented, noting Fontaine's uniform and the fact he obviously wasn't Korean. "I was on patrol." Fontaine said after taking a long drink that downed three quarters of his water bottle. "What do you mean another? You've seen other American soldiers here?" Fontaine asked hoping she might have encountered his unit earlier. "No, I meant me. I lived in San Francisco until I was 13 then my parents moved back to Seoul." she explained. "My name's Amanda by the way, Amanda Kyung." she introduced herself. "Oh, I see. Definitely not a local name there. Must get treated like a tourist all the time huh?" Fontaine joked then finished his water. He started to gently move Hyuna off him and set her against the ambulance. He wasn't careful enough to keep her from waking as Hyuna's eyes quickly opened when her head touched the ambulance. He handed her the other bottle of water and tried to calm her back to sleep. "Sometimes, but it's not too bad." Amanda said with a smile. Fontaine got up and stretched. "Well, I've got to get back to my unit. Was supposed to meet them hours ago." Fontaine said. "Can I have another water please?" he turned and asked Amanda. "Sure." she replied. Amanda reached into her bag and handed him another bottle. "Good luck finding your unit. The bombing was really heavy last night." Amanda said wishing him well. Amanda then went on to the other patients and refugees and Fontaine started to head back to the road. Fontaine's right leg was asleep so he was a little slow to start walking away. "Wait! Don't leave me!" Hyuna called out to him. Fontaine turned around to see Hyuna pulling herself up and hobbling towards him. "Wait, wait! You're in no condition to be walking around like that." Amanda shouted to Hyuna then walked over to help her. "You need to stay off that leg at least a couple days miss." Amanda told her. "I'll be ok. The doctor said it wasn't as bad as it looked." Hyuna assured her. "She's right. Besides, you won't be safe where I'm going." Fontaine told her. "I'm not safe here. We're at the very edge of the blast radius of that first bomb not to mention the loads of smaller ones that fell last night. What if there's radiation from them that'll kill me here if I stay? What if they start bombing us again and strike here?" Hyuna pleaded. "I heard that a lot of people are going to Hanam and Gwanju. We can probably find a group to take you there this afternoon." Amanda offered. "I can't just go off with random strangers. It was random strangers that did this to me to begin with." Hyuna told her. "She's right. People have become savages since the sky fell and started shitting fire on us. I just happened to come across her when a couple of hooligans were about to drag her off." Fontaine said vouching for her. He walked over to Hyuna and handed her his shotgun. "It's only got a few more rounds in it. They're rubber but they'll get people to back off. Probably best you stay here at the hospital though." Fontaine calmly told her. She took the shotgun and looked up at him with intentionally sad kitty cat eyes. "I don't want to stay here. I want to go with you. I know I can trust you, that's why." Hyuna pleaded again. "Alright. My unit's probably still in the business of rescuing civilians today so I guess we can take you to Hanam once we link up with them. I can't promise anything after that. If there's a safe zone in Hanam you'll need to stay there until this is all over. Ok?" Fontaine told her. Eventually she would have to accept the reality that he was soldier. War had been thrust upon them, which meant that at some point he would have to fight. "Ok." she agreed, "At least let me go find you some crutches." Amanda offered. Before she could get too far a little girl approached Fontaine and Hyuna dragging a red wagon behind her. "Here. You can have this to ride in until your leg gets better." the little girl offered. "Soo-young come back here!" shouted a middle aged gentleman in rather academic looking clothes. "I'm sorry for my daughter. She is impetuous at times." the man apologized. "She seems like a sweet kid." Hyuna replied. "Lee Hyuna. The stuffy soldier boy over there is Jake Fontaine." Hyuna introduced herself to the man, extending her hand. The man shook her hand and bowed his head slightly. "Moon Ki-ha, and this is my daughter Moon Soo-young." the old man introduced himself in return. "Thanks for the ride, kid." Fontaine said smiling at Soo-young before she ran back to her father. Hyuna climbed into the wagon with her injured leg propped up straight on the rim of the wagon. Amanda brought them a couple more bottles of water and a worn hospital pillows to cushion Hyuna's leg. She placed another pillow behind her back and helped her lay the shotgun down beside her in the wagon. "Take care of her and make sure she gets to safety." Amanda said to Fontaine. "I'll do my best ma'am." he replied. The two of them laughed a little and then Fontaine headed off, pulling the wagon behind him. "You like that girl don't you?" Hyuna asked him when they were out of the hospital parking lot and on the road. "What is with you thinking every interaction between opposite genders is indicative of some kind of attraction?" Fontaine asked in an obvious joking fashion. "To tell the truth I probably won't ever see her again." he continued, now in a more serious tone. Hyuna was saddened, once she was taken to Hanam she probably wouldn't see him again either. "The cruel tides of war..." she said. "Yeah." Fontaine replied. Once they got several blocks from the hospital the crowds thinned out and they saw few people. Most of them had to have gotten to Hanam or beyond over the course of the night. The streets were not deserted, there were still groups and individuals walking about, scavenging and looting. However the great throng that had swollen the city last night had dispersed. There were a few people that had taken refuge in local shops, night clubs and abandoned homes that lingered as well. Rows of cars still stood like a graveyard. Fontaine and Hyuna continued on making occasional small talk until they came to a Paris Baguette which looked thoroughly looted. "You hungry?" asked Fontaine. Hyuna nodded. "I'm gonna go in an see if I can get us some breakfast. If anyone fucks with you, you shoot them ok?" Fontaine said closing with a grin. "Will do!" Hyuna sounded off with faux boot camp zeal. Fontaine entered the building. There was glass everywhere, tables were overturned, chair's had legs broken off them, and of course much of the food was gone. Fontaine still managed to fish out a half eaten loaf of French bread and a few cronuts. He went back out to find Hyuna waiting for him without incident. He handed her the cronuts and broke off the part of the bread with bite marks in it for himself and gave her the rest. "Wow, cronuts! I figured these would be the first things to go in the apocalypse." Hyuna remarked. "...and I thought Twinkies would be the last, then they went out of business." Fontaine chuckled as they started back on their way. "They did come back you know." Hyuna said. "Yeah but they're not the same. Twinkie version 2.0 isn't Twinkie classic." Fontaine said. "Whatever you say." Hyuna giggled. As they turned south again an alien fighter raced across the sky heading northwest. "Just what I needed, a reminder that the bastard's are still here." Fontaine groaned. "You wouldn't think they would just leave after all of this. Don't they want our water or babies or something?" Hyuna replied sarcastically. "Who the heck knows, alien logic may be just that, alien." Fontaine answered. "Wonder what they look like?" asked Hyuna. "I dunno. Could be just the way all the people that say they've been butt probed by aliens said they would look. Hell, they could look just like us. Now wouldn't that blow your mind?" Fontaine commented. "I bet they are all slimy with lots of tentacles and stuff." Hyuna said. "Wait, are we talking about aliens or the Japanese?" Fontaine asked. Both of them erupted in laughter being well versed in the prevalence of tentacled monsters in anime. The two of them continued on, their conversation remained lighthearted and for a moment they forgot about the tragedy that had befallen the world in this dark hour. However their jovial detour from reality was interrupted when they reached the rendezvous location. The highway junction had collapsed into a pile of rubble. Crushed and overturned cars and dead bodies were scattered about. There were fragments of Korean IFV's mixed in with the civilian cars in the wreckage and at the center of the ruins lay the smoking husk of an M270. There were soldiers here. "Hello! Anyone here!" Fontaine called out. "SPC Jacob Fontaine reporting in!" he called out again to no avail. He left Hyuna at the edge of the rubble and climbed on top of it examining the bodies he came across and calling out over and over again looking for survivors. From what he could tell none of the soldiers looked like the members of his unit. Then again some of the bodies where badly burned and others were just body parts, a leg here, an arm and torn fragment of a torso over there and so on. "It wasn't them." he whispered to himself after an exhaustive search. In that case he was now AWOL, or presumed dead by his unit, depending on when this overpass was bombed. Either way he was on his own. He salvaged a pair of M16 rifles and as many magazines as he could carry from the dead soldiers. They wouldn't be needing them anymore. He knelt down beside an American soldier whose body was still in good condition. PFC Vasquez was his name and rank on his uniform. "You fought the good fight bro, sleep now. I'll take it from here." Fontaine whispered then shut the eyes of the soldier and walked away. He returned to Hyuna, fighting back tears. These were all men just like him, both American and Korean, and these wouldn't be the last casualties he would face before this was all over. "You ok?" Hyuna asked with honest concern. "They weren't here." Fontaine answered. He made sure the safety was set on one of the M16 rifles and set it down in the wagon along with several spare magazines. "We're on our own now." he told her. Fontaine then checked the magazine in his rifle to make sure it was loaded then replaced it. Hyuna could tell he was disturbed and didn't know what to say so she chose to remain silent. "I've still got to get you to Hanam. That's one promise I'm going to keep." he pledged. He then grabbed hold of the wagon and went looking for a way east around the wreckage.

5 Oct 0712  
Namdong District, Incheon, South Korea

Carter followed the other jeep into Incheon with Tae-won sleeping in the passenger seat and Williams out cold in the back. After numerous detours and route changes to evade alien air patrols and impassable damage from the bombardment they had finally made it. Despite passing through some of the most populated and affluent parts of Seoul they found nothing but smoldering ruin along the way. The few people they encountered were anything but friendly. They had to run over a man carrying off boxes of diapers from a supermarket while fleeing from a gang that attempted to steal their vehicle. No one was proud of that but they did what they had to do. Incheon on the other hand was mostly intact. The first people they came across weren't much better than those thugs in Seocho district however. Three men were beating a police officer on the ground until one of the men took his head off with repeated fierce strikes from a baseball bat. One of the men then took his gun and baton and the three scattered. Carter didn't bother to stop, he knew the officer couldn't have survived that. What he saw after that didn't restore his faith in mankind either. It was anarchy in the streets, littered with bodies and broken glass. Carter swerved quickly to avoid a brick that was thrown from a drugstore window. There was some hope last night it seemed but daybreak revealed the area west of the alien line was utterly lost. The humanity of it's few surviving denizens had been traded for animalistic instinct, survival at all cost. These people weren't the sort that would help them take the fight to the enemy. Still he had to press on, they hadn't come here for nothing. The first jeep led them to a police station where the roads were now blocked with non-functioning cars. Carter parked the jeep behind the first jeep and woke up the others. "We've hit a dead end." Carter told Tae-won. "So? back up and go around." Tae-won mumbled half asleep. "We're at a police station. I think we could get some stuff we need here." Carter told him. "Police interceptors aren't EMP shielded. Let's just go." Tae-won moaned clearly desiring to go back to sleep. "I'm talking about guns, body armor, shit like that. Unlike you, me and Williams over there are still shooting rubber bullets." Carter responded. Williams yawned loudly and stretched out smacking Carter in the head. "Man, I had this fucked up dream that aliens came and blew up the Earth." Williams groaned. "That wasn't a dream genius." Carter snapped back. "Fuuuuck..." groaned Williams. "That means Master P isn't my uncle after all. Shit, man don't you wish dreams were real sometimes and real life could just fuck off." Williams complained. "All the time bro." Carter replied. "Alright already I'm awake!" shouted Tae-won. Begrudgingly Tae-won got out of the vehicle along with the others and approached the first jeep. Tae-won told the driver of that jeep to stay in the vehicle and stand guard. After taking two steps away from the lead jeep towards the police station a shot was fired from the second story of the police station at the ground in front of Tae-won's feet. "That's far enough!" an unseen voice shouted at them. The voice was in Korean but the American soldiers knew just as well as Tae-won what was going on. "Put your weapons on the ground and back away!" the voice commanded. "We don't mean any harm. We're with the military. We're here to help." Tae-won replied calmly. "Bullshit! The Army's gone! You got those uniforms off of dead soldiers!" the voice shouted back, firing another warning shot over Tae-won's shoulder. Time for a show of good faith, Tae-won thought. "I'm setting my gun down." he called out. "Slowly!" the voice shouted back at him. Tae-won took out his pistol from it's holster and set it on the ground. Carter and Williams did the same. "And the guy in the jeep too!" the voice ordered. Tae-won directed the driver out who also disarmed himself. "Now back away and turn around!" the voice shouted. They could hear the sound of a barricaded being removed and a door being opened. Two police officers came out of the front of the station with service pistols drawn. A third officer waited at the doorway with a shotgun. The two officers handcuffed the soldiers and Tae-won and brought them inside while another officer came out to retrieve the weapons. After everyone was inside the door was locked and barricaded behind wooden beams and an overturned desk. Inside the police station, women and children along with a few men had sought refuge from the new world outside. The people inside looked at the soldiers as they were brought in with a mixture of fear and curiosity. Unlike the officers some of the civilians hoped that these might be the real deal. Tae-won and the soldiers were taken downstairs and locked in a single cell. A few other cells held an assortment of criminals packed together and locked away in a similar fashion to Tae-won's group. Other cells were kept open and housed more frightened civilians. The cell they were in also contained a burly bald toothless man tattooed with spider webs all over his arms and a slender quiet man sitting in the corner. "You're making a mistake!" Tae-won shouted. The police officers ignored him, locked the cell and walked away.

5 Oct 0831 KST  
Jangi-Dong, Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Vargas woke with the sun shining in his eyes through the cracks in the blinds. He had taken refuge in the second floor bedroom of a duplex town home for the night. Feeling rested enough to continue he got out of the strange bed he had commandeered for the night. The house was completely empty, in fact the entire neighborhood was abandoned. Vargas was the only living soul within earshot, or more properly the only living human soul. Alien airships still dominated the skies above. Vargas examined the room he had slept in. It was well kept considering how devastated much of the surrounding area was. A closet left with many ladies dresses and shoes was left open. A few folded men's dress shirts sat on top of a desk next to a computer monitor. Across the room was a shelf unit with a mirror with a row of photos taped to the side of the mirror. Vargas walked over and examined the photos. One showed a happy family with two small children, a boy and a girl outside a museum. Another was a grainy picture of a couple on their wedding day, and the bottom picture was of a Korean airman from the early 60's in full uniform. The morning urge forced him into the dark bathroom, he flushed the toilet handle but there was no flush. He left the room and went into the kitchen/dining room area. He tried to wash his hands but again, there was no running water. Next he opened the refrigerator door to get something to keep up his strength. Oh yeah, no power, so of course everything's going to be warm, Vargas thought after he opened the door. He took a carton of lukewarm orange juice and gulped it all down. Not trusting the meats and fresh produce in the fridge he rummaged around until he found a box of crackers and ate a few. He had better breakfasts in Afghanistan he mused to himself. The house began to shake and a porcelain flower vase near the kitchen window sill fell down and shattered on the floor. Vargas got up and ran to the door and peeked outside fearing a new round of bombing had begun. Instead what he saw passing through the clouds overhead were larger cigar shaped craft heading north, most likely to the utterly obliterated parts of Seoul north of the Han river. "Transports..." he muttered to himself. It was still too soon he reasoned. The radiation from the neutron bombs dropped in the second round of the bombardment would have still left levels of radiation too high for anyone to survive in, well any human to survive in. It still hadn't sunk in that they were dealing with aliens. For all he knew the home world of these critters was some irradiated husk choking in clouds of sulfur dioxide. Having left his shotgun in the truck last night Vargas searched the house high and low for a weapon before leaving. The best he could come up with was a claw hammer under the sink. So he took it and promptly left the area, making his way further south towards Seongnam.

. 


	6. Chapter 6: Eye of the Storm

Chapter VI: The Eye of the Storm

5 Oct 0820 KST

Fontaine and Hyuna headed south looking for a way around the wreckage that blocked their way to downtown Hanam. So far their efforts had been to no avail and Fontaine had begun to question the necessity of their search. Before he had been in a hurry to get back to his unit and get Hyuna somewhere that she would no longer be his charge to care for. After his emotions cleared up from what he had seen on the bridge it sank in that his situation was different now. His unit wasn't coming to get him. To them he was MIA, AWOL or presumed dead and it didn't do Hyuna much good to be traveling around on a bad leg, even if it was by being pulled around in a wagon. The aliens had seemingly demonstrated an intent to herd together large groups of people in certain areas. To what end he could only speculate. It may be that by going to Hanam they could be walking straight into a trap. There weren't a lot of people lingering here, so hopefully the aliens wouldn't waste their time attacking somewhere that appeared to be abandoned. Fontaine's instinct told him that he should try to hunker down, at least for the next day or so. If his unit was still alive and they were looking for him He'd have better chances of being found if he stayed closer to the rendezvous point. There were abandoned stores everywhere, he could scavenge what they needed. Then again his only orders now were the ones he gave himself, to protect Hyuna and get her someplace safe. . So it was decided, he would let Hyuna decide. "You know, I was thinking we don't have to go to Hanam right away. We should be far enough from ground zero that we'll be safe and you should probably rest that leg. If we get into some shit, and you like have to run or something, that wouldn't be good. I saw a few places back the other way where we could hide out for a while till you're ok to walk and then head over to Hanam. It's up to you though, we can keep going if you want." Fontaine mentioned. It didn't come out quite the way he wanted to say it but oh well. For an army translator he didn't have much of a way with words. Hyuna obviously was in no hurry to get to Hanam herself. She felt safe with Fontaine and didn't want to see him go. Now she was given the chance to keep him around a little longer. "If it's all the same to you I'd rather just hang out somewhere for now." she answered. "Alright then. It's decided." said Fontaine. After looking around a short while they doubled back to a motel. Several windows were busted out and abandoned cars clustered the parking lot. From the looks of it there didn't seem to be anyone there. Not the one to take chances Fontaine left Hyuna outside the front entrance with one of the rifles and went inside. "Wait right here. I'll go check and see if it's ok." he told her before going in. Fontaine entered quietly through the front lobby with his rifle at the ready. He checked down the hallway, stairwells and in the front lobby. The coast was clear, there wasn't a soul here, human or extraterrestrial. He rifled through the front desk and manager's room cabinets. There were no keys, it was one of those electronic keycard places. Without power none of the doors would work. He surmised that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing though. He went back outside to Hyuna. "I'm going to have to climb in through one of the broken windows out here. I'll be right back to get you. I promise." he assured her. "I know." Hyuna answered confidently. Fontaine went around the side of the building and surveyed which windows were intact and which were smashed in. A ground floor room would be too easy for someone or something to break into. He wanted Hyuna in defensible position. He saw the perfect place, a third floor room with it's window left open and intact near to the outside fire escape. Someone had wanted to let a breeze in before they bailed he assumed. He climbed the fire escape and cautiously approached the window. "Anyone inside?" he called. "Don't shoot, I'm not going to hurt you! I'm coming in is that ok?" Fontaine shouted. He then waited a while and received no answer. He then climbed in at a precarious angle, it was further from the fire escape than he thought. Still he made it in half expecting to be shot or clubbed but fortunately the room was empty. It looked like it had just been cleaned and restocked. The maids probably were the ones that left the window open. Fontaine checked the small closet and bathroom and no one was there. After making sure it was alright he hid his rifle behind the closet door, opened the door to the room, jarred it open with a chair, set the deadbolt to catch the door in case the chair moved and ran downstairs to get Hyuna. He wheeled her into the lobby and tucked the wagon behind the front desk, then picked up Hyuna and carried her to the room. He was surprised he could picked her up, he never could carry most people but then again she had a rather small frame. They got to the room and he gently laid her down on the bed. He retrieved his rifle and handed it to her. "I'm going down to get the wagon with the rest of our stuff. Don't shoot when I come in, I'll give the code word..." Fontaine instructed Hyuna then stopped to think. "New England clam chowder." he continued in a bad French accent. "Choudiere, got it. I won't shoot you soldier boy, trust me." Hyuna said with a wink and a nod. Fontaine went down, retrieved all the wagon, stopped by the snack machines in the hallway which were still pretty well stocked. He smashed the vending machine open with the butt of his shotgun and loaded up the wagon with bags of candy and chips. He went back to the room and cried out "New England clam choudiere!" "Come in!" Hyuna said after breaking out in hysterical laughter. "I come bearing a feast!" Fontaine announced tossing a bag of chips towards Hyuna. "Oh yeah, only the best here." she giggled at the "oh so nutritious feast" Fontaine brought her. He shut the door behind him and moved a desk up next to the window but didn't barricade it. He then rolled up the wagon to Hyuna and placed the water and some of the food and a spare loaded magazine on top of the nightstand next to the bed. The rest of the food and equipment he placed in the closet. "I might need to get back in that way." Fontaine mumbled to himself. He went into the bathroom and turned on the faucet in the sink. "No pressure, of course." Fontaine grumbled. "Look's like I'm going to need to go get us more to drink and a few other things while it's daylight." Fontaine said. "But we just got here." Hyuna complained. "I know but the sooner the better. There's still people out there picking the shelves clean and every store and two bit market around." Fontaine told her. "You've got the rifle, and I'll deadbolt the door. You'll be alright." Fontaine said as he walked towards her. He put his hand on her shoulder and drew in close, staring sincerely into her eyes. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise." he assured her. She nodded and put her hand on his, holding on slightly as he got up and walked towards the door picking up the second rifle and the wagon on his way. He thought he could see tears beginning to form in her eyes as he turned back to her at the doorway before he left. "Remember the password." he reminded her. "Chowder or choudiere, I know." Hyuna said trying to sound normal. That girl sure is clingy, he thought to himself. Fontaine sighed. He knew she was scared to be left alone or among people she couldn't trust and somehow by circumstance he had earned her trust. With what all had just happed in the past 12 hours anyone had the right to be scared out of their mind. At least ten million lives were snuffed out in an instant in Seoul alone, heaven knows about the rest of the world. His thoughts shifted to his family back home. They're probably faring better than he was he reasoned. They lived in out in bum-fuck nowhere, no military bases or major cities for miles so it might have seemed like an ordinary blackout for them. They wouldn't have been bombed by asteroids and fried by neutron bombs. If and when the aliens landed and decided to go after them for whatever reason his dad was retired Delta Force and his older brother was a sheriff's deputy. Both of them were avid hunters and expert marksmen. They knew how to live off the land, and all the basic survival stuff. His brother was in one of those zombie apocalypse survival clubs for Pete's sake. Now he kind of regretted making fun of him and not going to one of those meetings himself. He didn't think zombies were realistic, then again who thought an alien attack was either. It didn't matter now, somehow he had to find a way to get him and Hyuna through this alive. If she wanted to imagine him as some sort of superhero that could protect her it wouldn't hurt, that is until he let her down, and he almost certainly would. Whatever was going to happen he was powerless to stop it, but she didn't have to know. Fontaine tightened his resolve as he walked on, looking for places to get what they needed. Now was not the time for doubt. Live or die he would give it his all. As for Hyuna all he could do is be there for her, and try to do his best by her. People had to be there for each other now more than ever, what more could us tiny humans do?

Fontaine raided a construction site near the expressway for a hammer, a pair of bolt cutters, nails and several 2 by 4's. He then hit up a pharmacy for basic medical supplies, aspirin and antibiotics. Coming out of the pharmacy he saw several cigar shaped alien craft pass overhead. They were much larger than the beamers and they were slowing down. Wouldn't be long till the alien ground forces showed their ugly heads, if they even had heads. He quickened his pace searched about a half dozen stores and grabbed a few things but couldn't find any water. He would have to hit up stores that were further off the main roads. In desperation he went into an office building hoping they had a water cooler with a few of those 5 gallon bottles of water. He didn't find one but he did notice a fully stocked cooler in the gas station next door through the upstairs window in the office building that peered onto a section where the gas stations wall had collapsed. He ran down and used the bolt cutters to break the chain on the bars surrounding the gas station, which had been closed for some time prior to the invasion. He entered into the store and noticed movement out of his peripheral vision. "Who's there?" he called out. No one answered. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just looking for something to drink. I'll be on my way soon." Fontaine announced. It was dark in here and the shadows could be playing tricks he thought. He then cautiously went around the shelves of expired food with the rifle in one hand and dragging the wagon in the other. He could see that there was only on 2 liter bottle of water still in the cooler, the rest were soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and milk that was almost certainly spoiled. When he reached for the water he noticed who it was that he had seen earlier. A young woman and her young son. She froze up and didn't say anything, clutching the little boy's hand and keeping him back. "Go ahead, take it...just leave us alone." she whimpered. "Ma'am I think you have more need for this than I do." Fontaine said offering her the water. He could keep looking. "We have some." she replied moving her head in the direction of three cases of small bottles that her son was sitting on. "Ok. Sorry to scare you like that. I'm not one of the bad ones." Fontaine told her. As he put the water in his wagon the woman noticed his uniform in the light coming in from the broken side wall. "You're with the Army?" she asked. "Yeah, US Army though." he replied. "Do you know if there's anywhere the army has set up for people to go? Where are the troops regrouping at?" she asked. "I don't know. I was separated from my unit. I've heard a few civilians saying they were going to Hanam but I don't know what's there." Fontaine told her. "As for the army I don't know what's left of it, US or Korean for that matter. That asteroid bomb looked like it was centered on the base." he started to say, drifting into a somber tone and stopped. The young woman appeared visibly shaken by the comment and started crying. "Ma'am I'm holed up in a place not far from here. We've got food, weapons, we're hidden away and in a good enough position that we can defend ourselves against any thugs or aliens should they come. I'll take you and your son in, could always use some extra hands to man the watchtower so to speak." Fontaine offered. "If my unit's out there they will be looking for me and when they find us they'll be able to take us to whatever safe zone the army's set up somewhere." he went on. "Thank you, are you sure we won't be a burden." the woman said. "Not at all." Fontaine said flashing a smile. He helped the woman to her feet and they loaded the water into the wagon and some of the other supplies into her son's backpack. She grabbed a plastic sack of canned food that was still good and put it in the wagon along with a couple wadded up changes of clothes that were lying on the floor where they appeared to have slept last night. "I'm ready." she said. "I've just got to do one more thing before I go back." Fontaine said. He led the woman and her son to the battle site and gathered more weapons, another rifle, a few pistols and as much ammo as he could carry. They then proceeded back towards the hotel. "Thank you for this. Our house collapsed last night and we had to flee into the streets." she said. "Don't mention it. We've got to pull together to get through this right? People helping people." Fontaine said cheerfully. "Yeah, you're still a good person I hope. So many maniacs last night. I don't know why in disaster situations so many otherwise good people become animals in a blink of an eye." she said, lamenting the last bit. "It reveals who people really are. I assure you I'm still one of the good ones, good as us flawed humans go that is, not getting all self righteous here." Fontaine replied. The young woman tried to fake a smile. "So where's the boy's father? If I'm intruding into personal territory you can tell me to fuck off." Fontaine asked. "It's fine. He's a soldier, like you. He works alongside the Americans sometimes." she said. "We've got a guy like that with us last night, Lt. Hui. No kids though, I don't think that man's ever been with a woman." Fontaine commented. "I'm sure your husband's fine. The Korean army was spread out pretty well once the UFO's started buzzing over Seoul." Fontaine said trying to reassure her. "Yeah, I suppose so." she said, lacking the confidence Fontaine displayed. The group returned to the motel, Fontaine helped them get all the supplies up the stairs. "Room 330 follow me." Fontaine whispered back to the woman. "It's us, New England clam chowder." he called out when they got to the door outside the room. "I'll go around and come in through the window." Fontaine shouted through the door. "Don't worry about it! I'm coming." Hyuna called back. Hyuna limped over to the door and opened it to let them in. "Don't worry, they're good people. Found them hiding out in a store, figured we could use some more hands around here." Fontaine told Hyuna who was startled by the new guests behind him. "This is Hyuna, I rescued her when this whole thing first went down. Hyuna this is..."Fontaine started introducing them to each other. "Min-Jung and this is my son Do-yeon." the woman said. "Now that you know each other let's get this stuff in here why don't we?" Fontaine said. Fontaine and Min-Jung brought the supplies into the room and stashed them in the closet, next to the bed and in the drawers of the desk. Instinctively Do-yeon got onto the bed, grabbed the remote control and attempted to turn the TV on. Nothing happened of course. He tried several times then turned the control over and checked that there were still batteries in it. "There's no power dear. It's going to come on." Min-Jung told him. "Oh, can we go somewhere that has power so I can watch TV?" Do-yeon asked innocently enough. "There's no power anywhere sweetie." she replied calmly. Do-yeon gave a long sigh. "It's alright I think I have a card game in my backpack we can play." Hyuna offered. "Really? Cool." said Do-yeon. "Yeah. It's over there by the front of the bed. It's the pretty pink and purple one. I think there might be a few comic books in there too. you can read." Hyuna told him. Do-yeon excitedly went to rummage through Hyuna's backpack. Fontaine retrieved some hotel stationery and a pen from the drawer he was stuffing candy bars and rice crackers in and began to write a message down in both English and Korean. "I'm going to have to go out one more time real quick. I need to find us a running vehicle in case we have to bug out in a pinch. While I'm at it I'll take this message down to the battle site and post it up so if any soldiers come across it we might get ourselves a rescue." Fontaine explained. "Don't write down where we are. If the wrong people, or things find that message I don't want them coming for us. Already had enough of that shit." Min-jung reminded Fontaine. "No worries, I'll say that I'll check back at that location at certain times. I'll go alone too, so I don't put the rest of you at risk if there are muggers waiting for us there." Fontaine replied. "What's your husbands name? I'm going to leave a message for him just in case the unit that finds us knows him and can give us any information." Fontaine asked Min-jung. "Jung-nam, or they would know him as Captain Han, or Capt. Han Jung-nam." Min-jung replied. "Wow! Original Fullmetal Alchemist! The Walking Dead and The Flash!" exclaimed Do-yeon. "It's enough like the Walking Dead out there already, I don't want you reading that. Put it back Do-yeon." Min-jung told him. "Aw all right mom." Do-yeon replied. "Well technically we don't have to worry about flesh eating zombies, so we're a little better off." joked Fontaine while he was writing. "Some people might as well be zombies after last night." replied Min-jung. "Yeah, we ran into a couple of those. That's why I've got the leg brace." Hyuna commented. "Alright now, I think this will do. I just need you to check if I got the hangul right." Fontaine said showing the message to Min-jung. "Hmm, yeah close enough. They'll know what you're talking about." Min-jung answered after reading over the note. "Ok then, now just to put this up and get us a ride." Fontaine said. He then picked up a few nails and put them in his pocket along with the folded up note and buttoned it shut. He then grabbed a hammer, a hand towel from the bathroom and his rifle and went to the door. "Be right back, don't forget the password." Fontaine told Hyuna before he left. "Did he come up with that silly password or did you?" Min-jung asked Hyuna after Fontaine had left. "It was all his idea." answered Hyuna. "Makes sense though, pick something that most people wouldn't think of." she continued. "I guess." said Min-jung. Min-jung got up to check on her son who was reading through the Flash. "How old is he?" asked Hyuna. "Seven. He's a good reader for his age." replied Min-jung. "I'm almost eight mom." said Do-yeon with a dash of friendly juvenile sass. "Not for another couple weeks." Min-jung responded. "Either of you need anything?" asked Min-jung as she took a protein bar from the desk drawer. "Nope, I'm good." replied Hyuna. "Not right now." answered Do-yeon. Min-Jung walked over to the bed and sat down next to Hyuna at her feet and opened her protein bar. "You're lucky that guy found you when he did. He's weird and all but I can sense he really is one of the good ones." Min-jung told her. Hyuna looked at her funny, what was she thinking Hyuna wondered. "Yeah, probably would've ended up in a bad place if he hadn't shown up." she said. "He's put up with me tagging along all this time, probably made him miss the rendezvous with his unit, but he's sticking it out and not really making a big deal about it you know?" Hyuna told Min-jung, opening up to her sort of. "He's probably lucky you held him up from getting back there. Those aliens blew that place to kingdom come." Min-jung said. "If he had been there when he was supposed to be then me and Do-yeon would never have been rescued so I guess by extension I owe you a debt of gratitude." Min-jung told Hyuna. "You're very welcome." Hyuna said with a little bit of a laugh. Min-jung started to crack a smile, it was the first time she had smiled since the attack began.

Fontaine searched the parking lot first and as expected every last vehicle was completely dead. He wandered down towards the battle site checking vehicles he saw along the way, then he remembered the construction site. He had seen an old rusted out, late 60s Datsun pickup truck parked there. So he doubled back to the job site and wrapped the towel around his fist expecting to have to punch out the window. Fortunately for him the window was already rolled down. He reached inside and unlocked the door then searched the truck for the keys and found a spare key under the floor mat. Then the moment of truth turned to an exhilarating sense of relief when the engine fired up. Fontaine set the hammer and his rifle in the passenger seat, got in the truck and drove off to the battle site. The truck ran rough and was loud as hell but it worked, and right now he couldn't be too picky. Fontaine meandered around the stalled cars in the road and made his way to the battle site. Unbeknownst to him, Lt. Hui had just left mere minutes ago. He got out of the truck, took the key out of the ignition and put it in his pocket. He noticed some of the bodies that had littered the area were now gone. PFC Vasquez was still there as he left him though along with a few others, mostly Americans. Fontaine assumed that the ROK forces had come through here and gathered their dead but couldn't carry them all back. That was a good sign, it meant they would be back soon to get the rest. Fontaine took two wooden planks out of the bed of the pickup truck and fashioned a crude cross out of them which he nailed his note to the center of. He then planted the cross securely in the rubble, piling on concrete fragments to make sure it stayed in place. After waiting a few minutes to see if anyone was coming he then got back into the truck and headed back to the hotel. 


	7. Chapter 7: Fortify

Chapter VII: Fortify

5 Oct 1001 KST  
Seongnam, South Korea

Vargas could now see the edge of the Seongnam safe zone where the ROK army had set up barricades and barbed wire. Behind the barricades a sparse garrison of soldiers patrolled the area. At the entrance into the safe zone was the greatest concentration of soldiers. They had a few M2 .50 cal machine guns set up, other soldiers manned their posts with K3 light machine guns and their standard issue K2 rifles further down the perimeter. Further beyond the perimeter a Vulcan cannon was set up surrounded by a wall of sandbags, concrete, tires and car doors. Even further beyond that the disabled cars and trucks had been moved to form a wall in several places, beyond which the densely packed in civilian refugees as well as the Seongnam locals were housed. Aside from the improvised vehicle wall the soldiers and citizens had done a good job in clearing the main arterial roads of disabled vehicles so that the functioning military and civilian vehicles used by the military could move in and out of the city with ease. On these roads was a fairly steady flow of traffic, bringing in supplies and more survivors all the time. In a few of the taller buildings Vargas spotted teams of soldiers setting up miniguns. The gate guards had now spotted Vargas and one of them was waving him towards the direction of the gate before turning their attention to a pickup truck approaching with a pair of wounded civilians in the truck bed. As Vargas approached the gate he saw the shape of an Abrams tank or the ROK equivalent covered in green netting and tarps hidden within a patch of trees off to the side a good distance outside of the perimeter. "Antonio Luis Vargas! Is that you?" A vaguely familiar voice called to him after he turned his head away from the tank and back towards the main gate. He turned back to see one of his old platoon leader, David Bremer. He was a dashing, sometimes flamboyant man resembling a taller blonde version of Tom Cruise, a resemblance that often made him the butt of friendly jokes by his platoon mates. "Lieutenant fucking Bremer! How long has it been? 2, 3 years?" Vargas called back, instantly recognizing him. "No idea chico, and it's Captain now." Bremer said walking towards him. Vargas gave him a salute as he approached. "Don't fucking salute me bro, it's still just me." Bremer jokingly barked at Vargas. "Besides wouldn't want the ol' bug eyes up there thinking I'm someone important now would we?" Bremer said before meeting Vargas and exchanging a firm handshake and a bear hug. "Good to see you survived chico." said Bremer, his right arm still around Vargas' shoulder. With his left arm he extended his hand out towards the tank hidden in the trees. "..and yes, that is what you think it is. Found that sucker abandoned on the way up here from Camp Humphreys. Surviving brass over in Suwon told me to keep moving and link up with survivors from Seoul so here I am." Bremer told him. "You came from Camp Humphreys? How are things further south? Are they as bad as they are in Seoul?" asked Vargas. "Yeah sure, probably worse. Humphreys and the Air Force base both were knocked halfway to the center of the Earth. What a lucky time for me to be way the fuck off base drinking." Bremer said, half in his usual carefree attitude, half with a seriousness Vargas had only seen in the thick of combat. "So the fuck ups shall inherit the Earth." Vargas chuckled. "Damn though, they got us everywhere I bet. So much for hoping for reinforcements anytime soon." Vargas said turning more to despair. "Who needs reinforcements when you've got me?" Bremer said attempting to cheer him up. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the company. That's right, proud company commander of three. Still beats an army of one don't you think?" Bremer said as he led Vargas to another grove of trees a hundred or so yards south of the tank. On the other side of the grove were two partially disassembled Stryker vehicles being worked on by a female American soldier while another soldier who looked as if he couldn't have been more than two days out of boot camp fresh out of high school sat in the drivers seat of one of the Strykers and a Korean soldier looked on and assisted as needed. "Sergeant!" Bremer called as he approached. The female soldier got up, bumping her head against the underside of the Stryker after being startled by Bremer. "Watch yourself now." Bremer cautioned her. "Chico, this is Sergeant Lyndsey Sobieski. She helped get the tank up and running, I'm hoping she can do the same with the Strykers." Bremer introduced her. She was muscular looking with greasy blonde hair in a pixie cut and filled out her uniform well except for her jacket that looked a size or two too big. She shook Vargas' hand as they exchanged pleasantries. "The kid over there is PVT Richard Taylor, and that guy is Private won ton or something." Bremer introduced the other two. "It's Won-yong sir. Corporal Park Won-yong." the Korean soldier corrected him. "Right, right. I can never get you guys names right." Bremer said. "Let's get back to work Sergeant!" Bremer continued clapping his hands together. Lyndsey got back down and returned to work on the Stryker. "For an Army she's kind of hot." Bremer whispered, elbowing Vargas and smirking. "I heard that!" Lyndsey shouted up at Bremer. "What? I'm just appreciating the view!" Bremer laughed back at her. "Nice ass though, definitely fills out those fatigues well. mmmmhmmm! The local girls, man I tell you, no ass, no ass at all. Homegrown American girls, my boy, might come with that bitchy attitude we've become accustomed to but damn, they got all the curves in the right places." Bremer continued. "You fucking perv, you're married and you're still macking on everything you see." Vargas derided Bremer. "Come on, Chico. She didn't need to know that!" joked Bremer. "Not like you had a chance either way Captain." Lyndsey called out from underneath the Stryker. "Anyways Captain, how have you been? What've you been up to?" Vargas asked, changing the subject before things got too awkward. ""Need a hand?" Vargas asked Lyndsey as he saw Lyndsey struggling to remove a stubborn bolt. "Nah, I've got it." she replied and grunted trying to remove it. "Well let's see, after the honeymoon was over I was sent to Iraq, then came back stateside for a bit, then back to Iraq, then ended up over here just before everything went to shit over there." Bremer explained. "Shit seems to be a step behind you here too." Vargas remarked. "You said it. Better it stays behind me than fall right on top of us at least." Bremer commented. "Amen to that." As Vargas and Bremer continued to catch up on old times a Korean officer approached them from behind. "Captain Bremer, we need to check in the newcomer. Colonel Cho is making his rounds and probably wants to speak to him." the Korean officer said. "Alright, well go talk with King Won Ton and get checked in. I'll be here." Bremer said. "Catch you later Captain. By the way you think you can upgrade my sidearm from this to something better?" Vargas asked tossing his hammer on the ground. "No problem. I've got a light fifty with your name on it when you get back." Bremer told him. Vargas then left with the Korean officer. "That man is...difficult, sometimes." the officer said as they were walking towards the gate. As they were approaching the gate, a truck with Lt. Hui in the passenger seat left the safe zone and drove past him on it's way to Gangdong district. "That's being polite about it. I don't know. He might have all the charisma of a cactus but you've got to get to know him. Believe me, when it really counts he's all business." said Vargas. He then went into the safe zone through the gate and they met Col. Cho and his entourage inside the wall of cars where he was meeting with civilians and answering their questions to the best of his ability. Col. Cho was a very hands on commander. He liked to go among his men and those under his charge, get their opinions and make sure they were content. "Ah, the new American! Welcome to Seongnam, you'll be safe here." Cho greeted him, after catching a glimpse of him while turning away from a civilian family. Vargas delivered a salute upon the greeting which was returned by the Colonel. "At ease soldier. "Have you come from Seoul or Pyeongtaek?" he asked. "Seoul sir." Vargas replied. " I see. Come with me if you would." Cho said leading Vargas and his entourage into an empty room in one of the smaller buildings near a warehouse. The room was completely bare, no furniture or windows or anything. Vargas stood in the center of the room while Cho walked around the room and his entourage waited outside. "What news do you have of the happenings in the north? Were you involved with the operation in Songpa District?" Col. Cho asked. "Yes sir. I was." Vargas answered. "Was it a success and to what degree?" Cho inquired. "I was positioned on the fringes of the operation so I couldn't see enough to have a clear picture of the measure of our success sir. However I saw no ground based explosions towards Gangnam District and can assume that our men made it safely through the enemy line. I also personally took down one of the alien craft. As for the overall picture you should consult Major Yu, he would probably have the best understanding of what our strategic goals were." Vargas reported. "Major Yu has not returned. In fact you are the first soldier associated with Operation Jailbreak to arrive back here." the Colonel told him. Vargas' countenance changed, he couldn't have been the sole survivor. The others had to just be held up. They were further away after all. Then again, he did stop to sleep in some strange man's bed. All he could do was hope for the best. "I will put in for a commendation for you, sergeant. The enemy craft are extremely agile and employ countermeasures that foil even our best systems." the Colonel continued. "Thank you sir." Vargas responded. "Have you anything else to report?" Col. Cho asked. "Actually sir, yes. Earlier this morning I noticed a sizeable contingent of what appeared to be troop transports heading north of the Han. It would be wise to prepare from a ground war at this point." Vargas reported. "I see. This could be a good thing. The enemy air power has proven overwhelming and left us fleeing at every turn. If they decide to get down and dirty with us we can bring them in close and make their bombers strike their own forces if they wish to get at us, effectively neutralizing their air force for a time. We've only been lucky so far that the enemy strategy seems that they want to keep as much of the civilian population alive as possible. If only we had more troops... We've sent people to Incheon and Suwon now looking for assistance but I fear help won't arrive in time." Cho mused while pacing back and forth. "Have you seen any other units on your way here by the way?" the Colonel asked. "No sir. If I could ask, how many weapons do we have?" Vargas inquired. "A half dozen combat vehicles, a sizeable fleet of transport trucks, a fair number of heavy machine guns and rocket launchers, two vulcan cannons and more rifles than we know what to do with. Our problem isn't equipment sergeant. Our problem is that we don't have the manpower to use that equipment." Cho told him. "With all due respect sir, we have all the people we could ever want right here. It was said during WWII, I believe by Admiral Yamamoto or someone close to him when concerning the invasion of the US mainland that the prospect would be incredibly difficult because they would find "a rifle behind every blade of grass.", there's people out there, arm them." advised Vargas. "There is wisdom in what you say." mused Cho as he led Vargas out of the room. "Captain." Cho said to one of the Korean officers waiting for them as they exited. "Yes sir?" replied the officer. "See to it that every competent man of military age who is willing to fight is given a rifle and extra ammunition. Start with those with prior service and work your way down. Once they're armed have them report to duty stations and work them into rotation. See that those who need instruction are taken outside the safe zone and given proper training on how to handle a weapon." Cho ordered. "Yes sir." the officer replied then went to carry out the order. There were likely enough military veterans among the survivors to bolster their ranks that the additional training was more or less going to be for a small number of the volunteers. "As for you Sergeant, go get yourself something to eat and report back to the Americans outside the perimeter. Tell that cocky prick Bremer to get back here and help move more cars out of the way when he's finished. Tell him to send his engineer to assist us in converting some of the miniguns to operate under their own power. If these bastards fry our electronics again we don't want to lose our best weapons." Cho instructed Vargas. "Yes sir." Vargas replied. "One more thing sir, I was supposed to rendezvous with one of my men in Gangdong district last night. Major Yu told me I would be given leave to get him out of there." Vargas mentioned. "Not to worry sergeant. We've just dispatched a truck to the exact location of your rendezvous point. Your liaison officer arrived late last night." Cho informed him. "Thank you sir." said Vargas with an air of relief. He then parted with the Colonel. Colonel Cho continued his tour of the city and Vargas went towards a makeshift mess hall set up outside an elementary school. Vargas first stopped at a Church and went inside. It wasn't Catholic but close enough. God wouldn't judge him too hard for praying to Him in a Lutheran church would he? Vargas went inside and sat down in one of the back pews. The church was unusually full, he guessed that the apocalypse had a way of irking the fair-weather faithless back to God. He saw the reverend in the front of the church speaking to various parishioners while other people prayed silently and aloud at the altar. Vargas thumbed through a Bible that was placed in the back of the pew in front of him, read a few passages and put the Bible away. He unbuttoned his jacket pocket on his uniform and took out a rosary and a picture of his wife and three daughters. Technically it was his ex-wife, she left him two years ago, though he never signed the divorce papers. She pushed the matter through court and was now living with her lover, the same one he had walked in on when he came home on leave once. Despite the despicable way she treated him since then Vargas had never really gotten over it. Here in a house of God he found himself dwelling over his sins that still haunted him and in a way controlled him. He folded up the picture and put it back in his pocket. He then prayed the rosary 7 times and put it away. Then he bowed his head in a silent prayer. He prayed for the world to make it through these trying times, to survive to see the end of these days, for it truly not to be the end, for those he cared about to see it through till the end, for those who had fallen to be carried up to be with the Lord, and for God to not withhold his mercy from a sinful world. When Vargas rose from prayer he found the local priest, Father Yang walking down the aisle towards him. When Vargas looked at him Yang stopped and sat down in the pew beside him. "What troubles you child?" he asked. "Aside from the obvious, many things. Things I've done, thing's I didn't do. My sins are too numerous to count, Father. I wonder if this, what is happening is punishment for the sins of the world." Vargas said. "Punishment, I don't think so, but it is definitely a test. All life is a test. As for your sins the fact you are here confessing that you are a sinner is proof of your contrition, may it lead you to true repentance. Trust in the Lord, child, He will see you through this, whether in this life or the life thereafter. Now go and sin no more." Father Yang consoled him. "Thank you Father." Vargas said, then rose to his feet, shook the reverend's hand and left the church. The reverend continued about his business with the others in the church. Vargas then got a few scoops of rice and a slice of spam to eat and returned to find Bremer and relayed the Colonel's orders. "Well damn it." Bremer complained. "Sobieski! King Won Ton wants you to go convert some miniguns. Hop to it!" Bremer commanded. "Right away sir." Sobieski replied. "One of the Stryker's is good to go sir. I need a solenoid for the other one which we don't have." she told Bremer before leaving. "Good job Sergeant." Bremer replied then turned to Vargas. "Worst case we can tear the guns off it and still use them." Bremer said. "True." Vargas replied. "Well lets go help the won tons move their cars." Bremer told Vargas. The two then headed back into the safe zone.

5 Oct 1115 KST  
Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

After picking up a few stragglers on the way through Songpa district the first thing Lt. Hui did was check the rendezvous point where Fontaine was supposed to meet them. He gasped in horror as the truck slowed down before reaching a pile of debris burying countless soldiers and fighting vehicles. Hui got out and ordered the handful of soldiers that went with him to carefully gather up the bodies and put them in the truck. Hui checked each one to see if it was Fontaine or anyone else he knew. They remained at the battle site for a couple hours slowly but surely moving aside the rubble to find more of their fallen comrades. While they were gathering the bodies and unearthing others a group of five men came from the north. "Hey! We need help! Please! Help us!" they called out to the soldiers. Hui ran over to the group who was still a decent distance away. "What is it?" he asked while catching his breath. "We're from a group of survivors taking refuge in an electronics store not far from here. Early in the morning a bomb blast caused part of the roof to collapse trapping some of our people inside. We don't know how much air they have and if any of them need medical attention. Please we need help to get them out of there. There's a hospital a bit northwest of here that's still operating if you need to take us somewhere." one of the group begged. "We're coming. Just wait right here." Hui told them then ran back to the other soldiers. "Wrap it up! We've got live ones to save!" Hui shouted. The soldiers quickly finished up what they were doing and leaving much left to do got back in the truck. The truck rolled out, stopping only briefly to pick up the survivors then headed towards the electronics store. Not long afterwards Fontaine arrived at the battle site.

5 Oct 1407 KST  
Seongnam, South Korea

Vargas, Bremer and several South Korean soldiers and citizens continued to move disabled vehicles out of designated travel lanes in the road. "Why does he get to steer all the time while we have to push?" one of the Korean soldiers complained. "Because I'm an officer, that's why." Bremer sarcastically remarked. "Damn it, Dave can you at least pretend to care." Vargas commented. "Oh I do, I do. Now mush!" Bremer replied. Vargas and two Korean soldiers pushed while Bremer steered the car into a factory parking lot. Bremer got out of the car and the group walked down the road to find the next vehicle to move. As they were walking a pair of beamers roared overhead going from north to south. "Well that's new. I've been seeing those things usually heading north, now they're doing the opposite." Vargas remarked. "To them the war's won in the north, gotta go bomb Japan now." Bremer commented. "Maybe." Vargas said. Vargas got to the driver's seat of a red Hyundai before Bremer. "Just this once." Bremer grumbled then got to the back of the car. Vargas then waved one of the Korean soldiers to the front and let him get in and steer while he joined Bremer to push the car. As they started to push the car another pair of beamers screamed out of the north towards the south. "Well the king called out his jet fighters!" Bremer began to sing. "He said you better earn your pay!" Vargas joined in. "Drop your bombs between the minarets!" Bremer took over. "Down the Casbah waaaay!" both Vargas and Bremer sang in unison. Another pair of beamers did another flyby as they trudged towards the parking lot. "As soon as the shareef was chauffeured outta there, the jet pilots tuned to the cockpit radio blare. As soon as the shareef was out of their hair.." Vargas and Bremer continued to sing. "The jet pilots waaaaaiiiiled!" the Korean soldier helping them push joined in. "The Shareef don't like it, Rockin the casbah, Rock the casbah!" several Korean soldiers standing watch in the nearby buildings and leaving the parking lot joined in with the chorus. Vargas burst into laughter. "Sure brings back memories, Captain." Vargas said. "Sure does chico." Bremer replied. The group finished pushing the car into the parking lot and went to go find the next vehicle to be moved.

5 Oct 1519  
Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

Lt. Hui and the other soldiers managed to get the survivors in the electronics store out from under the rubble and loaded them into the truck. They didn't have enough room in the truck so they were forced to leave a few dead bodies behind at the electronics store to be picked up later. As they were heading back to Seongnam, Hui caught a glimpse of what he thought was one of the aliens debarking from one of the larger beamers on a rooftop in the distance. It was too far away to make out any discernable detail. He fumbled through the junk on the dashboard and grabbed a pair of binoculars but was too late to take a closer look as the truck went between two large buildings, obscuring his view. By the time they made it back into the open the alien was gone from his view. He hoped that he had more time before the enemy ground forces came in full force. He still had to retrieve the bodies of the fallen soldiers and the survivors mentioned a few other groups hiding in a supermarket and a high school. Not to mention the staff at the hospital that had been treating the wounded all this time. So much to do, and so little time. He had to hurry.


	8. Chapter 8: Whispers

Chapter VIII: Whispers

5 Oct 1310 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Tae-won, Carter and Williams sat in the jail cell for several hours waiting for one of their captors to come down and speak to them. There were no officers or guards downstairs in the station's jail. It was assumed they must not have had the manpower to keep watch on the station's surroundings and their prisoners at the same time. If the situation in Incheon was anything like Gangdong District the majority of the police force was probably dedicated to crowd control during evacuation efforts and was overrun when everything went down. What they were dealing with here couldn't have been more than a handful of officers along with whatever civilians they brought in off the streets. It was assumed that there had to be at least one officer guarding the entrance to the stairs leading out of the cell block, unless they felt that confident that any of the prisoners wouldn't try anything. The jail cells had been quiet all morning. The civilians being housed in the cell block were kept out of view from the prisoners that were crammed into certain select cells. The whispering of these families sheltered here was barely audible. Occasionally grumblings could be heard from other cells and prisoners but for the most part the still silence just made the wait seem unbearably long. The group's cellmates kept to themselves surprisingly enough and didn't say a word or take any action against Tae-won and the soldiers. "You suppose they're just going to leave us here?" asked Carter. "Great, I've kept straight all my life and still I'm going to end up dying in a jail cell. Should've at least had the experience of smoking a joint or something, damn." Williams complained. "Wait now, you've never smoked weed? Ever?" Carter asked. "Nope. Not even once. Not that I got anything against the stuff, just wasn't for me." Williams answered. "Wow, I always figured you as more the party type back in the day. Guess you were always boring as hell." Carter joked. "Shut up Carter." Williams quipped back. Tae-won went to the bars of the cell and looked around while Carter and Williams were killing time messing with each other. The cell directly across from him was empty and the two adjacent to it on either side were where the rest of the jail's prisoners were crammed in. He assumed the adjacent cells to his own cells also contained prisoners so that they were all kept in one place. He spotted a teenage boy leaving one of the open cells at the far end of the hallway near the stairs and motioned to him to come over. He started over but the boy's mother promptly admonished him and pulled him back into the cell. "So much for striking up a dialogue with the locals" whispered Tae-won. He went back and sat down on the concrete bench next to Carter. "Looks like we've been tossed in jail and they've thrown away the key." Carter griped. "You're being over dramatic. It hasn't been that long. They'll eventually get around to it. It takes longer than a day for police officers to forget their training and abandon the society they've sworn to protect." Tae-won said. "You're assuming these guys actually are cops. Remember the first thing these guy's accused us of was stealing our uniforms off of dead bodies. How do we know they didn't do the same?" mentioned Carter. "Just have to wait and find out." the large bruiser of an inmate housed with them spoke up. "If you really want to get out best to lay low till an opportunity presents itself. What I'm saying fellas is to shut the fuck up." the bruiser grumbled in a slow, deep, almost melodic cadence. Williams nodded at both Tae-won and Carter. It sounded enough like a threat to take seriously even if the three of them more than likely could take down the bruiser. That thought gave Williams an idea. If they got into a fight the commotion might bring one of the officers down here, giving them a chance to escape or at least open up a dialogue with their captors. He looked over at Carter, cracked his knuckles and nodded his head sideways towards the bruiser. Carter nodded and gave a broad smile. "Feelin' stupid? I know I am." Carter said. Tae-won looked totally puzzled by what the pair must have been planning. Then it dawned on him. "Oh no, no, no, no..." he grumbled but was too late. Williams got up and with a quick twist threw his mammoth bear paw in a fist straight to the right cheek of the bruiser. Carter got behind the bruiser while he was still dazed by William's hook and put him in a headlock. The slender inmate scooted to the corner and grinned watching the fight break out. Williams struck the bruiser with repeated body blows. He wasn't trying to take out the bruiser but rather make a lot of noise. The bruiser grunted and now visibly enraged turned to the side and ran backwards, slamming Carter against the steel bars of the prison cell. The sound of the clanging bars frightened some of the civilians and evoked the cheers of other prisoners further down the hall of the cell block. The bruiser slammed Carter back into the bars again forcing him to release the headlock. Williams traded a punch to his gut for a clean jab to the nose of the bruiser. The bruiser kicked back into Carter's groin and wiped away some of the blood gushing from his nose then sidestepped another quick jab from Williams. The bruiser retaliated with a roundhouse kick to William's stomach then an uppercut to the jaw. Williams staggered backwards as the bruiser charged at him. Tae-won stepped in, sprang to his feet and swept out the legs of the bruiser causing him to fall face forward. Williams pounced on the bruiser and locked him up in a tight hold on the ground. Meanwhile the panic of the civilians drew two officers down the stairs and into the cell block. Carter sat on the floor writhing and holding his crotch. Tae-won hovered over Williams and the bruiser as they wrestled on the floor. William's was clearly in a stronger position when the cell door opened and one of the officers tazered Williams. The other officer had a gun pointed at the rest of the inmates in case they tried anything. William's body shook and fell limp allowing the bruiser to get up. "Back against the wall!" shouted the second officer as a third officer came down the stairs to back them up. The bruiser raised his hands up and backed into the far wall of the cell. "You too!" the officer shouted at Tae-won. Tae-won backed up against the wall as well. The slender inmate remained seated in his corner. "Get the tall skinny black guy into interrogation room one and tell Ji-hye to get on it. I'll get the big guy." The first officer motioned to the third officer, and then both entered into the cell while the second officer covered them. The third officer scooped up Carter, bound his hands with zip-ties and carried him away. The first officer hefted Williams to his feet and dragged him off to a separate interrogation room from where Carter was being taken. The second officer then closed and locked the cell behind them. "Now keep out of trouble!" the officer ordered.

After seating Carter in the first interrogation room the third officer went to a female officer with shoulder length red-dyed hair standing and chatting to two other officers. "Miss Chae, Inspector Vong wants you to interrogate a prisoner in room one." the officer told the female officer. The woman nodded and parted company with the other officers, went past two young boys huddled under a blanket and down a hall into the interrogation room. Carter was seated with his hands bound to the interrogation chair. "So you must be one of the new prisoners?" Ji-hye said in perfect English after she closed the door behind her. There goes the "I no speaky your language defense" thought Carter. "Private Aaron Carter, SSN 692-8..." Carter started to give the standard POW response. "Can it Private Carter. I know the routine." Ji-hye interrupted. "I'm an American soldier. I was sent to help you." Carter told her. "So you say. Maybe you are." Ji-hye said as she sat down in front of Carter. "Maybe you're not." Ji-hye continued. "We're interviewing your buddy right now in a separate room. If your stories don't match up we'll know something's up. So why don't you start from the beginning. Why are you in Incheon and how did you get here?" Ji-hye asked. Carter thought his best bet was to come clean with her. They really didn't have anything to hide, and these people were supposed to be allies. If they could just realize that then maybe they could start helping each other. "My squad was stranded in Gangdong District when the city went dark and first bomb dropped. We ran into an ROK unit trying to get out of there and they drafted us into a mission to link up with other surviving forces to the west. Ask the Korean dude that was with us, he was more privy to that information than we were. Then we got here, you took our guns and our jeeps and threw us in jail." Carter told her. "Hmmm, a little over simplified but it's a start. What details can you remember? About anything concerning this mission, your exact route, little things that happened along the way. Stuff like that to help me verify your story with the others. It'll go a long way to exonerating yourself if you are telling the truth." Ji-hye told him. Carter did his best to give what details he remembered about the trip to Incheon. It would be hard to verify everything because all three of them weren't all awake at the same time. "So after all that why did you get stop at this particular station of all places?" Ji-hye asked. "We thought because it was a police station we would find the right type of people to help us fight off those things out there." Carter answered. Isn't it obvious enough he wondered. Alas he wasn't being as skeptical of the other side as they were of him. "We'll see what the others have to say when we question them. You must forgive us for being so brash with you. Circumstance hasn't been too kind to us here." Ji-hye told Carter. "How so?" he asked. If he's lying he should know, thought Ji-hye, she would gauge his reaction and see if it was a farce that she could see through. She had proven herself adept at reading people. That's why she was the first one picked to do the interrogation. "We were hit immediately by the bombers after the big one hit. They obliterated everything to the north and to the east. They struck the factories, the warehouses and several government buildings. We lost a lot of people so quickly last night but fortunately we were spared. We managed to get the majority of survivors over to the airport where a temporary shelter had been set up. Before the last of us could get across the foo fighters came and took out the bridges. There are only a handful of people left in Incheon now, and most of them are no good. We've been following a Chinese smuggler out of Hong Kong, Dong Zhao who was reported to have recently arrived in Incheon before the attack. He was just a no name upstart in the underworld, dealing mainly as a middleman for in arms and human smuggling for more powerful bosses. Last reports were that he was trying to get into the black market organ trade as well. That's when he came onto our radar. When we were separated from the bulk of the city's population after the bridges went down Dong Zhao went on the offensive. He thinks that he is securing a better position for himself when this whole thing passes. Needless to say his men outnumber the mainland officers in Incheon by at least 3 to 1. He's carrying military grade hardware and we've had to combat that with what we have. Worse still he's been shaking down everyone that remains, giving them the option to join or die. Many people have joined him in some form or fashion, not because they want to, but because he will behead them and their loved ones if they don't. We've tried to take in everyone we can but we've had some mistakes. We let in a man earlier that claimed he was running from Dong Zhao and instead he just went nuts when he got inside the station. Fortunately he was subdued before he could get my gun." Ji-hye explained. "At first we assumed you were with Dong Zhao. Let's hope you're not lest that prison cell becomes too good for you." Ji-hye finished with a veiled, yet hollow threat. Carter seemed to react genuinely as someone who truly had no idea what had happened here. It was a good sign. Now to see how the others would respond. She got up went to the door, opened it and leaned out. "We're done here." Ji-hye called out. Moments later Ji-hye left and two officers entered and took Carter back to his cell. The officers immediately took Tae-won with them before Carter had a chance to speak to him. Carter was alone in his cell with the grumpy bruiser staring at him. He had to wait on the edge of his seat, fearing the big man would take a swing at him for several minutes until Williams was brought back down. About an hour later Tae-won was taken back to the cell and the officers tossed in five prepackaged bologna sandwiches. Carter immediately grabbed one before the bruiser snatched up three of them for himself. Williams managed to get the last one which he offered to split with the other inmate and Tae-won. "Thing's been left out of the fridge for almost a day now, I don't trust it." Tae-won declined. Williams then split it with the other inmate. "So what? If it gives me the shits it gives me the shits." Carter remarked in the middle of snarfing his sandwich down. The guards came back and handed a one liter bottle of water to Tae-won through the bars and told him to split it with everyone. The bruiser eyeballed him but Williams' glare was enough to make sure everyone got their share.

The rest of the afternoon passed uneventful in the jail until that evening when gunfire was heard outside. The shots came in ferocious bursts every few minutes followed by momentary periods of silence. They heard shouting coming from outside and the sound of tires peeling out and an engine revving loudly. A few minutes later Ji-hye and another officer came down into the jail. The officers were sullied with gun smoke and dirt along with a speckling of blood on Ji-hye's partners uniform. "Alright now you want a chance to prove yourself, now's the time." Ji-hye shouted, panting heavily. "Take that one and that one." Ji-hye told the other officer pointing to Carter and Tae-won. The other officer opened the cell and directed Tae-won and Carter outside then quickly shut and locked the cell back up. "Come with me." Ji-hye told them. Tae-won and Carter followed Ji-hye while the other officer walked behind them. "We were on a supply run and were ambushed by Dong Zhao's men. One of our officers was pinned down in a hospital and we were forced to leave him behind. They chased us all the way back here where we managed to fend them off. We have to go get our man but we don't have the manpower to fend off another attack if we do. So I'm going to need you two to come with me to the hospital and rescue our officer." Ji-hye explained as she led them upstairs and into the weapons locker. "We're keeping your friend here in case either of you try any funny business." she told them. She then retrieved a shotgun and a 9mm pistol. "Let's just say I trust you for now." she said as she handed the pistol to Tae-won and the shotgun to Carter. She led them to the garage, passing a few wounded officers leaning against the wall of the hallway with a couple civilians tending to them. "We're also going to need to grab some more supplies from the hospital while we're there. Sutures, gauze, antiseptic and a couple surgical instruments mainly." Ji-hye informed them. They stepped into the garage and went past all the police cruisers to one of the jeeps that Tae-won and Carter had arrived in. "It's the only thing that still runs in here. Get in." Ji-hye told them. Tae-won and Carter both got in the back seat and afterwards Ji-hye got in the front seat and drove out of the garage.

They drove with their lights off not to attract attention as they approached the hospital where the officers and been ambushed earlier. It was late in the evening and the sun had nearly disappeared below the horizon leaving a soft purplish hue to the sky behind the clouds. To the east the clouds mingled with smoke still reflected the orange glow of the crackling fires that continued to burn in the heart of Seoul. Ji-hye stopped in an alleyway in front of the main road where the hospital was situated. She then carefully parked the vehicle amongst other defunct vehicles that had been abandoned and got out. She let Carter and Tae-won out then locked up the jeep. The three went to the end of the alleyway and Ji-hye peered around the corner at the hospital. She spotted a sentry watching from a second story window overlooking the main entrance. "They have control of the hospital." Ji-hye whispered. "It seems we can't go in the front, follow me." she continued then quietly led Tae-won and Carter down the alley, around another street, through an empty church to the main road again. This time they were further down the street at a place where a bus and several dumpsters obscured the view of their crossing. They snuck around to the back of the building where a bald man was taking a cigarette break. "Can you take him down without a lot of noise? Try not to kill him ok?" Ji-hye asked. She wasn't sure if it was one Dong Zhao's men or just an innocent hospital employee but either way she couldn't take chances. Carter nodded and crept behind the dumpster to get behind the man to his right. Carter then pounced and clubbed the man with his shotgun, knocking him down. Carter then struck him again and covered the man's mouth while he choked out the dazed sentry. He checked to make sure the unconscious man was still breathing then motioned for Tae-won and Ji-hye to join him. Tae-won and Carter lifted up the man and dumped him into the dumpster. While setting him down Carter was bit on the hand by something. "Ouch!" he exclaimed softly, gritting his teeth as he pulled his hand out to reveal a deep one inch wide chunk taken out of his hand. On each side of the bite appeared to be deeper puncture wounds as if from elongated fangs. "Must have been a big rat in there. Sucker got you good." Tae-won remarked. He tore off a sleeve of his shirt and wrapped it around Carter's hand so he wouldn't be bleeding all over the place. Ji-hye entered in through a single steel door into the morgue after Carter's hand was wrapped up tight. It was dark of course, no power and no natural lighting in here. Ji-hye took out her flashlight and recoiled back into Tae-won in horror at what she saw on a steel table in front of her. A man, maybe in his mid to late 30s lay naked, face down on the table with this disgusting wormlike parasite affixed to his back from the base of his neck to just above the waistline. The man's skin was leeched of all coloration, pale and lifeless. His blood vessels could be seen clearly through his semi-translucent skin. They were dark black like tar and spread out like the branches of a dead tree in winter. Tae-won took out his flashlight and found another victim who had died in a similar fashion. Ji-hye gasped and turned the light away onto an empty table. Tae-won shone his light over the corpse lockers on the wall as they made their way to the stairs leading up into the main hospital building. He spotted several corpses, along with one other that had the parasite attached to it. This one was a woman, maybe 27 or 28. Her skin was the same as the man was. "This is disgusting." Carter whispered. Not looking where he was going he bumped a tray off one of the tables and onto the floor. At the same time the door opened and a man with wire framed glasses and a lab coat entered. He saw the group then looked back through the door. "That was just me. You know clumsy old doctor." he called back to unseen individuals inside the hospital. He then closed the door and turned on his much brighter flood lamp. "I hope you've come to rescue me." the doctor said. "We can, but first we've got to get one of our own that's being held here." Ji-hye told him. "Good, good!" the doctor whispered. "It's a parasite." the doctor said anticipating the next question that would be asked. "I don't know what exactly they are or where they came from. For all we know this could be what "they" look like." the doctor explained. "They?" asked Ji-hye. "Don't be daft, they, the aliens, whatever's flying those things out there." the doctor clarified. "We've just been blown to hell by a race of creepy crawly wormy centipede vampire things. That's just swell." Carter bemoaned softly. "We can get you out of here but we need your help to free our man. How many people are in the hospital with you? Did you see a police officer anywhere with them?" Ji-hye asked. "There's four that are with them. Two up there and one upstairs in the maternity ward. The other one went out back. I'm assuming you've already dealt with him." the doctor told them. Ji-hye nodded. "There are also about 19 innocents up there as well. A few of them were my patients. As for the policeman, he was taken to the second floor by the one with the sniper rifle." the doctor informed them. "Now if you want me to help you up there I'll need to ask you to leave your weapons here. At least the shotgun. You can hide the pistols if you can but it's got to look like you're new patients." the doctor told them. "You, tall guy. With your hand it looks like you could be his patient. Hand me the shotgun. I'll wait here in case you don't come back." Ji-hye told Carter. Carter handed Ji-hye the shotgun with a scowl, he didn't like being the canary in the coal mine here. "I'll go with you, Carter." whispered Tae-won as he tucked his pistol in the back of his pants. Ji-hye then hid behind a few drums of formaldehyde next to a table with a 19 yr old man lying on it. The man also had a parasite attached to him but didn't seem that the symptoms apparent on the other bodies had yet been made manifest on him. Ji-hye turned off her flashlight before the doctor took Tae-won and Carter upstairs. "It's nothing, I'm just bringing in more of my patients. Turned out they were alive after all." the doctor said. "Snakebite, nasty thing. I better go prepare the antivenom right away." he continued leading Tae-won and Carter past two men with semi-automatic rifles and a dozen or so men and women seated against the wall as hostages. "Hurry back doctor, and bring us something out of the vending machine up there. Cranberry juice will do." One of the men told him. "Oh certainly." the doctor replied leading Tae-won and Carter out of the room and down a hall into the main foyer. Another man with an uzi was outside next to old white van, the kind you expect creepers and kidnappers to hide out in. The doctor took them around a statue of the virgin Mary and up a fanciful curved stairway in the lobby. There were lanterns, both gas and battery operated placed around the lobby to provide some level of illumination. They went to the second floor towards the maternity ward, passing the NICU along the way. Tae-won stop and peered into the NICU through the window on the door. There was a lantern sitting on the counter next to the far wall. Two rows of plastic cylinders that would normally contain babies filled the center of the room. Of those that he could see one of the plastic containers was stained thoroughly with blood and chunks of flesh. Most of the others were empty. There was movement in the cylinder behind one of the empty ones that caught Tae-won's eye. It was one of the parasites, unattached and flopping around. Tae-won recoiled from the window. "It's one of those things." he gasped. "Yes, yes, of course. I caught one and intend to study it later." the doctor told them. "And you didn't think to tell us you had it in there?" Carter asked. "I just told you. Don't get all worked up now." the doctor replied. They then continued on through the maternity ward to the room where the police officer was tied to a chair behind the man on overwatch duty. Instinctively and without hesitation Tae-won drew his pistol and fired two shots into the back of the sentry's head. The sentry fell forward through the window and onto the pavement below. The uzi wielding man outside the hospital looked up to see the window where his partner had fallen through and ran back inside. "Could you have done that with any less tact?" griped the doctor loudly. "We don't have time!" Tae-won barked back. "Carter untie him!" Tae-won ordered. Carter began to untie him when Tae-won fired another shot at the man running upstairs into the maternity ward. The man dashed into another room and aimlessly sprayed bullets towards Tae-won. Tae-won pushed the doctor aside and away from the doorway as he leapt behind cover. Carter dragged the half untied policeman away from the open door and out of the line of fire. Tae-won couldn't afford to waste his ammo, he only had ten shots left and both parties in the firefight had now retreated behind cover. Downstairs the gunshots attracted the attention of the two men holding the hostages. "Go up there and see what's happening." one of the men told the other who bolted away to assist. Shortly thereafter the man from outside stumbled in through the morgue and burst through the door into the hospital. Startled, the man guarding the hostages shot his partner in the stomach as he entered into the door. The man, covered in bite marks, now with blood gushing out an open wound in his stomach was knocked back down the stairs. "Fuck you! It's me!" the wounded man gasped, struggling to speak against the insufferable pain. Ji-hye remained hidden all this time and wasn't noticed when the other man walked through the door to the morgue and went to check on his friend. The hostages, seeing an opportunity made a run for it. Their captor fired upon them haphazardly, only hitting a teenage girl in the left calf. The teenager was left behind by the others who all raced out the door and into the night. The former hostage taker knelt down by his partner. "I had no idea." he apologized. "The fucking cops..." was all the wounded man could say before a severe bout of coughing that caused blood to erupt from both his mouth and his wounds. Taking the chance presented Ji-hye sprang into action and shot the man kneeling down with a shotgun blast to the neck. The blast nearly tore his neck off, leaving his head dangling in front of him by a single sinewy mat of skin. The second man collapsed upon the first, both now surely dead. Ji-hye slowly crept towards them to make sure when she heard the metal table rattling behind her. She whirled around to see the man on the exam table behind her stand up. Her stared at her with a blank stare from behind seemingly lifeless eyes. "Oh my.." Ji-hye gasped and within seconds the man was on her. He was incredibly strong for his size and easily pinned her down. She tried kicking him in the groin to daze him to no effect. He wasn't stunned in the least. She tried to free herself and managed to wedge the shotgun in the throat of her assailant. However there wasn't a round in the chamber so it did not immediately resolve the situation. Her strength was insufficient to jam the barrel into his neck so all she could do was kick and try to pry her assailant off her. Her attacker however was content only to restrain her and didn't try to harm her further.

Upstairs the second gunman opened fire as soon as he entered the hallway down the maternity ward. "They're in the room at the end!" shouted the first gunman. Tae-won signaled to Carter to get next to the door. Like an idiot the second gunman rushed into the room and was snatched away by Carter. The first gunman opened fire but only managed to hit the ankle of his partner. Carter overpowered the gunman and wrestled him onto the ground far from the door. The gunman clung to his rifle and fired a few shots off to the side. Carter was not phased and used the side of his gun to beat the gunman senseless until he was unconscious. He then crept up to the doorway only to be met with a hail of gunfire. Carter lurched back and grabbed his stomach. It hurt severely though he had not been hit. The pain increased beyond his tolerance and Carter found himself stumbling into the doorway. He was hit by a stream of bullets into his right arm, forcing him to drop his weapon. A few of the shots had made it through his arm and into the side of his ribs. He knew he was done for as he heard the gunman changing out his magazines. "Tae-won! I'm going for it! Get everyone out of here!" Carter shouted. Carter charged at the second gunman who opened up with a barrage to center mass as Carter turned the corner into the room where the gunman had holed up. As Carter fell backwards onto the blood splattered hallway wall, the policeman took up the rifle Carter had dropped and Tae-won and the doctor ran towards the doorway and stopped in horror as Carter's mid-section completely split open and two dozen semi-metallic ants the size of dachshunds marched out of his body and into the room of the second gunman. Screams were heard along with futile gunfire as the second gunman was devoured alive by the bugs. Wasting no time Tae-won and the others sprinted downstairs and came across the wounded girl. The policeman helped her up while Tae-won ran into the morgue to get Ji-hye. "We've got a jeep in the alley. We'll meet you there!" Tae-won yelled. Tae-won charged in and saw Ji-hye pinned down by the formerly dead man. Again his instincts caused him to fire two headshots at her attacker. The first shot grazed the top of the skull, the second landed next to the left eye. Surprising the man survived and continued to hold down Ji-hye. Tae-won unloaded three more shots into the man until he finally went down. Ji-hye pushed the body off her and stood up while the sound of movement was heard beneath the pair of bodies from earlier. One of the giant cyber-ants crawled out from the pile of flesh followed by another and another. "Get out of there!" screamed Tae-won. Ji-hye bolted for the exit door and fled. Tae-won however was cut off by the ants and had to turn around just as the vicious ants from upstairs were descending into the lobby. He emptied his gun as ran through the swarm, taking out a few of the ants and managing to get past them. He met the rest of the group at the jeep just before Ji-hye arrived to get the jeep started. Without hesitation the jeep took off down the alley and turned on the main street going away from the hospital, running over the vanguard of the ants in the process. One of the ants managed to catch onto the side door and start gnawing through it but the newly rescued police officer rolled down the window and shot it off. The group was safe for now as they raced through the night back towards the police station. In the distance across the shallow straits, a cluster of alien ships descended on the islands housing Incheon International Airport. Sporadic explosions erupted from the ground there illuminating the night sky. The next phase of the war was now underway.


	9. Chapter 9: Night Terrors

Chapter IX: Night Terrors

5 Oct 2033 KST

Back at the hotel Hyuna was sleeping in the sole bed in the room while Do-yeon was curled up asleep on top of the comforter from the bed folded up onto the floor on the side facing away from the window. Min-jung was in the bathroom attempting to fix her hair and preen herself by the light of a small flashlight. Fontaine sat on the floor at the foot of the bed facing the window looking out onto the city. It was almost an entire day since the attack had commenced and the difference between now and yesterday at this time was staggering. The city was utterly dark, all signs of human life had vanished. Only the faint glow of the moon and the fires to the west gave form to the ragged skyline he had known a mere 24 hours ago. So much had changed, everything he knew was gone and he felt like he was as much of an alien as those who had attacked them. "Never would have expected to be here like this yesterday." Fontaine commented. "I would have been just coming home from a long day at the office right about now." Min-jung remarked. "Do-yeon would be glued to the playstation and I'd be yelling at him to get to bed. This girl would probably be at a party somewhere, I think that's what she said earlier." Min-jung went on. "Yeah, yesterday she would have been one of those girls that would have never noticed I existed. Today I can't get her to leave me alone." Fontaine joked. "She has definitely taken a liking to you." Min-jung replied. "Nah, it's not like that. She's just a scared kid and I just happened to be the one she ran to." Fontaine said. His face was flushed with embarrassment at the thought of what Min-jung was implying. Hyuna was right, he was incredibly awkward around women whenever there was any inkling of interest either way. Before now he really hadn't seen it and didn't care to stop at think about it either. "You must be really dense to believe that." Min-jung said then turned to him and smiled to show she only meant it in jest. "I don't see it. Anyways, are you almost done doing your makeup in there? You're not going out to some exclusive club here, just guard duty." Fontaine asked her, changing the subject. "Almost, it won't take long. I'm not putting on makeup either, just taking care of myself. You can lie down if you want to." she replied. He had volunteered for the midwatch and should really have been getting to sleep now but his instincts wouldn't allow it. He hadn't boarded up the window fearing that it would draw further attention to an otherwise uninteresting room. The curtains could be closed but they wouldn't keep out light from outside or within. As Min-jung finished up, Fontaine's attention was drawn to a bluish-white glow off to the southwest. "Hey, turn that light off and bring me the binoculars." Fontaine whispered to Min-jung. She shut off her flashlight and retrieved the binoculars after fumbling through the desk drawer. Fontaine partially shut the curtain and looked through the binoculars at a ship hovering over a multi-story housing complex not far from them. He saw the one of the alien creatures disembark from the craft and step out onto the rooftop. "No tentacles but they do have a lot of legs." Fontaine whispered. He then shut the curtains completely and put the binoculars under the bed. "Take your son into the closet and shut the door." Fontaine told her. Min-jung picked up her son in the blanket and went into the closet with him. Fontaine was close behind her. He took the guns out of the closet to give them room and handed back one of the rifles and a pistol to Min-jung in case they had to protect themselves. "We've got to make this room look unoccupied." he told her. She understood and took the weapons and laid them beside her. Fontaine then closed the closet door and took the rest of the guns into the bathroom and set them in the walk in shower, leaving one service pistol laying on the narrow countertop by the sink. He thought about moving the desk back into its default position but the sound of skittering feet outside deterred him from doing so as it would make a lot of noise and draw attention to them. He then wheeled the wagon underneath the desk where it would be out of view for anyone peeking inside. He picked up all the various items that were left in the open and put them under the sink in the bathroom then gently tried to wake up Hyuna. He placed his hand over her mouth as she awoke to muffle any noise she would have made. "Shhh...they're outside. We've got to get into the bathroom and make it look like no one's here." Fontaine whispered. Hyuna nodded in agreement. Fontaine then peeked out the corner of the window to catch the sight of three of the creatures walking down the alleyway beside the hotel. "Scouts." he thought to himself. He then helped Hyuna to the edge of the bed and made the bed up to look untouched. Fontaine then carried Hyuna into the bathroom and set her down leaning against the walk in shower. He returned to the door and closed it. The bathroom was pitch black, he slowly felt the countertop and found the small flashlight and turned it on. The bathroom wasn't very big. It looked like his options were to spend the night standing up or to sit on the toilet with his feet on top of Hyuna. As if she knew what he was thinking Hyuna whispered to him. "You can sit behind me. It's not very comfortable up against the shower door." Fontaine carefully positioned himself behind Hyuna with the back of her head on his abdomen, slumping somewhat into his lap. Fontaine put his arms around her trying to hold her up and held the pistol in his hands pointed towards the door in case anything tried to get through. He kept his finger off the trigger and the safety on however to prevent an accidental discharge if he drifted off to sleep. Outside a skitter crawled along the side of the building, stopping only momentarily to look into the window to their room which was now empty as far as it could see. In minutes that felt like days they heard the aliens moving through the hallways outside. They would attempt to open the doors but none of them would open so they kept going. Eventually the sounds outside would cease and the aliens had moved on. Hyuna was already back to sleep before then, either she was that tired or that confident in her own security. Do-yeon had never woken up and Min-jung intended to keep it that way. She and Fontaine would remain awake most of the night as the hours passed towards daybreak.

5 Oct 2200 KST  
Incheon, South Korea

The jeep pulled into the police station's garage where several officers met Ji-hye, Tae-won, the rescued officer and the doctor. One officer held a shotgun pointed down at an angle while the others kept their hands on their service pistols in their holsters until the door opened and they could see for sure who was inside the jeep. "Relax guys, it's us." Ji-hye reassured them. One of the officers immediately went about lowering and securing the garage door. "I see you've got officer Chae back unscathed. Where's the other one, the American, the tall one?" asked one of the officers. "He didn't make it. These things got him." Ji-hye answered in a somber tone. "What things?" another officer questioned. "I'll explain later." Ji-hye replied. "We have another guest. A doctor from the hospital, he was being held hostage as well." Ji-hye informed the officers as the doctor exited the jeep. "Doctor An Sung-soo, orthopedic surgery, but as of today I've pretty much had my hands in everything." the doctor introduced himself. "Glad to see you doctor. We've got a few wounded here that could use your attention." one of the officers said to the doctor then turned to Ji-hye. "Did you get the supplies?" he asked her. "No, we couldn't. We barely got out of there with our lives." she replied. "We'll have to try again tomorrow, maybe hit up somewhere else." the officer said as the group gathered together and filed down the hallway between the garage and the rest of the police station. "I see you've got the generator up and running." Ji-hye commented after noting the lights were on in the station. "Yeah. It should out for a few days if we only run it at night. We've been keeping the upper floors dark as to not give ourselves away from the street. That saves power too. We'll start gathering extra fuel for it in the morning. Plenty of cars to siphon from just out on the street. If we can keep the vermin out we should be able to ride this thing out as long as it takes." the officer replied. They entered into the front room of the police station where another officer approached the group as they came in. "Release the other American right away." Ji-hye ordered him. The officer then proceeded downstairs into the jail to release Williams. "You're welcome to stay the night." Ji-hye turned to Tae-won and said. "Unfortunately, you'll still have to sleep in a jail cell, only this time it will be unlocked." she told him. "Works for me." Tae-won replied. "There, is a washroom down the hall to the left, with the generator on it should be up and running, and through the double doors there's some cold pizza in the breakroom from the other day. You might also find a couple of sack lunches that have sat in there for who knows how long." Ji-hye informed him. "Thanks. Now that you trust us, you know we're looking for volunteers and weapons to help take Seoul back. You've got a well managed outfit here, have you given any thought to joining us and maybe taking the fight to the aliens instead of trying to wait it out here?" asked Tae-won just as Ji-hye was about to walk away from him. "I'm sorry but we can't go with you. As you can see we've got our own battles to fight here. We can't spare any weapons either, save for the ones you brought with you. However, knowing that you need ammunition there might be something we can do to help you out. There's a munitions plant not too far from here, tomorrow morning I can take you there so you can gather weapons for your journey. Unless of course you want to stay here. You're more than welcome to, we could use all the trustworthy able bodied men we can get." Ji-hye answered. "Now it's my turn to decline your offer. Unfortunately, we've still yet to complete our mission. We'll head north after we've armed up and try to find any other pockets of survivors to fight with us. I appreciate you taking us to the ammo factory though." Tae-won said. "We're both committed here. It's all for the good of the country, right?" Ji-hye said with a smile. "Right." Tae-won said with a slight chuckle afterwards. The two parted ways, Ji-hye went into the offices behind the front desk at the station with a few of the other officers while the doctor was led by one of the other officers to check on the injured before being shown to his accommodations. Tae-won then went towards the jail where he met Williams who was on his way upstairs to see him. "Thank God you made it back! I heard about Carter, and damn..." Williams greeted him fading from excitement into despair. "He saved us. I know I barely knew him but he was a good man. He died a good death, a noble death." Tae-won said, ineffectually trying to console Williams. "Yeah..." Williams said with tears in his eyes. To see this giant bear of a man cry touched Tae-won to his core. "We never really got along that great and always were messing with each other. He crossed the line so many times but still, he was like a little brother...I just..." Williams sniffled. "There, there. Let's not talk about it right now. Give it time first." Tae-won said, placing his hands on Williams' biceps to comfort him since he couldn't easily reach his shoulders. "Want some cold pizza to stuff out our sorrows." Tae-won offered. "Yeah, that would be good." Williams said, regaining his composure. The two then went into the breakroom together to eat before they went into their new cell for the night.

5 Oct 2358 KST  
American encampment outside of Seongnam, South Korea

Vargas was awakened by a deafening explosion followed by the thunderous sound of anti-aircraft fire from the nearby Vulcan cannon. He rolled over and pushed himself up onto his feet. Bremer, Taylor, Won-yong and Sobieski all got out of their tents and went to see what all the commotion was about. The perimeter near the gate was ablaze. Further down the line they saw beamers strafing the fixed positions along the perimeter with rapid fire energy weapons that didn't cause anywhere near the collateral damage that the bombs, both nukes and conventional caused. Inside the perimeter the duty section leaders were ordering their men to fall back and bring the perimeter closer in. The Vulcan again opened fire on a beamer coming at it head on. The front of the beamer broke apart and it tore through the sky catching fire until it crashed in the mountains to the east. Several surface to air missiles were fired from shoulder mounted launchers attempting to turn back the beamers but none of them made a direct him. From the south one of the beamers came in hot and completely cleared the area south of the Vulcan until it destroyed the Vulcan itself, but only after sustaining some minor damage to its hull upon approach. The beamers soon after soared upwards and headed north in formation away from the Seongnam safe zone. Bremer glanced over at his tank and breathed a sigh of relief. The American presence was so light the aliens must've mistook their equipment as being derelict. "Vargas! Get the light fifty and keep an eye out over our camp. Sobieski! Tay tay! With me! We're on damage control." Bremer ordered and snapped into action. Sobieski grabbed a fire extinguisher from one of the tents and followed closely behind Bremer and Taylor running towards the perimeter. The three Americans joined the Korean soldiers in putting out the fires along the perimeter. Bremer helped man a two-person hand pump to draw water from the fire main. Taylor pulled a mortally wounded soldier away from the area where the wreckage of the Vulcan was. Sobieski used the fire extinguisher to attempt to contain the flames while the soldiers were pressurizing their hoses to extinguish them. "Of all the things on the to-do list we didn't think to make sure the fire hydrants work." Bremer grunted as he pumped. "Sobieski! Go check if there's a backup generator for the city's fire pumps and get it up and running." Bremer ordered. "Yes sir!" Sobieski replied. She handed off the extinguisher to a Korean soldier and went off to find the nearest fire pump generator. On her way she bumped into a Korean officer who was headed off to do the same thing. "Looking for the emergency fire pump generator?" he asked her. "Yes sir. Read my mind." she replied. "I know where it is. Come with me." the officer told her and the two of them ran off to see to repressurizing the fire main. An exploding crate of ammo near a burning section of the perimeter caused the troops to scatter. The stray bullets ignited by the flames went into mostly empty buildings, rocks and car doors that had been torn off to provide temporary cover. One Korean soldier was struck near the left kidney through the back and fell over screaming for a medic. It took a little while but eventually a civilian nurse came took take care of him. "Let's try to not let that happen again!" Shouted Bremer, directing his team to focus their effort on the ruined Vulcan. Within thirty minutes the local fire main was repressurized and the firefighting efforts quickly put out the blaze. At that time Colonel Cho arrived on the scene. Bremer ran off to meet him, soaked in a dank mix of water and sweat. "Colonel, we've got to pull the perimeter in closer or they're just going to pick us apart all night." Bremer told him. "That will put the civilian population at too great a risk Captain." Cho countered. "Get more anti-aircraft hardware up to the perimeter now!" Cho ordered to another Korean officer who came running up to him a distance behind Bremer. "Sir, with all due respect, the enemy has so far been unwilling to intentionally target our civilians for whatever reason. If we move the perimeter in, even amongst the population in some areas, they might not attack at all." Bremer said. "You're not seriously suggesting we use our citizens as human shields?" Cho inquired his countenance aghast. "Sir, I don't mean to question your judgment here but we're the underdogs here. I've had my share of experience fighting insurgents and I'm telling you this is the shit they would do if they wanted to neutralize the effectiveness of our air power. In this situation we are the Mujahedeen, might want to take a few pages from their playbook." Bremer told him. An explosion to the north followed by a pair of beamers curving south and then back north to make another strike before they flew off into the horizon jarred Cho into making the unsettling call. "Alright then. Just for tonight, we'll try it your way." Cho told Bremer then ordered his men to move the armed perimeter close to the civilian population, while leaving some snipers and soldiers with stinger missiles hidden in the taller buildings outside the perimeter. "Tomorrow we'll reestablish a perimeter at a safe distance. I don't want to draw out a panic here. It'll be difficult enough getting through the night." Cho complained. Gunfire burst from atop a roof at a passing beamer which circled back and blew up the building it came from. "Everyone hold your fire!" commanded Cho, whose order was relayed from one soldier shouting it to another. "Damn we need our own air power!" Cho cursed under his breath. "Eventually these bastards have to send ground forces after us. That's when we will really give it to them!" Cho said, assuring himself of this. "That's right sir. We'll give it to them right up the ass! Hooah!" Bremer cheered in agreement. The air strikes were clearly intended to soften them up for a ground assault, both Bremer and Cho believed. The fight would undoubtedly be upon them soon.

6 Oct 0001 KST  
Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

While driving one of the army trucks back towards Seoul Lt. Hui noticed the wreck of another of their trucks ahead of him of the highway. He stopped and got out with two soldiers coming out of the rear of the vehicle to cover him. He approached the truck to find the cab completely blown apart and several dead soldiers and civilians scattered about. The rear covered section of the truck had a huge hole blown through it and the entire vehicle was spotted in small patches of flame. "Hey...over here..." gasped a weak voice towards the rear of the truck. Hui ran to the back of the truck and found a badly lacerated soldier bleeding out on the road. He seemed to be the only survivor, and from the looks of it, not for long. "We need a medic over here!" Hui yelled out. The squad medic jumped out of the truck and ran towards the sound of Hui's voice. Another soldier followed close behind the medic, keeping watch for any sign of danger. Hui knelt down beside the wounded soldier and gently lifted the soldier's head. The soldier groaned and looked over at Hui. "What happened?" Hui asked. "A robot...hit us by surprise..." gasped the soldier. "Robot?" asked Hui. The soldier struggled to speak but couldn't gather enough breath. "Don't worry about it. You'll be ok." Hui said. The medic reached them and knelt down and began examining the soldier. "No...I'm done for..." the soldier said weakly. The soldier reached into his pocket and removed a handwritten note on hotel stationery soaked in sweat and stained with blood and handed it to Hui. "Give ...Capt Han..." the soldier said, with a sucking sound coming from his chest as he spoke. The medic spotted deep gashes into the soldier's chest that had penetrated into both his lungs. The sheer quantity of blood the soldier had lost was enough to convince the medic this man wouldn't survive long enough to make it back to Seongnam. Furthermore the soldier was in the process of suffocating as they spoke. The medic looked at Hui and shook his head side to side to indicate the soldier wasn't going to make it. "Shh..Shh...don't say anything." Hui whispered to the dying soldier. The soldier tried to speak but struggled to even breathe. As the soldier slipped into unconsciousness the medic packed up his first aid kit and stood up. Hui laid the soldier down, stuffed the note the soldier had given him in his pocket, bowed his head and waited as the soldier passed. Then he and the medic picked the soldier up by his shoulders and feet and carried him back to the truck. Hui headed back to the cab while the medic and the other soldiers climbed into the rear. "Alien ground forces got them. No survivors. We've got to move." Hui told the soldier in the passenger seat as he sped away to the north, leaving the wrecked truck behind. There were still several fairly large pockets of survivors left in Gangdong district that he was aware of and precious little time to save them all


	10. Chapter 10: Licking Our Wounds

Chapter X: Licking Our Wounds

6 Oct 0600 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Two army trucks rolled up beside a large warehouse that had been emptied out and turned into a makeshift infirmary and processing center for refugees now that the stadium had become overcrowded. The second truck was riddled with holes and covered in soot. Five trucks had left on the last rescue mission and these two were all that returned. Exhausted and dazed, Lt. Hui clumsily got out of the passenger seat of the lead truck and ran to the rear of the truck to assist the other soldiers in getting the survivors out of the truck. Hui's clothes were soaked in sweat and several people's blood and he was covered in dirt, ash and grease from head to toe. His hair was disheveled and caked with dust and grime. Several of the civilians and soldiers on staff at the warehouse came out and met the survivors as they were being directed to a roll up door entrance. Several stretchers were rolled outside to receive the wounded that were unable to walk. "What the hell happened to you guys? Where's the other trucks?" asked one of the soldiers that came out of the warehouse. "We were ambushed coming back through Songpa District. The others didn't make it." a soldier helping Hui lower a wounded man down onto a stretcher replied. "It was a robot, like one of those Imperial walkers from Star Wars, except it had arms." Another soldier added. "An AT-ST walker." Lt. Hui clarified. "You're such a nerd sir." remarked the soldier from the warehouse. Hui and the staff soldier rolled the injured man into the warehouse while the other two soldiers went to get another of the wounded ready for the next stretcher that was waiting for them. "Our guns didn't do anything against it. If it wasn't for the aliens' own dumb blunder of having one of the zoomies bomb our third truck we never would have lost it." Hui told the soldier that was wheeling the stretcher into the warehouse with him. They handed off the patient on the stretcher to a team of nurses who took him away to get treatment. "You look like shit, Lieutenant. Get some sleep." one of the nurses told him. "No time for that, there's still that group of survivors at the hospital out there." Lt. Hui grumbled and walked back out to the trucks to finish unloading them. "We're going to need more men this time, and some heavy weapons too." Hui told the other soldier while they moved the next patient in. "Right away sir." the soldier replied. After they handed off the stretcher for a stained empty stretcher the other soldier left to carry out Hui's order. Hui went back out and got one of his men to help him bring in the wounded. They continued until they had got all the survivors into the warehouse. When the trucks were empty some of the soldiers brought fuel cans to refuel the vehicles while other soldiers hosed out the blood from the inside of the truck beds. Amongst the blood and gunk that washed out from the trucks was a torn, soiled handwritten note on hotel stationery.

Within the hour the soldier Lt. Hui had sent out for men and weapons had returned. With him were 16 more soldiers with a .50 caliber rifle and a grenade launcher in their arsenal. "This is all we can spare sir. We were attacked last night and the Colonel's got the men spread out over the entire area." the soldier reported. "It'll do." Hui replied. "Load it up! Let's go!" a sergeant who acted as Lt. Hui's second in command of the rescue mission shouted to the soldiers. "Are you sure you don't want to sit this one out sir? We know where we are going and you're not much use to us in your condition." the sergeant asked Hui while the soldiers boarded the trucks. Hui was little more than an animated corpse at this point. He had been running survivors out of Gangdong and Songpa districts for over 24 hours straight without as much as a ten minute break. He hadn't eaten, slept, and barely drank enough to hold down his thirst but not enough to replace all the fluids he had lost. Still, Hui was determined. He couldn't think of anything but clearing the area before the inevitable ground invasion rolled in. "I won't be able to rest until this is finished. I have to go. You can drive but I have to go." Hui insisted. "Alright sir, please try to take it easy on the road. You'll need all your strength if we find ourselves in a fight." the sergeant responded as the two of them walked around to the cab and climbed in. "We'll surely have to expect a fight." Lt. Hui said. "This time they won't get the jump on us. We'll be ready." Hui assured the sergeant and himself as he buckled himself in. Soon after the soldier on the ground waved up to them that all the men were ready. The trucks then started up and drove around the warehouse and back onto the roads leading back into Seoul.

6 Oct 0827 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Sobieski walked through the crowded streets of Seongnam carrying a coiled up bunch of copper wire. "Sergeant Sobieski!" called a voice behind her. The officer she had been working with last night was running to catch up with her from behind. Lyndsey looked around to see him with the most goofy look on his face. It was kind of half smile, open mouthed with an indecisive blank stare in his eyes. "Captain Han. What are you doing here?" she asked. She stopped looked down and away from him and smiled then back towards him waiting for him to catch up. "Sorry, I look like a fool when I'm running and thinking at the same time. There's a lot on my mind these days. I was wondering if you had a chance to check out any of those solar panels last night." Capt. Han answered after he caught up to her and slowed down to a walk. "Completely fried. They're no use to us." Sobieski told him. "Should've known. Any kind of sensitive electronics are all shot to hell." said Han. "Need help with that? Let me carry it." offered Capt. Han. "No, I've got it." Sobieski politely declined. "We could probably rig up some wind turbines or something to give us some power for critical functions in between running the diesels but that's not the hard part. The transmission lines are cut in several places and we've got blown transformers everywhere. Getting the power where we need it to go would take weeks with the manpower we have." Sobieski informed him. The two of them walked into a former municipal building where Sobieski laid down the copper wire. Another Korean soldier came into the building to find Capt. Han. "Monopoly man, the civvies are wondering when they'll be able to take a shower. You have an ETA I can give them sir?" asked the soldier. "We're working on it. I'll try to have something working by the end of the day but I make no promises." Han told him. "Very well sir, I'll tell them." said the soldier. "Tell them to keep their pants on too. Anything we get to work is only going to be a temporary solution at best. It'll take a long time before we can restore power to the area, and that's hoping the aliens give us the time to do so." Capt Han told the soldier as he left. Han and Sobieski left the municipal building and went back out onto the street. "You couldn't have had much sleep last night. Mind joining me for a cup of coffee?" Han asked. "Sure, as long as it isn't watered down instant coffee I'm game." Sobieski accepted the invitation. "We've procured some high end grounds at a cafe over by the officers' mess and they're getting better at brewing it old school. It's not Starbucks but given the situation it's pretty good." Han told her as they changed direction towards. "Sounds good." Sobieski commented. "So why do they call you Monopoly Man?" asked Sobieski. "Monopoly man is just one of many names they call me. Monopoly Man, Uncle Scrooge, Richie Rich, Squilliam Fancyson and so on. They usually call me that behind my back mostly. It's a tense time right now, so I'll let that last one slide." Han told her, finishing with a smirk. "But why do they call you that in the first place? You don't seem too fancy or hoity toity. You got it all stuffed away in the bank somewhere?" Sobieski continued to inquire. "Anything in the bank probably got a big 'delete' when our electronics went down, but if you really must know I was born into a wealthy family. Our net worth was in the tens of millions of US dollars. My father was a big player in the telecom sector and made a lot of really smart investments both before and after the global recession hit. The guys just see it as like I'm some spoiled brat that was handed everything and never had to work a day in my life. The truth is far from it, my father definitely tried to instill a good work ethic in me from the get go. Even though I was sent to the best schools and given every opportunity I still had to earn the things I wanted. In a way you could say I stayed in the army longer than I had to as a way of getting out from under my father's shadow." Han explained. "Here we are, after you." Han said as they arrived at the cafe adjacent to where the officers mess area had been established. Han held the door for Sobieski and entered in behind her. A proper gentleman, she thought. It was an odd feeling, she wasn't used to be treated that way by men unless they wanted something from her. "You see, my father wanted me to do a minimum stint in the civil service and then he would start grooming me to take my place in the family business." Han explained. "But you wanted to prove yourself on your own right?" asked Sobieski as if she already knew the answer. "That and I never really cared much for making bank by moving paper around. I know that's an overly simplified way to say it but you know what I mean." replied Han. "Two packets of cream and hazelnut syrup." Han told the woman who was pouring coffee for the soldiers and workers in the cafe. "and for you miss?" the woman asked. "I'll take mine black." Sobieski said. "Trying to emasculate me are you?" asked Han sarcastically. "Nah, just don't care for all the fluff in my drinks." Sobieski replied. "I take it you don't do cosmos with the girls then?" remarked Han. "Right on, I take my liquor straight. It's usually beer with the boys anyhow, not a lot of 'girl time' going on in the army you know?" Sobieski said flashing a smile at Han as they got their drinks and sat down. "So I was thinking about ways to protect the motors we'll be using to pressurize the water mains. In case the aliens hit us with an EMP again. Maybe using something like a Faraday cage to insulate them from the excess current would work. " Sobieski suggested. "Possibly. That is assuming that what they are using to take out our systems is a standard EMP as we understand it. The effects we saw when the world first went dark seem to indicate we're dealing with something a little different. Granted the extant studies that I'm aware of on the effects of a high altitude EMP are outdated and inconclusive at best." Han replied. "We can get to working on it right away though. Better we both tackle this problem together than try and do it ourselves right?" Han said. "Right." Sobieski agreed. She spotted his wedding band as he took a sip of his drink. "Are you married?" she asked bluntly. She had the sense that their friendship could easily take a detour down another road and wasn't going to be yet another guy's side squeeze, even if he was a decent fellow, not to mention handsome and filthy rich. She was the type of girl that guys would bang on deployment but when they got stateside they wouldn't have anything to do with her or at best friend zone her as just one of the boys. Needless to say she had developed a reputation, somewhat undeserved, in here early days with the army. She was trying to correct that image now. "Yes, well my family and I lived in Gangnam District and well Gangnam District was..." Han started to say, fidgeting with his hands and droning off as he spoke. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." Sobieski apologized. He didn't need to say any more, she knew half of Gangnam district was a smoldering crater and the rest was probably sterilized by short term levels of radiation from the bombings. "It's alright, let's talk about something else though." Han said. The two of them continued making small talk and planning out their day's work as they finished up their coffee then went back out to continue on with their work about the city.

As Sobieski and Capt. Han went about repairing what equipment they could and modifying or hardening other pieces of hardware they encountered Vargas and Bremer who were on their way to the stadium for an early lunch. The two pairs passed each other right after Han and Sobieski had stopped to direct a group of workers to where they needed to go. "Hey, Lyndsey. We're going to need you to change out the ignition on a couple more vehicles. 3 of the last 5 trucks we sent out didn't make it back." Bremer told her as they passed by. Sobieski stopped while Han continued on to oversee three other soldiers who were installing a crank operated air raid siren on a light post outside the stadium grounds. People were constantly coming and going through the area so he didn't even notice Sobieski had stayed behind. "I'll get on it sir. The next run we send out we are going to need more parts. We've stripped a lot of the local warehouses for their salvagable goods and still have considerable need if we want to restore any semblance of society here for these people." Sobieski replied. "I'll see what we can do once the last of the survivors from Gangdong and Songpa districts arrive." Bremer replied. "I'll make a list of what we need." Sobieski said. As they finished talking a young, rather attractive Korean woman passed by the group. Bremer, acting on his instincts made an obnoxious howling noise like an injured coyote and slapped her on the backside. Surprisingly enough the woman turned back and gave Bremer a wink and raised eyebrow then motioned for him to come with her. "Now if you would excuse me gentlemen, I believe that is my cue to leave." Bremer told Vargas and Sobieski before strolling up to the young lady who was waiting for him. Sobieski looked over at Vargas and then back at Bremer. She expected the woman to slap him or give him a swift kick to the crotch, but no such luck. She didn't even tell him off, instead she seemed totally absorbed with the bullshit lines he was feeding her. "It's women like that who make guys like him. What the hell does she even see in him?" Sobieski griped. "It's amazing what some rock hard abs, a dash of charm and an alpha personality will do." Vargas said shrugging her statements off. "How is it that you and him are such good friends anyhow?" Sobieski asked as Bremer and his latest conquest strolled away to an undisclosed location in the city. "We've saved each other's asses more times than we can count. We had some good times together in our days too, hit the club with the same intensity as we hit the foxhole. I used to be more of a party guy in my younger days too, that is, until I had my come to Jesus moment." Vargas told her. "Well you'd think that now with all your bible thumping you wouldn't be keeping that type of company." Sobieski said in jest. Vargas laughed. "You can't always preach to the choir sister. Sometimes you have to go out among the heathens." Vargas said. "Point taken. I don't see you converting him anytime soon, and don't you start preaching to me either, choir boy." Sobieski said elbowing Vargas in the ribs in jest. "Sergeant, come here." Capt. Han called out to Sobieski, waving for her to come help her with something he was doing. "I won't keep you from your duties sergeant. I might as well bring Taylor back something from the mess hall." Vargas said. "Take care of yourself Vargas." Sobieski said as she left to join Han. "You too, and try to give men a chance for once, we're not all horn dogs." Vargas joked. Vargas then went off to pick up food for himself and Taylor back at camp.


	11. Chapter 11: Hammer and Anvil

Chapter XI: Hammer and Anvil

6 Oct 0916 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

Hui dozed off in the passenger seat of the lead truck as they entered into Gangdong district. His squad had located a functional pickup truck and a motorcycle along their way and added them to their column. He had been slipping in and out of consciousness the whole ride over. The motorcycle scouted ahead at the edge of their sight while the pickup was spaced in between them. In the bed of the pickup were two soldiers, one with the sniper rifle and the other with a standard K2 rifle. Positioned at the ready in the rear of the last truck was a soldier with the grenade launcher supported by others with standard equipment. This time they were prepared for an ambush. However this time there was no sign of enemy activity in Songpa district when they went through. Still they cautiously went through the main streets of Gangdong district towards the hospital expecting danger at every intersection. The large number of broken down and wrecked vehicles here made it difficult to travel at a decent speed and forced them to take a less than direct route to their destination. The sniper in the pickup truck spotted an alien sentry on the roof of a building. They had seen the robots briefly during the last ambush but this is the first clear look any of them had of the alien creatures themselves. They were crusty reptilian-like creatures with a body plan similar to that of a praying mantis, only with total 8 limbs instead of 6 and less pronounced claws. Also instead of a single claw they had either three or four claw like fingers. Surprisingly the creature did not appear to be armed. Funny that an invading force wouldn't equip the vanguard of their troops, wondered the sniper. They alien wore metallic body armor over its vertical chest section, so that put shooting for center mass out of the question for an instant kill. The sniper decided instead to line up for a head shot when they got closer. "You see it? I'm going to take it out." the sniper whispered to the soldier next to him. The soldier nodded silently in concurrence. The column drew nearer and the sniper could tell the alien had now noticed them. He was still uncertain he could make the shot but it was now or never. He lined up, squeezed the trigger and fired. The shot impacted the upper left side of the creatures head knocking its head down and away. The sniper could see it left a significant mark but the creature was not down. It raised its head back and turned away. The sniper loaded the next round in the chamber, this time targeting the base of the back of the creature's skull. He fired, making a direct hit. This time instead of chipped away some of the exoskeleton and leaving a bruise there was a burst of blood that sprang out of the entry wound. Within the minute the alien appeared to fall face forward and out of sight of the sniper. It was dead he assumed. Hopefully it hadn't had a chance to warn others of the convoy's approach. The convoy went under an overpass and into a cluttered thoroughfare between many shops and restaurants forcing them to slow down. At the lead of the column the motorcyclist heard the thundering of mechanized footfalls and stopped at the corner of the next intersection. The motorcyclist raised his right hand at a 90 degree angle to his elbow with an open palm signaling the vehicles behind him to stop. He dismounted and walked his bike to the sidewalk and then on foot he crept to the corner and peeked around a brick walled meat market. He counted ten mechs marching down the next street to the west, advancing in rows of five. The motorcyclist waved back to the other vehicles and rapidly pointed to the buildings next to them, as a sign for them to take refuge. The driver of the first truck, Hui's second in command, shook Lt. Hui and woke him up. "Shh... Get out and take cover in one of these buildings." the driver told Hui before he had a chance to make any noise upon coming to his senses. The driver then got out and went to the rear of the truck and told the soldiers inside the same thing. At the same time he signaled back to the driver of the rear truck to follow suit. Ahead of the trucks the soldiers in the pickup parked, turned off the engine and went into a two story dance hall. The soldiers in the trucks went into a seafood restaurant on one side and a comic book/video store on the other side. Hui and his second in command joined the pickup crew in the dance hall. The lead scout went into the bakery and hid behind the counter as a great multitude of skitters followed the mechs down the adjacent street. Soon enough the enemy brigade wasn't simply confined to that one street. Swarms of skitters hopped between the rooftops, including those of the buildings the soldiers were in. Hundreds more filled the street and passed between the convoy's vehicles, appearing now as if they were just a few of many derelict cars on a crowded street. Streets to the east of the soldiers too began to fill up with ranks upon ranks of skitters, armored yet strangely unarmed. Now would have been the perfect time for an ambush if only Hui's unit had more men. None of them however were so mad that they would hope to face over a thousand skitters with 31 men. Instead the soldiers waited, hiding out of view and trying not to make a sound. Everyone feared the cliché sneeze or cough but the soldiers were all disciplined enough to not be the one that gave their position away. There was fear that the heat radiating off their vehicles from being recently driven would clue the aliens in but the skitters did not seem to care. They clearly had bigger things on their agenda, and to the soldiers those bigger things had to have been the fortification at Seongnam. As the final ranks of the enemy formation passed a pair of mechs formed the rearguard. Moments later the roar of beamers overhead could be heard. When the brigade had passed the soldiers all waited for orders to leave the safety of their hiding places. Hui, now coming around to his full faculties was in agreement with his second in command to wait several minutes longer before venturing outside again. Eventually they worked up the courage to sneak outside. Hui, his first sergeant and the soldiers inside the dance hall carefully checked the area around them and the adjacent streets before signaling the others to join them. They then boarded their vehicles again and resumed what would likely be their final rescue mission in this area.

6 Oct 0942 KST

The sound of gunfire in the distance outside roused Min-jung from her sleep. Only minutes ago it seemed she had been awake with Do-yeon in her arms. She must have passed out for a moment, she thought. She awoke to find the closet door open and Do-yeon playing in the hotel room behind the bed. "Do-yeon get in here!" she whispered angrily. Do-yeon did as he was told and went back into the closet and sat down. "You stay right here." Min-jung told him. Min-jung then went and opened the bathroom door to wake up Fontaine. Hyuna had been awake for quite some time already but felt content to sit there and daydream for hours while Fontaine slumbered behind her. It was kind of like a warm, snoring blanket or chair. "Wake him up." Min-jung whispered to Hyuna as she kicked the bottom of his boots. All Hyuna had to do was try to stand up and that immediately brought Fontaine to a state of alertness. "Are we ok?" he asked. "I heard some gunfire outside. Sounded like it was coming from the northwest." Min-jung told him. "I'll go check it out." Fontaine said. He and Hyuna carefully got up and Fontaine went into the room with his rifle. He then retrieved the pair of binoculars and went up to the roof. He hid behind a defunct transformer and looked off in the direction where Min-jung had claimed to have heard the gunfire. There was a small pillar of smoke rising from an area of the city but it was too far away and obstructed by buildings so he couldn't see what had happened. Likely there was a small clash between a group of people and the aliens or two groups of people. It didn't look like anything serious, in fact what he saw looked more promising than portentous for ill. All the alien ship activity was now far off to the west and south. The skies over Gangdong district appeared clear for the first time since this all began. The sun was even peeking through where the clouds of smoke from the first bombardment had begun to dissipate. He wanted to stay outside and soak up this beautiful day but he had a duty to those under his care. Fontaine went back into the room to find Min-jung asleep on the floor beside the bed facing away from the window. "See anything?" asked Hyuna after letting him in. "Looks clear. Seems there was a little scuffle a couple kilometers away but it's over and done with now." Fontaine told her. He looked over at Min-jung fast asleep on the floor. "She went back to sleep already?" he asked. "Yeah, seems she didn't sleep at all last night." Hyuna answered. "Well let's at least make her comfortable." Fontaine said. Fontaine took a pillow out of the bed and slid it under Min-jung's head. "So how's the leg?" he asked. "Better. I can walk on it without much pain. Still a little stiff but I'm not a cripple anymore at least." Hyuna replied. "That's good. We still shouldn't rush out of here unless we have to. Wouldn't want to hurt it again." Fontaine said. "Alright." Hyuna said as she sat down on the bed. She had no problem with staying put, they were well stocked to get through a couple days. Fontaine now was also content with staying. The alien forces were on the move, surely whatever the military had cobbled back together was operating to counter them at every turn. Attempting to regroup with his unit didn't seem to make much sense with so many moving pieces in play right now. He had left his message and would commit to making his rounds to the battle site as he had stated but otherwise he planned on staying here and doing what he could to get through this alive. Now that he thought of it, Fontaine realized it was getting close to one of his promised rendezvous times. "I've got to check in real quick to see if my unit got our message." Fontaine told Hyuna and started back towards the door almost as quickly as he had come in. "Where are you going?" Do-yeon asked and came running out of the closet. "I've got to go check if the army is waiting on us. Might find your dad." he told him. "Can I go with you?" Do-yeon asked. Fontaine looked over to Hyuna but got only a blank face which was so help then looked back at Do-yeon. "ummm, I guess, ok?" Fontaine said without an ounce of certainty. He reached into one of the desk drawers and took out a pistol. "First we've got to teach you how to shoot so you can take care of yourself if we run into any spidermen." Fontaine said. "Really?! Cool!" Do-yeon exclaimed. "Easy now kid. A gun's not a toy." Fontaine reminded him. "You call them spidermen?" asked Hyuna. "Yeah, that's what they look like, spider-men." Fontaine answered her. "They do not! Spiderman is cute." Hyuna gleefully retorted. "Not that Spiderman." Fontaine replied. The two of them smiled and looked away from each other, then back at each other and waved goodbye as Fontaine took Do-yeon downstairs. A few minutes later a gunshot once again brought Min-jung out of her slumber. "Where's Do-yeon!" she shouted in a panic when she got up. She couldn't have lost him again, she thought. "He's ok. Jake took him downstairs, he wanted to go see if his daddy came to rescue us." Hyuna explained. Min-jung sighed a sigh of disgust. "That boy is in so much trouble!" she grumbled and stormed out the door. Hyuna didn't understand, but then again she wasn't a parent so she couldn't really put herself in Min-jung's position. Min-jung stormed downstairs to find Fontaine helping Do-yeon with his stance. Ahead of them on a barstool was an empty soft drink can and on the floor were two other cans with bullet holes through them. The wall ahead of them also had some marks where bullets had impacted it as well. "Do-yeon what do you think you are doing!" Min-jung shouted. "I hit one mom! He say's I'm a natural at this." Do-yeon said before turning around to notice his mother's displeasure. Min-jung yanked the pistol out of Do-yeon's hands with one hand and with the other one she grabbed his wrist. "Don't take it out on him. It's my fault, I told him he could come in case his father showed up. He needed to know how to safely handle a firearm first. I wanted him to know how to defend himself." Fontaine pleaded with Min-jung on her son's behalf. Min-jung got into Fontaine's face and glared ferociously at him. She wanted to slap him but didn't, instead she pulled Do-yeon's arm and led him back upstairs into the room without saying a single word to Fontaine. He would have some explaining to do when he got back he thought. Hopefully she would have cooled off by the time he returned from checking the battle site.

6 Oct 1039 KST

Amanda Kyung walked the hospital grounds checking on the patients and other survivors that had taken refuge there as she had done many times before. The doctors and nurses continued treating the injured and sick. They had started catching up with their workload now, although regrettably they had lost many patients that were far too gone when they arrived. While alien activity had intensified in Gangdong District and the surrounding area considerably in the past 24 hours the immediate environs of the hospital had been left alone. That brief period of peace wouldn't last however, as now sweeping out of the sky one of the jumbo sized transport beamers slowed down and hovered a few feet over the hospital rooftop. A hatch opened and several skitters started leaping out of the craft. The alien ship started moving slowly, continuing to drop off skitters along the way. After it passed the rooftop it swept down towards the crowds of people gathered on the lawn and parking lot surrounding the hospital. From the sides of the craft bursts of rapid fire energy bolts scattered the people on the ground while more skitters jumped out and tackled people to the ground. The police and security personnel on hand at the hospital began to open fire on the skitters and the alien ship. The rounds had no effect on the ship and few found their mark against the fast moving skitters. Amanda sprinted past a police officer moments before energy bolts tore him apart. A pair of gunshots rang out from the emergency room entrance as a lone security guard tried to keep the aliens out. Moments later a pair of skitters closed in and tore the guard limb from limb, leaving his broken body behind as they entered the hospital. As soon as they entered, the two skitters exited the hospital, each carrying a person, kicking and screaming to get away. At first many of the nurses and volunteers tried to help the infirm escape the hospital grounds but soon after many of them were seized by the skitters most of the others broke into a full panic. The able bodied abandoned the infirm and immobile to their fate and desperately tried to escape in the confusion. The ship made one final pass over the hospital lawn, dropping a few more skitters into the center of the terrified mob before ascending high into the clouds and vanishing from sight. Moon Ki-ha held tightly onto his daughter as they huddled together, standing firm in the center of the chaos. He waited, looking for an opening so they both could run for it. A man clumsily knocked over a near comatose man laid out on a stretcher several meters behind them. The man fell forward over the stretcher and onto the ground. As he attempted to stand up a skitter scurried up to him and seized him by the throat then quickly carried him away. A shotgun blast from a police officer sheared off a leg of one of the skitters. The wounded skitter limped towards him as he backed away and chambered another round. Before he could fire again a skitter came up behind him and gripped his face with its large clawed digits and tore it off from the left side to the right. Screaming briefing in terrible agony the police officer clutched his broken face and fell to his knees where he would perish. The last police officer outside the hospital fired several shots at the wounded skitter, hitting the side of it's armor once and twice connecting a round to the side of the head. One of the headshots dazed the creature, the second, entering beneath the area that would be the ear on a human made complete penetration and killed the alien within seconds. The officer was soon after overcome as three skitters abandoned the chase of frightened patients and charged at him. The officer's right arm severed at the shoulder joint landed near Amanda. The officer's severed arm was still clutching his pistol. Amanda knelt down and pried the gun from his grip and stood back up, checking to see if any aliens were coming for her. The people on the lawn and in the parking lot were helpless, there were maybe eight more armed persons in the area and all of them were now inside the hospital. Occasionally barrages of gunfire could be heard from within the hospital when groups of skitters entered in pursuit of their quarry. The people who had fled to the north and the west were met by more skitters crawling in from the city streets. One of the large cigar shaped transport ships lumbered in from the northeast cast a long shadow over the field's and trees east of the hospital. What looked like several armored teardrops hanging by an ever extending bio-metallic tethers dropped out of the underside of the transport. The teardrop shaped pods touched down on the grassy field near a gathering of skitters and opened up, releasing more skitters onto the hospital grounds. The pods promptly filled back up with skitters carrying men, women and children are were taken back up to the ship. The new skitters raced towards the hospital and stormed inside in multiple groups. Some went straight through the emergency room entrance, others went around to the front entrance. Still other skitters that had been lingering on the roof climbed down the wall and entered in through opened or broken windows on the upper floors. The hospital security was completely overwhelmed and the skitters seized doctors, nurses and patients, starting with the most healthy. All the while the pods kept ascending and descending from the transport ship in a never ending cycle, devouring the people that the skitters delivered to it. As many of the skitters were now busy dragging their victims to their ship Moon Ki-ha saw and opening and ran for it, clutching Soo-young's hand firmly as she trailed behind him in a sprint. Before he had a chance to even think that they might make it, a skitter stopped right in front of him and stared him down. The skitter's attention however quickly turned to something else. From a small road to the south Lt. Hui's convoy had arrived. From the bed of the pickup truck, the platoon's sniper fired off two rounds as they drove into the area. The first round dropped a skitter outright, hitting it in the back of the head. The second shot tore away the arm of another skitter that was reaching for a teenage boy fleeing the hospital grounds. The pickup circled around the side of the hospital, allowing the sniper to take pot shots at the skitters while the two trucks parked on the south side of the hospital grounds. Quickly the platoon exited the trucks and opened fire on the skitters. Several skitters were taken out by the initial barrage, sadly a 14 year old girl was also slain by friendly fire. The skitters moved quickly and were hard to hit so the girl would not be the first civilian in the confused melee to be struck by a stray bullet. Lt. Hui and his first sergeant exited the truck and joined in on the attack. "Aim for the throat and the back of the head!" the first sergeant ordered loudly, having taken note of the weak points in the skitter's exoskeleton. "The leg joints are vulnerable too!" a soldier added after blasting away a couple limbs from a skitter by shooting at what would be considered the knees. About a dozen or more skitters abandoned their task of rounding up civilians and fanned out towards the soldiers. "Here they come!" the first sergeant shouted, emptying the rest of his magazine at two skitters coming his way, then running behind the truck to reload while other soldiers covered him. A skitter reached the soldiers and snatched one of the soldiers up and held him high above it's head. As other soldiers turned their fire on this skitter, the skitter pulled down on the upper torso and legs of the soldier, snapping his back and threw the dying corpse of the soldier towards his platoon mates. The skitter soon thereafter succumbed to it's wounds and slumped over dead. The soldiers started to spread out and take cover, several of them running out of ammo and having to reload. This gave the skitters ample time to close in on them. One of the soldiers near the rear truck was seized by the throat and sliced open with the claw of one skitter. Another was knocked down and dragged away by the legs by another skitter. The soldier being dragged however managed to reload his rifle and shoot the skitter carrying him. This however did not save him, another skitter pounced on top of him and swatted his gun away, then proceeded to carry him off towards the pods. The soldiers were outnumbered and taking considerable casualties at this point. Lt. Hui's platoon's attack did manage to pull enough of the skitters attention towards them to allow several of the people fleeing the hospital to escape. A doctor, two women and a young boy made it out through the streets to the west as the platoon's pickup truck drew away seven skitters after them. The truck eventually was overrun when a skitter jumped onto the hood from the side of the hospital when it got too close. The gang of skitters behind the truck then proceeded to make short work of the sniper, the second soldier in the bed and the driver. Amanda ran towards the army trucks where Lt. Hui shot a skitter pursuing close behind her. "Run! Get out of here!" Hui shouted to her, as if she needed instruction. Ki-ha and Soo-young were next to reach the opening between the two trucks. A skitter seized Soo-young as the soldiers were hammered by a new wave of skitters that killed or captured several of them. "Soo-young!" Ki-ha screamed. He started to run after her but Hui's first sergeant reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. "Let me go!" Ki-ha shouted back at him, not realizing he had just been saved from a trio of skitters that quickly formed behind the one carrying off Soo-young. "I'm sorry. There's nothing you can do for her, if you go after her you're going to get yourself killed." the first sergeant explained. His words meant nothing and Ki-ha wrested himself free and sprinted after Soo-young. As expected he was tackled down by a skitter come at him from the side and carried away. One of the three rearguard skitters to the one carrying Soo-young was shot multiple times and killed by a lone soldier at the rear of the first truck. The first sergeant joined Hui at the front of the truck and fired a burst of rounds at a skitter coming at them. His shots blew open the skitter's throat and lower jaw, causing the skitter to fall forward off the truck into a lifeless, twitching pile of scaly appendages. "I'm out!" the first sergeant reported. Hui looked around to see his forces disintegrating around him. There were maybe five soldiers he could spot left under his command. Hui and the first sergeant crouched down beside the passenger side door of the truck behind the slain skitter. The soldier at the rear of the truck was now down to his last 3 or 4 rounds. He hid behind the rear tires and waited. On the hospital grounds two soldiers pushed forward as a pair, aiding the flight of several people leaving the hospital. With intermittent gunfire bursts they killed and wounded a number of skitters until one of the soldiers was knocked down by a skitter and carried away. The second soldier fled back towards the trucks. "Sir, we have to get you out of here. We've done all we can here." the first sergeant told him. Hui was frustrated, failure was weighing hard on him. He knew total defeat was imminent, but there was that part of him that wanted to keep on fighting. "Sir!" The first sergeant shouted again, snapping Hui back into focus. "Everyone fall back!" commanded Hui. The soldier at the rear and the fleeing soldier quickly rallied to him and began to back away cautiously. "You heard the man! Fall back! We're pulling out!" the first sergeant shouted. Two more soldiers that had already been presumed lost appeared from amidst the thinning crowd of people and made their way back to where Hui and the others were withdrawing. The first sergeant took the rifle of one of the two soldiers as he passed. "Go! I'll keep them off you til you're clear." he told them. Several skitters had leapt up on top of both the trucks, it did not appear they would have the chance to use the vehicles to get away this time. The first sergeant tried to get the skitters off the truck but there were too many of them. The two soldiers that still had ammunition in their weapons tried to assist them but they could not stem the tide of the alien attackers. Hui and the rest of the soldiers broke away from the trucks and ran off down the small street through the sparse trees and in between a few buildings where the road curved. The first sergeant brought down a skitter that attempted to pursue, then blasted off the arm, then a leg of a second skitter before he himself made a run for it. A swarm of skitters soon followed over, crawling over the trucks like ants over a fallen twig. Ahead of the soldiers Amanda had been chased back towards the hospital by a skitter that had come in from the street. With the last seven rounds in his magazine unloaded into the face of the skitter pursuing her Hui rescued Amanda from the immediate threat. She stood there stunned as bullets had just whizzed close by her until the soldiers reached her. "Don't just stand there, let's go!" Hui shouted at her. She joined him and the other soldiers they had almost made it to the main road when from behind them the first sergeant's screams cried out as he was split open by the vanguard of the skitter horde. Hui didn't even have time to let his first sergeant's death register before a skitter came down from the roof and pounced onto two of his soldiers standing behind him. One soldier the skitter crushed upon landing, the second was swatted away like a fly, slamming into the brick of the building across the narrow street. The soldier's helmet was dislodged by the impact and a bright red trail was left on the brick wall as the soldier slid down it and crumpled into a lifeless slumped form on the sidewalk. The skitter swung around and knocked Hui to the ground. Dazed, but barely conscious Hui could see Amanda being captured by another skitter as he himself was being lifted up and carried away.

6 Oct 1052 KST  
Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

In the south of Songpa District to the north of the edge of the Seongnam safe zone a lookout on top of a small high-rise sighted the advancing mech and skitter brigade through his binoculars. The lookout took out a lighter from his pocket then fished out a gasoline soaked tennis ball inside a sock from a bucket and lit the ball. He then took the ball and tossed it into a pile of volatile garbage doused in lighter fluid surrounded by a few tires on top of the roof. As the trash pile ignited the lookout ran downstairs to a motorcycle hidden behind a dumpster, started the bike and took off towards Seongnam. Watching from other buildings in Songpa District and the north of Seongnam outside of the safe zone other lookouts lit up piles of tires, trash and gasoline sending columns of smoke rising into the sky. Back at the Seongnam safe zone the signal fires were seen by several guards along the northern perimeter. "We have enemy incoming from the north!" shouted the guards to other soldiers on post. Another guard went and cranked the handle for the air raid sirens that had been rigged up throughout Seongnam. One siren triggered another and pretty soon the entire safe zone was in alarm. The first major battle the combined armies of the Republic of Korea would have against the alien invaders was about to begin.


	12. Chapter 12: The Siege of Seongnam

Chapter XII: The Siege of Seongnam

6 Oct 1036 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Vargas kept watch over the small American camp outside of Seongnam from his perch in a tree towards the edge of the clearing where their tents were set up. He could see the tank hidden amongst the trees and brush to one side. To the other side was an open field and beyond that the highway leading into the safe zone portion of the city. In front of him he could see the approach from the northwest, sparsely wooded and populated with few structures and buildings. Further out in front of him the terrain became a bit hillier. Behind Vargas, Taylor and Won-yong were stretched out in reclining beach chairs wearing their only their undershirts and shorts. Won-yong also had some ridiculously gaudy sunglasses on. Their boots, socks and uniforms were placed in a neatly folded pile in between them. A cooler filled with ice that had been brought in from an ice machine set up and made operational near the infirmary overflow warehouse sat on the other side of Taylor's chair. On the side of Won-yong's chair was a boombox radio wrapped in wire mesh and tin foil playing Eminem songs. Taylor sat lazily sipping on a bottled orange soda while Won-yong had a warm beer that he had barely touched resting in between his legs. While the two junior enlisted men relaxed, Vargas kept a close eye on any movements going on nearby or on the approach to the safe zone. It had been a quiet morning, none of the trucks that left in the early morning had made it back yet and there hadn't been any more enemy raids since last night. There were still small bands of survivors that continued to trickle in from all directions. One such group came from over the hills in the northwest and approached close by the American encampment. This group was about 13 strong and looked like it had seen its share of battle. It was led by a relatively short man, around 5' 4" shouldering a large machete. He wore a black leather jacket over a white undershirt and leather pants and wore several gold chains. His slick black hair was spiked up giving him the overall appearance of a 1950's rockabilly greaser. Two women that also seemed to be sporting the guido look stood to his left, one carrying a bloodstained fireplace poker and the other wielding a pickaxe. A few men in various garb with black or blue bandanas over their mouths walked behind them. To the right of the leader was a tall, somewhat lanky man with pale skin and completely sleeved out tattoos over his arms, neck and chest. He wore a loose fitting tank top and jean shorts and his hair was cut in a mohawk, blonde at the roots, red at the tips which had deflated a bit now without hair gel. This guy was the only one among the group that carried a firearm, an old 10-gauge pump action shotgun. The only other member of the group that stood out was a stocky muscular man wearing tactical pants and what appeared to be the body armor worn by the skitters over his chest. The armor was dented near the left shoulder and stained around the neck, giving credence to the notion that it was pulled off a dead skitter. For the most part this group looked like a bunch of wannabe gangsters and punks, probably in their teens or early 20's. "I can see you up there." the gang's leader called out to Vargas. "I can see you too. What can I do for you?" Vargas replied cordially. "Word is you're looking for volunteers. They say some of your guys went through Seocho district yesterday telling people about this place. Well, we're here to answer that call." the gang leader answered. I guess their recruiting efforts did pay off after all, Vargas thought to himself. 13 psuedo-thugs joining the fight didn't exactly make up for how many trained soldiers they lost that night though. Major Yu was probably hoping for more, like an entire infantry regiment. "We're glad to take all comers. Looks like you've already seen some action haven't you?" Vargas commented. "We've cracked a few crabs, right guys?" the gang leader replied followed by a short round of deep laughter from some of his men. "Crabs, that's what the kids are calling them these days." snortled Won-yong. "Oh shut up, Gangnam style." the gang leader quipped back then knocked over Won-yong's beer with a tap of his machete. "That's enough!" Vargas snapped. "Go report to the guard at the front gate over there and he'll you all set up." Vargas told the new arrivals. "Why thank you." the gang leader sardonically responded. The group then left the American encampment and proceeded to the main gate of the safe zone. Won-yong got up with a wet patch on his crotch from the spilt beer and a got a dirty rag from over by the tank to wipe up his seat and pat his shorts dry.

When the sirens first went off Bremer was lying in a pile of discarded clothes in the back of an abandoned laundromat whispering sweet nonsense to the girl he had picked up earlier in the morning. It didn't take him long to jump to his feet, throw on a pair of underwear and start putting on his uniform. "I apologize ma'am but duty comes before booty." Bremer said while zipping up his pants. The woman still glowingly looked up at him and made some noise that didn't quite form into words. She was still lost in the earlier moment and hadn't fully transitioned into the impending crisis at hand. "You might want to get some clothes on and hunker down someplace safe." Bremer told the young woman as he tied his boots. Bremer then pulled his shirt over his head and snatched up his uniform jacket as he hastily exited the laundromat, blowing a kiss back to the woman who had just started to get up and wrap her naked body in a sheet while looking for her clothing. Once outside Bremer found himself in a frenzied rush of soldiers going in one direction and civilians going in other directions. Bremer grabbed one of the Korean soldiers, a master sergeant who was running in the rear of a group of soldiers. "Report?" Bremer asked. "Scouts have spotted incoming sir." the master sergeant reported. "Dammit. Tell all the forces on the perimeter to pull back or seek shelter in the nearest structure." Bremer ordered. "But Colonel Cho wanted the perimeter reestablished by noon." the master sergeant protested though his spirit wasn't quite into it. "Cho's thinking is last century. If you want your men to live pull them the hell back!" Bremer ordered. "Yes sir, right away sir." the master sergeant replied. The sergeant then raced towards the front lines relaying the order to disband massed formations at the perimeter and seek cover or fall back closer to the civilian population. Bremer made his best effort to issue the same commands to every senior enlisted or NCO he saw along his way back towards the American encampment. These were the modern day centurions in Bremer's eyes, these were the men who would hold the cohesion of a fighting force together. Cho could write him up for insubordination later if he didn't turn around and thank him for saving the lives of his soldiers before the first aliens even marched into the field.

Elsewhere at the many armories spread throughout the safe zone civilian volunteers were being equipped with rifles, shotguns and pistols. "Everyone remain calm and stay in line. Those with military experience get two extra magazines worth of ammunition, those without get one. Weapons will be given on a first come, first serve basis. Those who can't shoot will reload magazines for the shooters." a soldier directing the civilians repeated over a bull horn every few minutes. Another line was handing out body armor and helmets to those that were going to the front lines. There wasn't enough armor for everyone so the fighters that would be in the rear as a last line of defense for the civilians wouldn't be so well equipped. "Let's move people!" a nearby sergeant major shouted at a group of freshly minted soldiers standing around. The gang that Vargas had directed into town was also among those impatiently waiting in line for equipment. "Aw, fuck this shit man." the mohawked man complained and started to step out of line to leave when his de facto leader grabbed him by his arm. "We kill more crabs with guns that we do with knives and shovels." the leader sternly reminded him. The civilian population meanwhile was being escorted by other civilian volunteers into buildings and safe areas where they hoped to be away from most of the fighting. A few soldiers but mostly armed civilians would be tasked with defending these shelters. At the several hospitals and the warehouse infirmary the staff was making preparations to receive large numbers of wounded once the battle began. Those with minor injuries or illness were released to the shelter zones with the general civilian population. Critically injured patients were relocated to the upper floors of hospitals and to a certain section of the warehouse with a skeleton crew to keep an eye on them. Throughout the city, soldiers with anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, RPGs, high caliber rifles and machine guns, miniguns and grenade launchers took up positions in mostly abandoned buildings near and within the perimeter. Closer in towards the civilian population the bulk of the soldiers with standard issue weaponry clustered in buildings, spread out near street corners and behind makeshift barricades of cars, cinderblocks, tires, sandbags and assorted debris. In open areas closer to the perimeter and on rooftops mortars were set up and manned. Further out along some areas on the perimeter were only lightly staffed with sentries and other areas, mostly to the northeast and south sides of the safe zone where Bremer's orders had not counteracted Cho's standing order there was a significant military presence. On the northern perimeter the functional Vulcan cannon from the command post had been moved in and was fully manned. This cannon did not see much service however as the first wave of beamers flew in and bombed it, obliterating the nearby contingent of soldiers in the process.

Back at the command post Sobieski and Capt. Han had finished repairing some equipment for short range communication within the camp. The alien jamming technology would limit their range to only a few hundred meters but now at least they had something a little less medieval to relay orders to disparate units around the various portions of the safe zone. Colonel Cho observed the first wave of beamers fly in at high speed and bomb the strongest position on the perimeter. "Captain Han!" Cho shouted, summoning Han to him just as Han put the final touches on the last few radios. "Yes sir." Han reported. "Han I'm promoting you to the field rank of Major and leaving you in charge of the command center. I'll be going down to the front lines to personally lead the troops myself." Cho declared. The Colonel was of the belief that it is most noble when the commander fights at the head of the army. He believed in this way the army was best served and troop morale along with the strength of their line would be stronger when his men saw their leader standing shoulder to shoulder with them. "Yes sir. Thank you sir." Han replied. "Sir, before you leave take these with you and distribute them to the men. They'll help you direct the fight. I'll keep one here as well." Han said, while summoning Sobieski and his engineers to bring a box of portable radios to the Colonel. The Colonel then boarded the Stryker along with one of his staff officers and two soldiers and departed down the dirt path along the hill into the city. "Sergeant, you can return to your people if you want to. They might need you." Capt. Han told Sobieski. She walked up and looked out over the city and then towards the smoke rising in the north. "There's not enough time for me to do any good. I'll stay up and man communications and damage control if that's alright with you." Sobieski said. "Request granted. Corporal Kim over there will see to it that you have everything you need." Han replied.

Bremer heard the explosion as he ran through the streets nearing the perimeter. "Dammit Cho!" he grunted in frustration under his breath. "Everyone hold your fire!" Bremer stopped and commanded in a loud voice as he heard the sound of the beamers approaching. The beamers then passed overheard without incident. Bremer sighed and started walking again. "No one fires at the aircraft until everyone is in place. Nothing goes halfass here. Got it?" Bremer ordered the soldiers around him who in turn passed on the command to the others. As he picked back up into a sprint a second wave of beamers flew overhead. They didn't strike this time. The presumption that they wouldn't risk the civilian population was confirmed yet again. Bremer was certain that the aliens could detect the heat signatures from the soldiers hiding in emptied buildings further out but for the moment it also seemed they were safe from aerial attack. He assumed the soldiers further away from the shelters were spread out enough that it appeared to not be worth their effort to hit them with airstrikes just to take out a couple of men at a time. "Open it up! Coming through!" Bremer shouted to the two Korean soldiers who had just closed the barbed wire gate into the safe zone. He impatiently waited as they opened the gate. He looked over at a third soldier standing around. "Can you drive a tank?" Bremer asked. The soldier shook his head no. "Good, then you'll be my loader. Come with me." Bremer ordered. The soldier looked back and forth at the other two, not wanting to go with the American, but neither of them offered him any support. In fact one of them waved his hand in an "after you" gesture signaling to the young Korean soldier to go along with Bremer. As Bremer left the scouts from the north arrived on their motorcycles and entered into the encampment. Vargas sprinted out to meet Bremer and the new recruit halfway to the American encampment. "Chico, I want you to take the light fifty and go into that building over there, fourth or fifth floor. Find a good spot and cover us. Keep all the creepy critters off our backs." Bremer told Vargas, pointing to a specific building overlooking the clearing in front of the American encampment. Vargas nodded and raced back into the safe zone to take post overlooking Bremer's men.

The scouts met up with Colonel Cho and his detail just as the Colonel was entering into the main processing area near Seongnam Stadium, now housing large numbers of civilians along with a security force and several mortars and a couple light machine guns set up around hastily constructed defenses in the parking lot. Cho was discussing plans for the defense of the urban area while his subordinate handed a radio to the battalion commander for this section of the city. The first one of the scouts to reach him dismounted and saluted the Colonel promptly, calling out for him. "At ease. Report?" the Colonel said. "There's a sizeable enemy force on the way here. At least one full brigade by my estimate could be as many as six thousand." the scout reported. Without the civilian conscripts they would be outnumbered as much as three to one, Cho made a note to himself to commend Vargas when the battle was over. "I see. Roughly the same strength as our forces. Not too bad. What kind of equipment to alien ground forces have?" Cho asked. "I couldn't see weapons of any kind on the main force. They did have an armored contingent of mechanized walkers with them. Those appeared to be sporting some kind of cannon as well as a projectile launcher." the scout reported. "How many walkers?" Cho inquired. "I counted twelve from my vantage point." the scout reported. "I saw six from my post." another scout chimed in. "I caught ten of them." a third scout spoke up. "eleven." still another scout added. "It's safe to say they aren't the main contingent of the enemy's forces." the lead scout summed it up. "Very well, dismissed. You can take up defense of the command post. They're short staffed up there." Cho told them. The scouts saluted and rode off to reinforce the command post. A brigade of unarmed aliens and a few robots, Cho thought pondering the situation. That didn't sound like anything his men couldn't handle. Victory would be theirs if they were only brave enough to reach out and take it.

When Bremer arrived in camp Won-yong was getting his pants on while Taylor was still in his shorts and undershirt loading his rifle. Panic! At the Disco was playing on the tinfoil radio loud enough so that neither of them heard Vargas approaching. "Forget the uniforms! Get in the fucking tank!" Bremer shouted. Taylor immediately hopped to it and took the other soldier over to the main battle tank and got inside. Fortunately his men at least had the sense to untarp the tank before he arrived so it was quick to get inside. Before he boarded the tank Won-yong quickly took the cassette out of the boombox, reached into a tool box behind it and exchanged the tape marked "Chill mix v1.0" with one marked "Combat mix v3.0" and popped it into the boombox and hit play. Won-yong took the boombox with him to the tank and turned it up to full volume. "That better not be K-Pop or so help me God I'll..." Bremer complained loudly while Won-yong boarded the tank. "Given Up" by Linkin Park started playing just as Bremer was getting situated in the commander's station of the tank. "He's still making mixes on cassette when this came out?" Bremer snidely remarked. Inside the tank, Won-yong took his place as the driver, Taylor instructed the new recruit on how to load the main gun and operate the M240 secondary machine gun if needed then returned to his place at the gunner's station. "Don't fire her up yet guys. We don't want the zoomies to know that she's operational." Bremer ordered his men. The tank remained as it was, appearing defunct as a third and final wave of beamers approached for a flyover of the city. This time the ROK forces were ready for them and launched a broad net of anti-aircraft missiles and rockets along with heavy machine gun fire from the rooftops. At least five of the twelve beamers were taken out by the initial volley, exploding in midair or crashing just inside of the perimeter. Another one received an indirect hit which knocked it into another beamer causing both to explode in midair. Another beamer took heavy damage and went down into the southern horizon leaving a trail of smoke behind it. Two others were taken out when they were almost directly on top of the soldiers upon the rooftops. One of these spun out horizontally and crashed to the southwest of the perimeter and the other plowed straight into the side of an abandoned building, detonating further as it passed through the structure and out the other side. A soldier in the floor above where the beamer had crashed fell through the collapsing floor and was buried under the rubble. The downed beamer eventually struck the ground and came to rest near a pharmacy and chain restaurant in an abandoned section of the city. The attack even scared off two of the beamers, forcing them to bank hard to the right and the left and turn around. The last beamer managed to drop its payload at a relatively low yield and brought down four housing towers and severely damaged a factory building before flying off into the south. Three of the four towers had soldiers in them, along with other soldiers on the ground who were also incinerated by the blast. The soldier's hurried to pull survivors out of the rubble and prepare for the next attack to come from the skies. The next attack however would not be from the air. From the north and northwest the skitter brigade became visible and the sound of the mechs could be heard.

The mechs came in groups of 5 to 15 each, spread widely out over the enemy formation. Behind them a sea of skitters seemed to defy reckoning. The formation appeared to be advancing slowly from a distance but in fact was coming at them quite fast. Both the skitters and the mechs were capable of sustaining a sprint at fairly high speeds. "Wait for my signal to fire it up." ordered Bremer as the song on the boombox changed to Anthrax and Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" The skitters now crossed the line of mechs and raced out ahead of them, closer and closer to the perimeter of the safe zone. The once tight formation the skitters had kept was becoming widely dispersed as the faster ones gained ground on the slower ones expanding the formation like a net. The miniguns and heavy machine guns blared, mowing down the vanguard of the skitter brigade. Bullets rained down on the skitters but the aliens just kept coming. The miniguns could spray more rounds downrange but were less effective at penetrating the skitter armor, though the aliens had plenty of exposed parts that were constantly peppered with gunfire. The heavy guns were easily able to puncture the alien armor and took out the skitters relatively quickly. They crawled and leapt over their dead and quickly reached the barbed wire fence. One skitter was shot up while attempting to jump the fence and was knocked down upon it, impaling itself vertically through the base of its many legs on one of the steel rebar spikes that formed the intermediate fence posts. Other skitters stumbled or were knocked off balance by the gunfire and became entwined in the barbed wire. In the process they created numerous breaches where a few skitters managed to break through. Those that got through were met by line infantry soldiers firing at them with K2 rifles and M4 carbines. Mortars were launched from the rooftops and behind the first row of steel drums and wooden planks laid out to block the main road. The mortars impacted beyond the barbed wire, killing and wounding several skitters. The mechs were closing at a slower pace, still out of range of the defenders. Won-yong's boombox, now playing Pantera's "Walk" could barely be made out over the ringing of machine gun fire. At least this was something appropriate for the era of cassettes, Bremer thought in a sideways train of thought apart from his primary focus on the battle. "Get ready!" Bremer announced. The deafening constant barrage was lessened now as one of the miniguns ran out of ammo and its operators hurried to reload it. The skitters poured through the breaches and over the wall with the relaxation of suppressive fire. Soon after the second minigun exhausted its ammo, followed by a few of the heavy machine guns. What had been a wall of bullets was now a wall of men. The orders came in to stop the aliens from storming the buildings where the heavy weapons were kept. The soldiers hiding behind their barricades focused their fire on the skitters going into the buildings but it was not enough. The soldiers wouldn't attempt a suicidal charge and there weren't enough men guarding the heavy weapons to fend off the tide of skitters. Worse yet by focusing on the skitters entering into the buildings it allowed another group of skitters to close in on the soldiers behind the barricades themselves.

Back at the tank Bremer was a little uneasy to make a go of it yet. He had to make sure his first shot would be a clean hit because once their location was given away the enemy would certainly rush him in the same manner they were rushing the defenders through the main gate and along that section of the perimeter. As the song changed over to Drowning Pool's "Bodies" Bremer was about ready to take that chance. "Won ton what's with the cassettes kid? Don't all Koreans have an iPod? Isn't that like a law here or something?" Bremer sarcastically remarked. "I grew up poor sir." Won-yong shouted back. "...and now! Fire her up boys!" Bremer ordered. The tank engines started and hummed with a sound that was oh so pleasing to Bremer's ears. "Remember the fire control system is jacked up, this is point and shoot kids!" Bremer shouted down to his men. "Line me up on one of those damn walkers!" Bremer ordered.

While the tank was targeting a mech another mech fired a searing blue energy bolt into one of the buildings where a machine gun crew was loading a new belt of ammo into their weapon. The entire floor of the building exploded, sending plumes of smoke and debris out the all the windows as well as some from the floor above and below it. Just as one of the miniguns resumed firing several skitters tore through the gunners defenders and seized the gunner from behind, ripping off his head with ease. The minigun fell silent and the skitters leapt out the windows of that building onto the next seeking out their next target. One of the skitters building hopping however was shot dead by soldiers on the ground. A mech blasted a hole through the piles of dead skitters and barbed wire where the main gate once stood and opened fire with smaller energy bolts in rapid succession much like a mingun. The bolts tore through the barricades and the walls and cut the soldiers apart like swiss cheese. Other skitters managed to climb over and around the barricades to dismember the defenders. Sometimes they even clubbed the panicked soldiers with the limbs of their fallen comrades.

"Fire!" Bremer shouted after Taylor had acquired a target. The main gun of the Abrams boomed. Its target, a stationary mech shooting high explosive energy bolts into buildings and at pockets of troops not swarmed by skitters, was completely unprepared. The tank round obliterated the top portion of the mech, turning into fire and scorched metal shavings while the legs collapsed in larger chunks. "Good shot Tay Tay! Give me another one!" Bremer shouted. The tank had now attracted the attention of the skitters who were coming towards it by the dozen. True to his word Vargas shifted his fire from the fallen perimeter to take down skitters coming towards Bremer and his crew. The first shot and also the first kill Vargas made in this regard hit a skitter in the back of the head. The .50 caliber round popped the skitters head like a water balloon, with the skull, exoskeletal scales and all the internal "skitter parts" coming out as a scrambled soup. His next short pierced a skitters body armor through the back, not as graphic of a kill but just as effective, bringing said skitters charge to an immediate halt. Vargas continued to thin out the herd that had diverted itself towards the tank while the Abrams fired its second round to the tune of Meshuggah's "I am Collossus". The second mech targeted attempted to evade but lost its gun arm and half its upper portion as the tank round grazed it then detonated into a crowd of skitters. The mech stood and sparked for a while then flickered out and collapsed. Bremer took charge of the .50 cal machine gun at the commander's station and opened fire on the approaching skitters. "Let's move won ton! Crush us some crabbies!" Bremer commanded. The tank drove forward right over a pair of skitters which made a satisfying crunch beneath the tank treads. Those who attempted to leap on over the tank were gunned down by Bremer. After he had finished loading the third round into the main gun, the Korean recruit took up the secondary machine gun and sided Bremer in keeping the skitters away from the tank.

In the north of the Seongnam safe zone the enemy had penetrated the ROK defenses much more easily thanks in part to the damage done by the bombing at the onset of the attack. The troop numbers were fewer here as a result and the skitters penetrated deep into their defenses, all the way to the first civilian shelters where ROK troops and armed civilians halted their advance. The first mech to come down the northern streets was taken out by a pair of RPG's launched from houses on each side of it. The scant heavy weapons teams managed to keep a sporadic RPG attack going by working in teams of two. Each carried a launcher but only one carried the spare RPG's. One person loaded while the other fired then traded out launchers. Five mechs and a number of skitter groups were taken out this way. The teams went house to house, building to building to evade the skitters that were sent after them. Some of them now were getting close to being surrounded.

Deeper into the safe zone the fighting was the heaviest, with human bodies piling up nearly as fast as the skitters. After three skitters climbing over a makeshift wall of sandbags, bricks and now bodies were shot dead the fourth managed to get over and rip out the heart of the point soldier behind the structure. The skitter had little time to pride himself over his kill because almost instantly three rounds tore into the side of its skull and killed it. Here is where the gang of reinforcements from Seocho District went to bolster the line. Three of their number had already perished, and another two were just ripped apart by an advancing mech. The stout man wearing the skitter armor raised the grenade launcher he had taken from a fallen soldier and blew out the legs of the mech. The mech was still function after its upper half fell down to the street, albeit immobilized. The mech sprayed shots randomly, killing several defenders before a second grenade from the stout man put it out of its AI misery. Mortars and a fresh battalion of soldiers arrived on the scene with orders from Colonel Cho to evacuate the civilians and fall back towards the stadium complex. The mortars lobbed a massive barrage, leveling buildings and taking out hordes of skitters in the process. The volley also killed one RPG team and buried another alive without hope of escape. The skitters did not go after the civilians as they retreated from their hiding places but rather strategically assaulted the armed fighters protecting them. The Seocho gang gathered together to cover a group of civilians from two dozen skitters coming out of and in between buildings around them. The mohawked man ran out of ammunition and started beating the skitters with the butt of his rifle until the gang leader handed him his gun. The gang leader then resorted to his trusted machete to hack off the arm of a skitter reaching for him, then immediately slash it across the throat. With his spiky haired sidekick was gunning down the ones further out, the gang leader chopped off the back two legs of a skitter going for his partner. When the skitter turned its head to face him it was met with the blade of the gang leader's machete imbedded in its face. One of the female gang members screamed as she was carried up a three story apartment building and dropped down to her death. The skitter carrying her then jumped down on top of the body where the mohawked man and another plain clothed gang member shot it to pieces. The mortars continued lobbing ordinance down range to slow the enemy advance as long as they could but in minutes they too were forced to fall back, leaving only the surviving gang members and some of the battalion of fresh troops that had arrived to cover the withdrawal. The rest of the battalion was with the civilians as they slinked away deeper into the safe zone. With the appearance of another trio of mechs approaching and only two rounds in the grenade launcher the gang decided to fall back as well. The troops were the last to retreat. Many of them fell ineffectually trying to stop the mechs while at the same time a new wave of skitters poured in.

Towards the west and northwest of the safe zone near the American camp the good news was that the ranks of the skitters outside the city were starting to thin out. The bad news was that here too the bulk of the surviving skitters had also penetrated deep within the safe zone leaving the majority of the army's heavy weapons abandoned. Heavy machine gun fire tore holes through a seemingly impervious mech a mere block away from the civilian shelters. The loss of the mech prompted skitters to ascend the walls, taking casualties in the process in order to flay the machine gunner and take possession of the building. The streets behind the fighting were littered with the bodies of skitters and men, along with the occasional mech.

Back at the tank Bremer and his team had taken down two more mechs and with cover from Vargas still managed to keep the skitters from completely overwhelming them. However now, their loader was too consumed with fending off the skitters to load another round in the main gun and there were two more mechs bearing down on them. A bullet from Vargas struck down a skitter that had successfully climbed onto the tank and seized the left arm of the loader. "I owe you one Chico!" Bremer called out knowing full well that Vargas couldn't hear him. As the latest Children of Bodom song concluded some K-pop hip-hop song came on just seconds before the tank took fire from one of the mechs. The energy bolts seared through the tank's armor and one destroyed the boombox. "See? Even alien motherfuckers hate that shit!" Bremer exclaimed. Fortunately no one was hurt nor were any critical systems damaged. Vargas turned his attention to the mech that had fired upon Bremer. He remembered that he had seen mechs go down earlier from .50 caliber weapons and hoped he could stop this one. Bremer had a .50 cal on the tank but he was so focused on clearing out the skitters that were a mere jump away from overwhelming the tank. Vargas didn't know exactly where in the central hub of the mechs he needed to hit to take it out so he relied on the old soldier's standby, aim for center mass. He fired, striking the mech and punching a hole through that stopped just short of leaving an exit wound. The mech was still fully function and refocused its attention on Vargas' position. It fired an explosive project towards Vargas' hiding place, although the trajectory was a bit off, thanks to a quick burst from Bremer's gun that staggered the mech around a bit. The explosive went off in the floor below Vargas, sparing him the full force of the blast. The floor collapsed and Vargas fell through the fourth floor beneath him and into the third floor where he was buried underneath the falling debris. Wisps of smoke issued out of the building and the sound of gunfire from the light fifty was heard no more. "Damn...What a way to go..." Bremer whispered sorrowfully. "Speed us up won ton! I want to ram that walker!" Bremer commanded. The tank sped up and charged at the mech, shaking skitters off in its wake. Bremer opened fire at the mech, spattering it with holes while at the same time the tank took on fire from the mech defending itself. The tank hit the mech full force, launching it backwards. The already damaged mech broke apart into four pieces when it hit the ground. Bremer then turned his attention back on the remaining skitters, now only a handful in number as most of them had either been killed or moved on deeper into the safe zone. The tank however slowed to a groaning halt. Its left tread had been snapped and its engine and transmission system had taken damage in the last barrage. It rumbled slowly, still able to turn the turret but unable to move. The last mech approached the tank. "Give me a firing solution Tay tay! I need that walker dead!" Bremer shouted. They managed to get another round loaded and the turret trained onto the approaching mech. The tank gun thundered, but the mech dodged gracefully. "Dammit!" Bremer cursed. He opened fire on the mech making a few hits to the aft wing like structures on it before the mech jumped. It was going to land right on the tank. "Oh shit! Everyone get down!" Bremer exclaimed, quickly closing the top hatch at the commander's station and retreating into the tank. The mech landed on top of the tank whilst the nearby skitters backed away. With its fingered hand the mech pulled off the top hatch to the tank and lobbed an explosive into the interior. The mech leapt off as the tank exploded from the inside out. Smoke and fire billowed up from within the tank, followed by a secondary explosion a few minutes later that blew away portions of the sides and underside of the armor. The west and northwest perimeter of the safe zone was now entirely pacified and the lone mech and small squad of skitters made their way into the city to join with their brethren.

The Stryker's guns roared sending a salvo towards the aliens that had forced their way up to the outside of the stadium complex. The last couple hundred soldiers and crowds of tens of thousands of civilians were packed in from the north and the west and gradually retreating to the south and east. Colonel Cho was there in the thick of it all with his men. He led the Stryker team to take down the second to last mech besieging them from the breach in the north. The skitters melted away against the resolute defenders. Wave upon wave of them broke upon this, the final stand of a beleaguered people. The ROK soldiers held firm against the last remnants of the skitters from the west, eventually suppressing the threat from them. In the north lot of the stadium complex the gang from Seocho was down to four members, the leader, the mohawked man, the armored man, and one of the women with bright blonde hair. They made short work of the few remaining skitters lingering there along with a couple squads of infantry and armed civilians. The gang leader decapitated the last skitter dedicated to the fight and mounted it's head on a gnarled, burnt piece of rebar to signify victory. In the end it appeared the defenders had underestimated the size of the alien force. Casualties on the alien side numbered over 9000, while the defenders suffered losses in the range of 3400-4000 soldiers and armed citizens. The losses were high but in the end they prevailed. The soldiers were desperately low on ammo. What they carried was all but depleted, though they had more in reserve in the armories previously taken by the skitters. Soon they would have to go about the task of liberating their storehouses and flushing out any alien stragglers that were holed up in buildings that they had lost. Soldiers and civilians carried off the wounded to the two hospitals that were set up to receive them in the south and east where the fighting had not been so intense. The stadium grounds were overwhelmed with field medics trying to tend to whoever they could save. The warehouse were many of the wounded had been going was overrun and its inhabitants slaughtered. This was a victory but by some accounts it could have been a Pyrrhic one. The fight had all but broken them yet at the end of it all they were still standing. Colonel Cho emerged from the Stryker to cheers from the surviving fighters. "Seongnam stands strong!" he declared. A rousing cheer rose over the crowd of soldiers, bloodied, exhausted, and victorious.


	13. Chapter 13: The Pride of Achilles

Chapter XIII: The Pride of Achilles

6 Oct 1534 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

The dust hadn't even settled over Seongnam as its defenders rushed out from their stronghold near the stadium complex to reclaim the city they had nearly lost. The city had barely survived the attack. The fortifications between the perimeter to the north, west, northeast and southwest were absolutely devastated and buildings within and adjacent to that area were badly damaged. Many structures had completely collapsed. Fires burned and plumes of smoke rose up from a multitude of locations within the combat zone. The bodies of the dead, both human and alien littered the streets. In many places piles of the dead alone obstructed the progress of the rescue teams sent out to find survivors. In other places rubble and debris blocked off roadways. Nearly half of the defenders had left the stadium complex and were scouring the city for survivors and salvageable equipment. Other groups of soldiers were sent to reclaim the warehouses and factories that had been turned into makeshift armories. There they hoped to retrieve badly needed munitions and supplies for their main fighting force. Stray skitters still roamed the streets alone and in small groups. These stragglers continued to ambush and impede the efforts of the human soldiers moving in to retake what had been lost. The task of tending to and moving the wounded was given to the unarmed civilians. Noncombatant citizens were also tasked with constructing and repairing a new defensive perimeter. The civilians that were not working were being relocated to new shelter areas that were more defensible given the current dispersement of troops. On the northern line the defenders had suffered tremendous losses, several soldiers were still too shaken by the deaths of their fellow fighters that they had been left to defend the line instead of being sent straight back into harm's way. The leader of the reinforcements took inventory of his men. "So-hyun? Jae-sung? You guys ok?" The leader called out looking to the woman to his left and the armored man to his right. The woman nodded silently. "Yeah." the armored man grunted "Where's Shi-woo?" asked Jae-sung, dusting off the dirt and skitter entrails from his armor. "I don't see him. Shi-woo!" called out the leader. "Ji-hwan? Is that you?" cried out a voice from behind a mangled SUV. "Who else would it be?" the leader shouted back. "Get your lanky ass over here!" Ji-hwan shouted. "Everything is really blurry, I think I might have got something in my eye." Shi-woo griped from behind the vehicle. Ji-hwan cocked his head in the direction of the wreck while looking at So-hyun. She quickly ran to help him up. Upon finding Shi-woo on the other side of the vehicle she made a startling discovery that made her recoil back in disgust. One of his eyes was dangling out of its socket by a strand of nerves and tissue while the other eye was bloodshot and scratched clean across by a pair of claw marks. "Oh my god... Boss! We need to get Shi-woo to a doctor!" So-hyun yelled back. She took off her scarf and carefully helped him put his eye back into place. She once had a pet pug as a pet when she was a little girl and this was something that happens to those dogs as a result of a genetic defect so she had a little experience in doing this. So-hyun helped Shi-woo come out from behind the SUV. It was awkward because he was taller than her by nearly two feet. "Go ahead, take him to a hospital. We'll be here." Ji-hwan told her once he saw the severity of Shi-woo's injury. Ji-hwan sighed, looked over at Jae-sung while So-hyun led Shi-woo away and turned to scavenging the bodies of the dead for extra ammo while they piled them up for identification and burial later. In the center of the stadium parking lot Colonel Cho was on the radio with all the units he had sent out, each carrying one of the portable radios that Captain Han's men had fixed up before he left for the front lines. There was a lot of work to be done and he feared another attack. The aliens had brought down the world in less than 48 hours so it would be characteristic of them to move quickly against them if they still considered Seongnam a threat. The Colonel's greatest hope at the moment was however, that their losses had been so severe the aliens would not consider them a threat and ignore them, much in the same way they had ignored civilian refugees during the first few hours of the invasion. He radioed back to the command center to check on things there.

Back at the command center Capt. Han stood outside the entrance to the underground bunker. He looked out from on top of the hill over the city burning beneath him. To the north he saw fourteen of the blimp like transport ships slowly drifting in their direction. To the south he saw other plumes of smoke in the distance south of Seongnam. It was likely they weren't the only suburb of Seoul that had just been attacked. With the timing and coordination of the enemy's operation to this point Han wouldn't have been surprised if every city and town with a measurable population worldwide had just been taken down. It took thousands of years for human civilization to get this far, would it really end in less than two days? "Colonel's on the radio, Captain." one of the staff officers from inside the command post ran outside to tell him. Han went inside and was handed the radio by another officer. "Colonel?" Han said into the radio. "Captain Han. What's your status back at the roost?" asked Cho. "It's been quiet here. Looks like you've kept the bugs off us for the time being. I see a dozen or so big birds coming in from the northwest, might want to keep an eye out for them sir." Han reported. "Your concern is noted. I need you to dispatch some of the scouts that came in. Give them radios and send them out in all directions. I don't want to be caught with our pants down if there's any more bugs inbound." Cho told him over the radio. "Yes sir." Han replied. "Very well. Over and out." Cho said, signing off. Capt. Han then dispatched half of the scouts in teams of two, handing one of each team a radio to maintain contact with the main force. "If you see anything do not engage. Turn around and try to raise us on the radio as soon as you get within range." Han instructed them. The scouts then got on their motorcycles and sped away. Sobieski came out of the command system carrying a shoulder fired stinger missile. "Heard anything about the Americans?" she asked, wondering about the status of her unit. "Nothing yet. One of the scout teams will pass by your encampment on their way out. I'll have them radio back if they find anything." Han told her. "Alright. If you would, keep me posted sir." she said. "Will do." Han replied. He went back into the command post while Sobieski remained outside. She looked up at the ominous airships approaching and wondered if one missile would be enough to bring one of those monsters down. She looked out to the edges of the city past the smoke and saw some traces of movement but it was too far away to tell if it was her people or even if it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. From the looks of the city it had been a fierce fight. Her unit would have been on the leading edge of it too. She hoped that they were alright.

A group of five Korean soldiers made their way towards a factory building towards the western perimeter that had been converted into one of the principal armories for the forces that had been posted on the front lines. Two if the soldiers scouted ahead, checking structures and alleyways for the enemy while the other three held up the rear. One of the three in the rear pulled a rickshaw slapped together from wooden planks and bicycle parts that had previously been used to move supplies around the safe zone. Further behind them a car with two other soldiers followed at a distance to carry back more supplies when they arrived. Many of the nearby buildings were demolished or in sad shape, riddled with holes, scorched and stained with soot. A warehouse adjacent to the factory had part of a downed beamer lodged in its roof. They reached the armory without incident and the two scouts went inside. One of the scouts released brief burst of gunfire out of fear, having mistaken the shadow cast by a derelict crane as a skitter lying in wait. The other 3 looked inside, ready to assist but the scouts waved them back, indicating that they had the situation under control. The 2 of the 3 soldiers posted around the entrance to the factory while the other went around the corner of the building to check the alleyway between the warehouse and the factory. Meanwhile the two soldiers inside checked out the building. There were several crates of ammunition still left untouched as well as grenades, RPGs, gas masks and batteries. A few extra rifles were also laid up against the factory wall. A load moaning noise was heard outside. It sounded like an eerily synthesized version of a nautical ships foghorn. Meanwhile at the front door of the warehouse the soldiers posted there noticed shadows dancing off the walls of a partially collapsed office building further west of their position. Soon after the heavy footfalls of enemy mechs resounded from perpendicular alleyway between the office building and the next. The soldiers readied their weapons as three mechs came out onto the main street. One of the soldiers hid in the doorway hoping to get some cover from the anticipated attack. Both the soldiers and the mechs immediately opened fire. The soldiers' rounds were ineffectual against the mechs. On the other hand, the mech rounds cut the soldiers down before they had a chance to fall back inside the building. One of the mechs launched an explosive device at the car in the distance and destroyed it. The soldiers inside the building gathered up a handful of grenades and made their way to the window. The mechs shot through the factory walls and took down one of the soldiers and hit the other soldier in the shoulder and the ankle. One mech entered the factory while outside five more mechs appeared in the distance coming down the main street, followed by a fresh swarm of skitters. The soldier that had went around the building saw this and made a run for it, heading back towards the stadium to warn the others. In his haste he failed to notice a skitter clinging motionless to the side of a building that pounced down upon him, crushing his head into the pavement. Back in the factory the wounded soldier armed and lobbed several grenades at the mech. The grenades landed haphazardly around the armory and when they detonated, they triggered secondary explosions, igniting enough ordinance to destroy the entire armory, taking the both the soldier and the mech with it.

Back at the command post the radio came alive with chatter from the various scouting parties reporting several battalion sized units of enemy forces. Several of the scouts' reports were abruptly cut off with the sound of weapons fire and a portable radio hitting the ground. "This is Seongnam Command Post Alpha to Colonel Cho at Command Post Brave, come in." the radio operator attempted to raise the Colonel. They had greater range on their reception than the Colonel due to their equipment and couldn't be sure that he was listening into the scouting reports from further out. "This is Command Post Bravo, report." a voice came across the radio. It was not the Colonel's but probably one of his subordinates. "I don't know if you've heard already but we have reports of a second wave of bugs inbound, coming in from multiple locations." the radio operator reported. "We're aware of some of them. Thanks for the intel. Bravo out." the person on the radio hastily replied, followed by a brief exchange of gunfire then radio silence. An unfamiliar voice then was picked up amidst heavy static. The radio operator couldn't make out anything that was coming in but the tone of it seemed urgent. "Captain, we seem to be picking up a distress call. I can't understand what they are saying though." the radio operator called back to Captain Han. "Sergeant Sobieski, can you clean up the signal a bit?" Han shouted over to Sobieski. "I'm on it." she replied. The radio whined and hissed as the message repeated itself. "(feedback noise)...Lieutenant Commander Jessica Schroeder...(static)..Fleet..(static, hissing)..Does anyone copy?" The broken message started to come through the radio. "We copy, Commander." Captain Han took the microphone and spoke. "(static) tracking multiple...(static)..inland targets..(static)...ship has been lost...(static)..fuel...(static) nearest usable airfield...(whining, squealing noise) location?" the fragmented reply said. Captain Han reported back their location in coordinates of longitude and latitude. "Too much activity (static)..area (static) emergency..." was the last reply from the radio before it drowned in static and squelch before falling silent again. Captain Han ran took a pair of binoculars and ran outside. A spattering of explosions and gunfire spread out over the city from all sides. Numerous heavy beamers were making strafing runs throughout the city. The large transport ships were now moving directly over the stadium. The attack that took nearly everything to beat back was merely the first wave of a much larger force it appeared. A heavy beamer broke off from the main formation and headed straight for him. "Take cover!" Han ordered as he ran inside the command post to avoid light weapons fire from the beamer as it made a strafing run at them. The beamer then flew up and around then back down the hillside towards them at low speed and low altitude. Several skitters debarked from the craft as it hugged the terrain tightly before roaring off again into the western sky.

Back at the stadium grounds the first column of mechs had arrived from the west marching slowly behind a horde of skitters that were soaking up the brunt of the ROK forces counterattack. The Stryker fired from all its light machine guns to thin out the herd of onrushing aliens. "Light weapons only on the bugs! Save the .50 cal and the rockets for the walkers!" Colonel Cho ordered all his forces. The mechs opened fire, their rounds tore through the barricades and mowed down the first line of defense. The heavy guns on the Stryker returned fire, obliterating the center mech.

On the north side of the stadium grounds Ji-hwan and Jaesung braced themselves as close to fifty skitters rushed their position. Ji-hwan twirled his machete getting ready to engage in close combat. Taking refuge beside them were a few dozen ROK soldiers waiting for the skitters to come into range. Over the buildings to the west of them a heavy beamer dropped off even more skitters than came climbing down the walls to flank them. The ROK soldiers turned their attention west and opened fire, knocking a few of them off the wall. Other skitters made it down to the ground and came at the soldiers from behind their hiding positions. Ji-hwan and Jae-sung raced over to assist. "Take the crabs coming head on, we'll get these bastards!" Ji-hwan shouted at the soldiers. Jae-sung fired off the last of his ammunition at the skitters then discarded his gun. He scooped up a sledge hammer lying on the ground next to a pile of bricks and dirt that had once been a makeshift barricade. Ji-hwan ducked the first swipe from a skitter and returned to a standing position thrusting the machete through the skitter's mouth. The blade penetrated easier than he expected and reached the creatures brain, killing it as he twisted the machete before retrieving it. Jae-sung swung down hard with the hammer crushing another Skitter's head next to Ji-hwan. Some of the soldiers still continued to support the two, firing on the skitters coming in on their right flank. The rest of the soldiers threw out a wall of bullets towards the skitters coming at them on ground level from the north. As they emptied their weapons of rounds the soldiers began to fall back. "Retreat!" one of soldiers shouted. Ji-hwan and Jae-sung could not stem the tide alone so they followed suit, beating back whatever aliens came too close. They couldn't outrun the skitters however and many of the soldiers were caught. This time they weren't killed but merely seized and carried back away from the fighting. A skitter snatched Jae-sung from behind as he turned to bat away another skitter that had caught up to him from the side. Ji-hwan saved him with six ferocious hacks of his machete to the side of the skitter's neck holding Jae-sung, beheading it. The two sprinted through to the next line of soldiers that opened up with machine guns and small arms fire that halted the chase and cut down a great many skitters.

In the south, skitters were being air dropped from everywhere. Knowing that she couldn't fight with Shi-woo in his current state So-hyun guided him along and took him down into a gutter under the sidewalk. She climbed in behind him into the sewer. Both of them were slender and managed to squeeze through without too much difficulty. Their footing was dry on the concrete surface that they touched down on. Thankfully the light rainfall this month had kept them from standing in raw sewage and runoff. "Get down and be quiet." So-hyun whispered to Shi-woo. The two of them waited as the fighting continued on the streets above. She saw soldiers, skitters and a pair of mechs pass by, but none of them noticed her. As the fighting became more intense she ducked down and hid, pulling down Shi-woo with her. There she remained silent and prayed that she would make it through.

Back at the center a pair of RPG's took out the left mech and another rocket missed and collapsed a section of a building onto a group of skitters. "Take those walkers down now!" Cho ordered. The heavy machine guns opened up on the two inner mechs which returned fire. One of the mechs went down and the other staggered about but continued to function. Fresh soldiers took up the machine guns abandoned by the slain and resumed the attack until the skitters overwhelmed them at close quarters. A mech rocket hit the front of the Stryker and exploded. The engine caught on fire as a secondary explosion tore through the crew compartment. Just before the entire vehicle was set ablaze a wounded soldier dragged Colonel Cho's body out from the Stryker. Bloodied and badly burned, the Colonel was barely conscious and felt the life begin to slip away from him. Over the stadium the transport ships began dropping their pods on mechanical tendrils, picking up the people that the skitters captured. Further south the transports that had flown past them earlier were doing the same. The Colonel barely lived long enough to see the fall of Seongnam. The soldier kneeling down beside him was tackled and carried away by a skitter as he closed his eyes for the last time. The ROK forces around the stadium dissolved, many joined in with the civilians in scattering and fleeing the area, while many more were taken up into the transport ships or slain in a last ditch effort to fight.

Back at the command post, Sobieski, Han and the command staff had managed to beat back the skitters from inside the underground structure and had made it back outside. There were only five of them left now, and one of which was missing an arm and leg and slowly fading away. Captain Han fired his service pistol point blank into the forehead of a skitter about to swipe his head off. Another skitter tackled down the man next to the Captain and repeatedly bashed the man's head into the ground before Han turned and fired his last two shots into the back of the Skitter's skull. Sobieski fired a rifle burst to take out the last skitter on the hill while Han knelt down to check on his comrade. The man was unconscious but still alive. Han breathed a sigh of relief and turned his attention towards the city. The smoke billowed high, darkening the evening sky while the transport ships were feasting on the great multitude of unprotected civilians below. Swarms of beamers and heavy beamers circled around and occasionally dived down to neutralize a threat. Gunfire and rockets occasionally streaked into the air. "We've got to do something about those ships." Captain Han growled. Sobieski ran back into the command post and brought back the sole stinger missile she had. She looked over the ships as they continued to retract and extend their tendrils with voracious fervor. They looked rather symmetrical with no indication of where the engine, power supply, or command center of the craft was located. She only had one missile and a blind guess of where to put it in order to take one of those things down. From the south she observed two rockets hit the side of one of the transports, making a large explosion that tore a hole in the outer skin of the craft but the ship continued to function. The only discernable weakness Sobieski could pick out was the place where the tendrils connected to the main hull. With the material there being flexible it had to be thinner when the tendril was extended thus reducing the amount of armor the missile would have to penetrate. She didn't know what was inside but that was the best chance of getting a missile blast through the armor and into the interior where it could do some real damage to critical systems she hoped. Little did she know that she intended to fire upon the area where large numbers of innocent captives were being taken up. Sobieski shouldered the weapon and steadied her aim. She waited until one of the tendrils on the nearest ship to them descended and retracted again. She timed how long it took, and watched the cycle a few times to make sure she had it right. At the point when she thought she would hit the base of the tendril when it was weakest she fired. The missile flew straight and true and slammed straight into an unfortunate beamer that flew in between it and the transport ship. "Dammit!" Sobieski cursed. The missile drew attention from another beamer that came straight for them. "Run!" Han screamed. The two soldiers who still could heeded his command and fled down the hill to the north. He ran to the hillside and hopped on one of the motorcycles that the scouts had left behind. He waited for Sobieski to get on the back of the bike behind him. Once she had her hands snugly around his waist he took off. The beamer fired a blue sphere of energy into the bunker, collapsing the whole structure as Sobieski and Han rode speedily down the hillside.


	14. Chapter 14: A Thief in the Night

Chapter XIV: A Thief in the Night

6 Oct 0752 KST

Incheon, South Korea

As the morning sun broke over the police station the scene outside had changed overnight. The diminishing smoke rising into the eastern sky was joined by fresh new towers of black smoke rising from the west. The roving bands of gangsters and scavengers were gone. In their place was the occasional lone mech patrolling. The sounds of shattered glass, screeching tires and shouting threats and obscenities were replaced by a low droning hum that eerily signaled the presence of one of the mechanical monstrosities. Inside the police station however much had remained the same as when the rescuers had gone to bed.

Tae-won and Williams met Ji-hye congregating with several other officers in the police station's breakroom. "If it isn't our honored guests. Have some OJ while it's still good." the officer whom they had rescued the previous night greeted them. The officer handed Williams an open carton of orange juice when he approached the table. Tae-won sat down across from the officer while Williams, still standing took a swig. "It's still good. Warm though." Williams commented. Tae-won declined to have some when Williams offered him the carton. "Do you have anything to eat around here?" asked Tae-won. "If you're hoping for donuts we're fresh out. I'm not one to fall into stereotypes but leave a box of donuts in a cop shop and they'll be gone before you can blink." joked the officer across from Tae-won. "There might be one of those miniature boxes of cereal we used to give the prisoners in one of those cupboards over there. Vong might have left some rancid kimchi in the fridge but I highly doubt you'll want to eat that bio-weapon. Sorry but a police station isn't quite a grocery store and we've had more people than usual in here the past day or so." the officer said. "It's ok." said Tae-won. Tae-won got up and looked around the cupboard and took out a little box of honey nut cheerios. Williams still found it weird seeing familiar products with the packaging all in Korean. All the while Ji-hye was too busy with the other officers to notice the two of them had come in. After Tae-won had finished his breakfast he looked over at Ji-hye and the other officers standing off to his left by another table and waited. After several minutes he impatiently interrupted. "Miss? Uh, you were going to show us to the munitions plant this morning right?" Tae-won asked. Ji-hye turned to him looking puzzled. "What?" she asked. "Oh, I was just curious about going to get more ammo." Tae-won replied. "That's a good idea. We're going to need more bullets for the station. A few of our patrols clashed with Dong Zhao's men last night right as the fireworks started going off on the islands." one of the officers that had been speaking to Ji-hye added. So much for moving the survivors to the islands thought Williams, having recollected that from what he had heard yesterday. It appeared that the population of Incheon had been slaughtered or worse in their hiding place last night. Seemed to fit the aliens' strategy of isolating large groups then going in for the kill that had been theorized by Major Yu when they were recruited by him for this task. Again Williams couldn't help but turn his thoughts back to his beloved back in Atlantic City. Jersey, the whole state was a pretty significant population center even if you didn't account for the NYC metro area and that whole region was so easy to isolate. All the aliens would have to do was take out a bridge here, a tunnel there, a few roads over yonder and there you have it, instant penned in humanity for the slaughter. No, he couldn't stand to think of it, yet it kept gnawing at him that Shantay would have perished. Dammit man, pull yourself together! Williams slapped himself in his own mind, oblivious to the conversation and goings on happening around him in the police station. He hated not knowing, but he had to turn that curse into a blessing to keep himself going. Everything was fine back home, so long as he didn't see anything that proved otherwise everything was fine.

While Williams was lost in thought and Tae-won and the officers were discussing plans and past events a loud commotion was heard out in the lobby. Ji-hye and the officers hastily crept to the door and went into the hall, ready to draw their guns if they were under attack. Tae-won followed behind them. He tapped Williams on the shoulder as he passed by. "Come on. We should check this out." Tae-won said. Williams came to his senses and followed Tae-won. The officers relaxed once they saw that it wasn't an attack but rather a woman crying and shouting frantically. The officers quickened their step and made it to the woman who was being held gently by one officer and comforted by another. "Ma'am, ma'am calm down." the officer holding her said. She flung herself back away from the officer. "My son! He's gone! Have they taken him? Where did he go!" Please! Find him!" she screamed, exhausting her breath each time. "We've got people looking through the station for her son." the officer that had been holding her turned and reported to Ji-hye. "They won't find him! The man in the black hood! He took him while I was sleeping. (sniffle) I woke up, only half awake and saw him talking to my son. I thought it was a dream but he is gone!" the woman cried. "Search everyone here and see if anyone has a black hood on them." Ji-hye told the two officers with her. Hearing all the noise upstairs the doctor they had rescued last night and several other civilians were awakened and ventured upstairs to see what the commotion was all about. The doctor looked startled as he was one of the first people to get searched. "Black and white handkerchief, does this look like the hood ma'am?" one of the officers asked the distraught woman as he held up a handkerchief. "No, not really. What I saw was all black, and a hood. Like what a medieval executioner would wear in one of those movies." the woman said, sobbing. "What's this all about?" asked the doctor. "She thinks her son was abducted last night." Ji-hye answered. "That's terrible. Have you already checked the station?" the doctor inquired. "We're checking now." Ji-hye replied. "I'll go help out then." the doctor said and went off to join in on the search. "Go get Inspector Vong and tell him to assemble a search party to scout out the area around the station. Her son couldn't have gotten far." Ji-hye told the other officer that was standing with the woman. He promptly went to fetch the inspector. "We'll find your son ma'am." Ji-hye assured the woman. She then turned about face to Tae-won and Williams. "We'll search along the route to the munitions plant. You ready to go?" Ji-hye told them. "How could she be thinking that now?" Williams wondered. "Ma'am we can get bullets later. We've got to focus on finding her son first." Williams spoke up. "We need those bullets. If Dong Zhao or worse one of those mecha-things storms our castle here we don't want to come up six rounds shy. We'll comb every nook and cranny on our way there, I promise. We've got another crew heading out to look in the other directions. If he's still missing when we get back we will join in on the search. We will find him." Ji-hye insisted, almost as if she was trying hard to justify her priorities to herself more than to everyone else in the building. Inspector Vong, four officers and seven civilian volunteers came from down the hall just as Ji-hye had finished explaining her motives to Williams and the boy's mother. "We'll fan out around the station in groups of three and four. I overheard you talking about heading to the munitions plant so you'll be taking the north of the station. I'll take the south and the other two groups will fan out to the east and west." Vong informed Ji-hye before the groups broke up and dispersed. "Just wait here Ma'am. We'll be back with your boy." Ji-hye said before leading Williams and Tae-won to the weapons locker in order to arm them for their trip. The woman nodded, her sobbing more under control though inside she was still devastated. After retrieving Tae-won's rifle and Williams' shotgun they returned to the main lobby where they were met by two other officers. The woman "We've searched the whole station. The kid's nowhere to be found." one of the officers told her. "Ok. Go downstairs and ask for any more volunteers that would be willing to search around outside to find the boy. We'll be back as soon as possible to help." Ji-hye told them. The officers went downstairs and Ji-hye, Tae-won and Williams went into the garage to take the jeep to expedite their search. It would've been helpful if they had a functioning police cruiser as it could carry more ammo back with them but this was the hand they were dealt. As they drove out of the garage Ji-hye was frustrated with herself and the decision she had made. She couldn't help but feel bad for seemingly blowing off that woman. Williams had a good heart, and he was right on any normal day saving that kid would come first. This wasn't a normal day though. It was a hard choice, either the boy or risk the entire station. She had to side with the greater number. Cold hard numbers, that was all there was to it. They drove out onto the road and made their way north in the direction of the munitions plant while the other officers and volunteers combed the area on foot.


	15. Chapter 15: Astro Zombies

Chapter XV: Astro Zombies

6 Oct 0846 KST

Incheon, South Korea

The jeep headed north meandering through the open streets amidst the graveyard of disabled cars. Williams and Tae-won kept a close lookout for any signs of life. They didn't stop and enter any structures to investigate, only scanned the area outside. The search parties that would be following them later would take a more detailed look into all the buildings where the woman's son could have been taken or run away to. Indeed after thinking it over the boy may have not actually been abducted. He was a teenager after all and probably there were things outside that police station that drew his interest, girls, friends, prized possessions that he cared about or wanted. Kids that age tended to make irrational decisions. He could have very well just run away on his own or stepped outside with every intention of coming back with a girlfriend or a brand new ps4 system. The woman was coming out of deep sleep when she claimed to have seen the hooded man; she might have still been in something of a dream state at that time. While they were treating this as a kidnapping a good detective, Ji-hye reasoned would best consider all the possibilities. The obstructions on the route towards the area where the munitions plant was located slowed them down considerably so they managed to get a good look around the area as they passed through. Eventually they reached a point where the most direct road to where they were going was completely blocked off by cars. It wasn't just a couple either that they could move out of the way but an entire sea of traffic, frozen in time when the first attack commenced. Ji-hye had no choice but to double back. They tried several other routes but kept being forced further back. Either it was cars, or a collapsed structure or something else that had the routes north closed to them. One narrow alleyway they tried to squeeze through was blocked off by part of an aircraft engine from a commercial jet that had fallen into the neighborhood. "We may just have to get out and walk." complained Ji-hye. It was quite a distance to walk to get to the munitions plant. She would much rather drive and be back in a reasonable amount of time, although they had lost a considerable length of time already. They went back almost as far as the police station until they found a clear route through to another main road. When they were about to turn onto the main road leading to an expressway they heard it. It was the loud droning sound of an approaching mech. Ji-hye quickly parked the jeep in between a stalled van and a food truck. "Get in that deli over there," Ji-hye whispered to Williams and Tae-won. They got out of the jeep and snuck into the deli next to where they had parked as the sound of mechanized footfalls grew louder. Inside the deli floor was covered in broken glass and most of the meats were gone or starting to smell. They hid behind the counter underneath the register and waited. The mech's footsteps continued to get louder and then faded away as it passed by the adjoining street ahead of where they parked. After waiting several minutes the group crept out of hiding and walked back out onto the street.

"You two, get in the car. Be ready to drive away quick alright? I'm going to go check up ahead and make sure it's clear." Ji-hye told the others. Tae-won got in the driver's seat and Williams got into the back. Ji-hye drew her gun and cautiously approached the intersection, staying close to the outer walls of the buildings on the south side of the street. She peeked around the corner and didn't see any signs of the mech. However she did see a moving shadow bounce off the wall of the next parallel street to the south. She turned back to Williams and Tae-won and with an open palm pushing towards them she signaled them to remain where they were. She then proceeded carefully around the corner and onto the next street to the south. There Ji-hye saw a figure about the size of the missing teenager lumbering in a stupor. She couldn't tell if this was the kid they were looking for but the size of the person seemed to be close to the 16 year old boy she had briefly seen in the police station. His motions were like that of a hunchback, or a zombie, or someone so drunk as they had lost all sense of proper locomotion and direction. His movements were slow and misguided; he seemed to be going nowhere in particular, just going. He was headed towards the next cross street simply because it was in front of him, although his trajectory would have run him into the wall before he got there. Don't get to hopeful now Ji-hye, she told herself. It can't be that easy, this could just be another junkie that came out of hiding because his fix had worn off. She had to get closer and get a good look at his face. She approached the boy cautiously, ready to defend herself in case it was a junkie that would attempt to stab her if she startled him. She spotted two police officers that were moving off in their search towards a small shop on the west side of the adjoining cross street up ahead. They had completely passed over him. "Hey! Come here!" Ji-hye called out to both the boy and the officers who had failed to notice him. One of the officers turned his head and started walking towards the sound of Ji-hye's voice. The other officer continued peering into the shop window with a flashlight. "Look over there! I think that's him!" the officer heading towards Ji-hye exclaimed when he saw the boy. The other officer ran to catch up with his partner and together they approached the boy. The boy was in black sweatpants and a grey hoodie that he had pulled over his head. His face was blank and his eyes empty. It was as if he wasn't looking at the officers but rather through them out into nothingness. Ji-hye ran up to the boy and took hold of him. He collapsed into Ji-hye's arms the moment she put her hands on his biceps and turned him around to face her. It was the missing kid, as far as Ji-hye could tell, he just looked so out of it right now. The officers raced over to assist her. "Kid's high as a kite. Must've raided the evidence locker this morning. Heard we took down a meth lab last week and some of that stuff might have still been sitting around." one of the officers commented. "He's going to need top detox hard. God knows how much he might have taken." Ji-hye added while trying to hold up the boy that kept slipping towards the ground. The two officers grabbed the boy and helped support him upright. "We'll take him back to the station. You can carry on with the ammo run." one of the officers told Ji-hye while taking custody of the boy from her. "Thanks. Take good care of him, and apologize to the mother for me." Ji-hye told the officers as they left with the boy. Ji-hye returned to the jeep where Williams and Tae-won were waiting. Her mind was clearer now. The guilt and second guessing herself would no longer impede her from getting where she had to go. It was almost like she had subconsciously come to all those dead ends out of her own guilt. If that was the case now her subconscious would be right in line with her conscious will. "It's all clear. We found the kid. A couple of our officers are taking him back now." Ji-hye told them as she swapped places with Tae-won who got into the back with Williams. "That was easier than I thought it would be." Tae-won commented. "Yeah. That kid will be back with his mother soon. Now we can focus on what we started out to do without any worries." Ji-hye added. She started up the jeep and rolled out.

The two officers took the boy inside the police station. "Get the doctor." The officer carrying the boy told one of the guards posted at the door. "What's wrong with him?" asked a man standing around in the hallway. "Out of it, bad. He's totally detached from reality. Might have OD'd." one of the officers coming in told him. "Oh shit." the man gasped after getting a look at the teenage boy's face. He appeared drained of all life. His groggy zombie like stupor came to an end as he was brought to the lobby of the police station. There he leaned forward onto one of the officers as if he was about to fall. His limp arm flopped over the officer's leg and his fingers felt along the officer's waist. All of the sudden snapping back to life the boy took hold of the officer's gun, drew it and with superb precision shot six officers dead in the lobby as well as the one at the door. Each round was a perfect kill shot, emptying the lobby of police presence until the officer that had gone to fetch the doctor returned. The boy discarded the gun and dashed for the door. The officer gave chase, almost tripping over the man in the hallway that the boy pushed aside to get through the door. The doctor along with the boy's mother stood aghast in the stairwell leading down to the cellblock after witnessing her son flee a murder scene. The teenager was considerably faster than the officer despite this officer being in reasonably good shape. He was losing ground on the boy and drew his weapon as a last resort. "Stop right there!" the officer shouted, pointing his gun at the boy with no intention of actually shooting him. The teenager's agility was then taken to mind boggling new heights when he leapt up into the air landing on the rooftop of a three story municipal building across the street from the police station. The moment the boy touched his feet onto the rooftop he was back into a full sprint. "Holy shit..." gasped the officer as the boy vanished from his sight. Another officer along with the doctor and the boy's mother ran outside to see what had transpired. "He...he got away..." the officer said softly in amazement. "Why would he do this?" his mother broke out into tears. "There, there. He's in an altered state of consciousness. He doesn't know what he's doing. Once he comes down, his body will detox and he'll come back looking for us." the doctor reassured her. "When Inspector Vong gets back tell him to keep the patrols going. We've got to catch him before he can do anymore harm to himself or others." the officer in the doorway told the one outside before escorting the boy's mother back into the station.

A few hours later Inspector Vong and several of the search teams returned to the station. "Find anything?" asked one of the officers that let him in. "Nothing yet. Heard you had the kid and he went nuts and bolted." Vong replied. "That's putting it lightly. He took out seven of our best officers." the officer told Vong. Vong took a deep breath and sighed sorrowful. "Damn..." was all he could bring himself to say. He wanted to curse the boy, inside he was thinking "seven good men for the life of some hopped up loser, that's bullshit." but he kept those words to himself because he saw the boy's mother waiting nervously in the lobby for her son to return. "How many teams have come back?" Vong asked the officer who was escorting him to the lobby. "Three. All our officers except Ji-hye are present and accounted for in station." the officer told him. "That leaves two out there, both civilian, not including Ji-hye." Vong commented. When Vong reached the lobby the boy's mother rushed towards him and started crying. "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" she cried. "He's not like this. He's really a good kid! He likes video games and basketball, he never so much as smoked a cigarette and I know he would never hurt anyone. I don't understand why! I'm so sorry!" the boy's mother sobbed burying her head into Vong's chest. Vong pulled her off the wet spot in his uniform caused by her tears and stood her up to face him. "It's not your fault. We had no idea either. He could've thought it was something else; we're all hungry and thirsty here. Might have been an accident, or Mr. Black Hood could've drugged him. We don't know ma'am. We are trying to find your son. When we do we will restrain him and talk with him after he comes down from whatever he's on. Just bear with us ma'am." Vong told the woman, sounding professional even though inside his heart he burned with rage. The doctor then came up from the cell block below. "The officers that were killed are in the morgue. I looked them over though we all know what the cause of death was." He told Vong. "Very good, doctor. I'd like to see them if you don't mind." said Vong. "Of course." the doctor replied. Vong excused himself and followed the doctor to the morgue inside the station. There the doctor rolled out the six bodies on slabs from out of the wall. The refrigeration system was out so eventually the bodies would begin to decay. The first signs of rigor mortis already were apparent in places on several of the corpses. They would have to bury or dispose of the bodies in some manner within the next couple of days to stave off stench and disease from infesting the whole of the station. "As you can see each of their deaths were rather quick, four of which were clean shots right between the eyes, one pierced the carotid artery and the two others were straight through the heart entering at the right ventricle moving at an angle through the left atrium before exiting past the spine." the doctor described the shootings to Vong. "What confuses me is how does a kid hopped up on meth manage to shoot so precise every time. Even if it was close range I'd expect to see more variation in these wounds. They almost look identical." Vong said puzzled by what he saw. "It is quite impressive." the doctor commented. The sound of gunfire from outside quickly yanked away Inspector Vong's attention. "Put them away. I'll come back to this later." Vong told the Doctor and then hurried back into the main hallway of the station.

Inside the main halls of the police station the officers were rushing around frantically. One of them was herding the civilians downstairs into the jail. Another ran to the rear garage door while one went upstairs where the sniper was firing on something outside. Three of the officers stood guard at the door, one of which was taking shots through the small window next to the front door. Other officers were going to and from the weapons locker at the time Vong approached the lobby. "What's going on?!" Vong shouted. "We're under attack." one of the officers said. "By who?" asked Vong. "I don't know." the officer said. "Fucking kids! Kids with guns!" shouted back the officer who was firing out the window by the door. Outside there were around 15 kids, mostly teenagers between the ages of 13-17 and a couple young adults equipped with semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns sporadically firing upon the police station. The kids hid behind cars and a dumpster across the street while the second floor sniper, the officer at the door and a few other officers in first floor offices fired back at them through the windows. So far neither side had taken any casualties. Vong ran upstairs to where the sniper and another officer were firing back at the kids. "The just came out of nowhere. Didn't say anything, no demands, no provocation. They just started shooting at us." the second officer turned back at told Vong then turned back to the window and shot back at the kids, hitting nothing but bricks and car hoods. "Hold your fire unless you can get a clean hit. We don't have our ammo reserves back up yet." Vong told the two officers upstairs. "You want us to kill kids?" asked the sniper in a bit of shock. So far they had hoped to frighten them, wound a few and drive them away. These kids were probably forced into fighting by Dong Zhao with abandoned army equipment. It was only a matter of time before Dong Zhao came after them anyhow, and these kids were expendable to him. "If you have to. Wound them if you can but if it comes down to us or them, it's going to be them. We have kids in here too." Vong said. He came across as cold but it was the truth. If their enemies wanted to play dirty they would have to fight dirty right back at them. Vong went back downstairs to tell the other officers to conserve ammo. When he entered one of the front offices he immediately dropped down to the ground as the windows were shot out by two of the kids with submachine guns outside. Some of the boards that had sealed them up were cut away and crumbled apart while the glass completely shattered. One of the officers at the windows was hit fatally three times across the chest. The other officer in this office room got behind the brick and mortar wall next to the window and only received some minor scrapes and tears in his uniform from the shattered glass. That officer twisted in front of the window and fired a shotgun blast that hit one of the submachine wielding boys in the abdomen as he was walking towards the station. The boy fell down on his back, firing off another haphazard burst of gunfire in the process that didn't hit anything. A 14 year old girl from behind a Volkswagen beetle shot the officer that had taken down the boy in the shoulder. The remaining car windows shattered from gunfire from the police station. The officer by the window clutched his wounded arm and slid down to a seated position. Vong raised himself up as if doing a pushup and crawled over to a desk. Gunfire ripped in through the windows, ruffling up papers and denting into interior walls and filing cabinets. Vong popped up briefly and fired a few shots through one of the windows, grazing another boy that had left the safety of the cars and was coming towards the opened windows. The boy that had been hit in the stomach tried to sit back up and resumed firing into the office where Vong was pinned down. The sniper upstairs shot the boy in the chest, this time putting him down for good. The second boy approaching the office seemed to have something on his back. The first one was wearing a black jumpsuit that would've concealed it but this one, in only a ripped band T-shirt and jeans obviously had one of the centipede-like parasites Ji-hye had told them about affixed to its spine. Glancing over the other kids the officers upstairs could see several of them also had the parasites on their backs as well. Those with loose fitting clothing, jackets or sweatshirts might have had them as well. In fact all of them probably did. "These kids are possessed!" the sniper shouted. They knew they weren't dealing with Dong Zhao now; these kids were under the aliens' influence. The second officer shot the knee out of the boy in front of the cars and attempted to shoot off the parasite. He fired two shots that succeeded in peeling away the first couple spikes out of the boy's neck and dimming the orangish glow from inside the active parasite. However when this was done the boy fell face forward as if he had just received an instant kill shot. "We've got no choice. Shoot to kill." the sniper told the other officer. "Oh shit." mumbled the sniper as he saw a frizzy haired 17 year old boy reach behind the dumpster and remove a loaded RPG launcher and aimed it at the front door of the police station. "Tell them to get away from the door, now!" The sniper ordered the second officer. The second officer rushed downstairs to warn the others while the sniper took careful aim and lined up a perfect headshot on the kid with the RPG. He took the shot. The boy's head bounced backwards as a fountain of blood sprayed out from a neat hole pierced just above the boy's left eye. The boy started to fall down on his knees but seemed to catch himself. On his back the parasite that had latched onto the boy glowed a brighter orange and the boy stood back up, aimed and fired the RPG. "What the..." the sniper whispered in amazement. How the hell did that kid survive that, or how did that thing bring him back from the brink of death.

Downstairs the officer that had been with the sniper came downstairs screaming. "Get away from the door! Get away from the fucking door!" he shouted at the top of his lungs seconds before the RPG hit. The explosion tore apart the door and surrounding wall. The three officers nearby were ripped into by the blast and the shrapnel it produced. One of them was completely set ablaze and the other two, badly burned and bleeding out were thrown back by the blast. The kids followed up and rushed out from behind the cars into the police station. They fired through the smoke, hitting two of the five officers that had taken position in the lobby and were bracing to shoot back. The officers returned fire and took cover behind the lobby desk and around the corners to the hallway. Upstairs the sniper tried to halt the charge as best he could. He targeted the chest or spine of the kids instead of the head and that seemed to put them down where they couldn't get back up. Vong ran out of the office as the wounded officer fled ahead of him. "Get the civilians out the back!" Vong ordered. One of the officers went downstairs and began leading out the civilians towards the garage amidst exchanges of gunfire with the kids who had now rushed into the doorway. Four of the kids were shot dead by a barrage from the officers; the rest had sought cover behind the outside walls of the police station. An officer ran out of another hallway office as Vong shut the door to the office he had been in moments before a pair of youths climbed in through the windows. Vong looked at the officer and the officer waited by the door to ambush any of the kids that came through either of the office doors. Vong turned the hallway towards the morgue. The door opened before he got there and he was seized upon by one of the formerly deceased officers that he had just examined before the fight began. It was one of the headshot victims, only now this corpse had one of those parasites affixed to its back. Vong struggled to resist but the dead man was incredibly strong. He shot at it, only hitting it's thigh before his gun was pushed out of his hand. A second animated corpse piled on with the first, slamming Vong up against the wall. They were both headshot victims. He understood now, the parasite overrides its hosts brain and if need be could even serve as the brain for the host so long as the rest of the body remains in functional condition. As the first corpse began to strangle Vong he noticed its blood vessels turning black and pushing out against its skin. Minutes later the corpse collapsed into its previous state of death, though this demise had nothing to do with the fact it was already dead. Vong reached down and picked up his gun to see the doctor placing one of those parasites onto the back of a third corpse. "You." Vong growled as he stood straight up and pointed the gun at the doctor. The doctor moved his lips as if he was about to speak but wasn't given the chance. "Fuck you!" Vong snapped at him and fired his service weapon twice into the chest of the doctor. The doctor staggered back into the wall, staining it with blood. Vong then fired another shot into his chest and one into his throat. The doctor slid down and slumped over before falling forward into a soft lifeless form. Vong then used his last shot to shoot off the parasite on the third corpse before it could activate the body. He ran towards the weapons locker to see if they had any more ammo as several kids came through the office doors. The officer waiting to ambush them was able to take out the 14 year old girl but before the next kid came through a grenade was hurled into the hallway. Its explosion bowled over Vong and the ambushing officer.

Meanwhile many of the civilians and one of the officers escaped out the back door while the police station was being overrun. The officer led them around behind the garage and onto the street. The kids were now all inside the police station and the gunfire coming from inside was dying down. The officer and the civilians went to the first side street and slipped away while the last of the officers and brave civilians who took up the arms of the fallen made their final stand to buy the rest of them enough time to escape.


	16. Chapter 16: Join or Die

Chapter XVI: Join or Die

6 Oct 1307 KST

Incheon, South Korea

The midday sun hung high overhead glimmering through the clouds of smoke drifting in. Ji-hye was inevitability forced to park the jeep and proceed on foot for a little over a mile to reach the munitions plant. It was a journey fraught with delays but at last they were there. The munitions plant was just one of many factories in this heavily industrialized area adjacent to the port. There were many warehouses and fenced in yards full of shipping containers. There were fewer abandoned cars here but the roads lots and driveways were just as packed with mobile cranes, forklifts, heavy equipment and trucks of various sizes. They could smell the salt air coming in from the sea bringing with it the soot from the fires on the various islands within and close to Incheon proper. Seagulls cawed from their perches on vehicles and cold electrical lines. It was surprisingly quiet considering how close they were to Dong Zhao's primary base of operations. Ji-hye led the group as they carefully meandered through the vehicles and shipping containers, keeping out of sight of any spying eyes that might be about. The group crossed a pair of railroad tracks and slipped under a torn away section of a tall chain link fence capped with razor wire. They proceeded around a freight car on a divergent section of train tracks. There they stopped and waited for a trio of skitters to exit the munitions plant and hurry off towards a warehouse further east along the train tracks. "So that's what they look like." whispered Williams. "We're going to find another entrance." Ji-hye whispered softly before leading the other two away. They went along the steel siding wall off the factory to the west and came up to the loading docks. All the trucks that had been here before the attack were still there. There were no antiques in the modern port district of Incheon that would still be up and running. The three of them snuck in through the side door into the shipping office.

Once inside the shipping office, the trio found that someone else had already smashed open the metal door that separated the office from the production floor. The noisy part of the job was already done for them. They carefully went onto the production floor, moving slowly and hiding behind and beneath the equipment all around. Williams spotted a pair of skitters moving along a catwalk overhead a fair distance to their left. He reached out and stopped Ji-hye, gesturing to her to remain still and be quiet. Eventually the skitters left and went about doing whatever skitters do. Williams figured that even aliens had to take a space shit from time to time. Now was their chance, the production floor was empty for all that they could see. They scampered softly down the assembly line to where crates of bullets had been filled. The crates that they had found were all full of 9mm rounds, perfect for Ji-hye's service pistol but leaving Tae-won and Williams out to dry. Williams started to lift up one of the crates. It weighed on the order of 50-80 pounds. "Put it down." Ji-hye told him softly. "We have to be smart about this. We don't have the jeep nearby so we can't each go off carrying one of these big bulky things. You two get one of the empty crates and I'll put some of these bullets into it." Ji-hye instructed them. She then packed in several handfuls of 9mm rounds. They then crossed over a few assembly lines and took a bunch of shotgun shells for Williams' gun. They had to hide behind the crates of shotgun shells when a skitter came in through the door from the administration building. They waited for what seemed like forever until the skitter went back inside. They then crept out in search of some 5.56x45mm NATO rounds for Tae-won's rifle. This plant made bullets for the military so it had to have them. They snagged four grenades as they passed by large boxes underneath a heavy crane used for moving production equipment around the factory floor. They heard a noise, and fearing another alien patrol they got down and crawled around the crane out of sight from all the open entrances. There Ji-hye looked up and saw it. A mech was standing right next to them. Her first thoughts were that they were so dead. Before she managed to arm a grenade Tae-won grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "Look." Tae-won whispered. "It's not active." The three of them got up and looked around the mech. It was deactivated and its gun-arm was dismantled and laid on top of a table next to it. "Are they making more of these things here?" asked Williams. "Doesn't look like it. Come over here." Tae-won whispered back, summoning Williams and Ji-hye over to the table where numerous tools and a case of .50 caliber bullets were. There were also a scattered number of the 5.56 NATO rounds that they were searching for on the table. "Looks like they are retrofitting their walkers to use our weapons against us." Tae-won commented. "That would cut down on energy expenditure if they started using projectile rounds and allow these fellas to operate longer between refuelings or rechargings or whatever kind of gas is in the tank of these things." Tae-won mumbled off as he considered what he saw. "These bullets seem to be coated with some kind of shiny alloy on the tips." remarked Williams. "Put those in the crate and let's get out of here." Ji-hye said after hearing the sounds of skitters feet outside. Williams slid all of the loose 5.56 NATO rounds into the crate and the two of them hastily carried it out the exit they had come in from. Ji-hye followed close behind them, keeping watch over anything going on behind them. They regrouped in the shipping office and caught their breath now that they were hidden out of sight from the production floor. They sat underneath the countertop on the outside of the shipping office for a few minutes panting. So far, so good they assumed. "Alright ready?" Ji-hye said when their breathing slowed to normal. "Go!" she commanded in a soft voice and was the first one out the door.

Once outside on the docks Ji-hye collided with none other than Dong Zhao himself. Dong Zhao and his minions were loading up crates of ammo from one of the trucks on the docks into a rusty four door pickup truck on the concrete in front of them. Dong Zhao growled and grabbed Ji-hye by the collar. He pulled her up to his face and breathed out heavily, still a little startled as he had not expected a policewoman to come running out of the ammo plant, let alone anyone. Ji-hye stared at Dong Zhao's scowling face, his wiry moustache and soul patch chambered a row of yellowed teeth behind which his breath issued as foul as raw sewage. His hair was cut close in a buzz cut though not completely bald which made his thick eyebrows beneath an angry wrinkle in his forehead stand out all the more prominently. Williams and Tae-won just exited behind Ji-hye and saw Dong Zhao standing there. They froze for a brief second until Ji-hye pistol whipped Dong Zhao, digging into his right eye with the back end of her gun. The pain relaxed Dong Zhao's grip allowing Ji-hye to run away. "Get out of here you idiots!" She shouted at Tae-won and Williams as she bolted. As the three of them rounded the corner of the docks Dong Zhao's men came running to help him. "Keep loading the truck! I'll take care of them." Dong Zhao ordered, swatting off one of his henchmen that went to try to take a closer look at his bleeding eye. Dong Zhao pulled a black bandana out of his pants pocket and wrapped it around his wounded eye as he furiously stomped down the slope of the gravel area alongside the docks to the passenger door of the pickup truck. There he reached onto the floorboards behind the seat and removed a long dao sword. He holstered his uzi in his belt and held the sword in his right hand as he walked ever so casually in the direction the interlopers had fled to.

Ji-hye ran underneath the broken fence and held up the fence higher to allow Tae-won and Williams to swiftly pass underneath. They raced over the railroad tracks and past several vehicles. Two more of Dong Zhao's men standing around on top of a nearby warehouse spotted them as they ran alongside stationary train cars. They opened fire on them with AK-47's, hitting the train cars in between them and their targets instead. The trio was pinned down, panting behind the steel rail cars. The sky had grown overcast and darkened considerably since they had first arrived at the munitions plant. Following intently, yet calmly in pursuit Dong Zhao crawled under the broken fence. When a burst of gunfire attempted to scare Williams and Tae-won out of hiding Dong Zhao shouted something in Mandarin Chinese to his minions. "He's telling them to stand down. He wants us for himself." Ji-hye told Williams and Tae-won. The three of them made a break for it hoping in Ji-hye's translation and that Dong Zhao didn't change his mind. The three of them ran past the next warehouse, now out of the line of sight of Dong Zhao's men. They then turned into a street lined with cars and headed south. After running several blocks they turned east down a back alley and then south again onto a fairly open street. Ji-hye sprinted ahead of the other two that were weighed down with the ammo crate. An eerie groan resounded behind them followed by the illumination of a spotlight. Ji-hye turned back to see a mech about twenty yards behind Williams and Tae-won. A short burst of gunfire from the mech went up Tae-won's left leg, hitting him in several places before the last round went into his spine just above the hips. The last shot caused Tae-won's legs to go numb and he collapsed to the ground. With him the ammo crate was dropped alongside him spilling out onto the pavement as Williams suddenly could not support it with one arm from one side. Williams knelt down, grabbed a handful of ammo and a grenade and stuffed them in his jacket. "Save yourself! Get out of here!" Tae-won shouted. Williams got up and ran away, but it wasn't because Tae-won told him to. It was because of his own fear. Ji-hye took cover behind a car and looked back at Tae-won and Williams with tears in her eyes about to roll down her dust stained cheeks. Williams ran for dear life and joined Ji-hye behind the car. Surprisingly the mech stood down and waited where it was. It merely shined a spotlight onto Tae-won writhing on the ground. Tae-won could not feel or move his legs. He tried to drag himself over to the ammo crate using his arms. A trail of blood painted the pavement behind him as he moved along at a snail's pace. Ji-hye and Williams watched, frozen in fear as Tae-won started to load rounds into his rifle. Before he could finish two of Dong Zhao's men came and seized him under each of his armpits and lifted him to his knees. One of them kicked away his rifle. While the two men held him in place Dong Zhao came up from behind them, passing between the mech and Tae-won. Dong Zhao sighed loudly and shook his head in an exaggerated display. "I didn't want it to come to this!" he shouted into the air as he walked around Tae-won brandishing his dao sword. Dong Zhao stooped down and grabbed Tae-won's chin, pulling down on his lower lip with his thumb. "You did this. You!" Dong Zhao declared then tossed Tae-won's face back. Tae-won looked back at him, his face dirty, hurting and scraped up but he refused to let Dong Zhao see fear in his eyes. Tae-won spit out a wad of blood and saliva in the direction of Dong Zhao. The spittle landed just short of Dong Zhao's black leather combat boots. Dong Zhao responded by kicking Tae-won in the mouth, increasing the blood oozing out of Tae-won's mouth and knocking out a couple teeth. Dong Zhao walked back outstretched his arms to his sides and twirled around slowly. "As you can see the new masters of Earth and I have come to something of an arrangement!" Dong Zhao announced in a loud strong voice. Williams couldn't bear to watch; he ducked down and made a run for it. He stopped several blocks away, hidden in an alleyway behind several cars. He sat down and wrapped his arms around his shotgun like it was a teddy bear and started crying. He was embarrassed at his own weakness but too scared to do anything about it. Nothing other than to sit here and cry. Ji-hye badly wanted to shoot Dong Zhao right then and there but she knew if she did that mech would open fire and kill all of them. She hoped Dong Zhao was keeping Tae-won alive for a reason. Perhaps he wanted to negotiate, threaten them for supplies, conscripts, or whatever, just like when he had taken their officer before. "In the spirit of this arrangement, I will extend to all of you the most gracious of terms!" Dong Zhao pompously declared. Now just see what he wants, Ji-hye patiently waited with her gun drawn by her side. Dong Zhao pointed the tip of his dao sword under Tae-won's chin. "You have a decision to make!" he shouted. "Join." Dong Zhao declared as he walked around Tae-won one last time. One of Dong Zhao's men grabbed Tae-won's head and held it back. "Or die!" Dong Zhao shouted with a savage swipe of his sword. The second Dong Zhao finished speaking his minions dropped back and released Tae-won allowing the blade to hit full force and decapitate Tae-won from the left side of his neck to the right. Tae-won's head dropped to the ground as did his body and rolled on down the street until coming to rest. His lifeless eyes looked up to Ji-hye as she covered her mouth in horror and began to sob. Dong Zhao and his men turned and left. Soon after the mech turned around and followed them back to the munitions plant. Ji-hye ran over and picked up Tae-won's head. With tears in her eyes she attempted to put it back on his body. When the shock passed and she finally accepted he was gone she gathered up what ammunition she could carry from the spilled crate and left. She found Williams crying in the alleyway just as a lone skitter roamed out onto the street where Tae-won was. It was too late; it wouldn't find his friends here. They were now on their way back to the police station, heartbroken and terrified.


	17. Chapter 17: Rose of Autumn

Chapter XVII: Rose of Autumn

6 Oct 1019 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

Min-jung came back into the room holding Do-yeon by the arm. She firmly set down the pistol she took from him on the nightstand then let Do-yeon go. "Don't ever do anything like that again!" she scolded her son. "What happened?" asked Hyuna. "He was downstairs getting shooting lessons from your boyfriend." Min-jung replied angrily. She then turned back to Do-yeon and knelt down. "I'm sorry mommy. It was my idea; I never should have asked him." Do-yeon apologized. "It's ok. He should've had the sense to tell you no. I just don't want you around guns. You might hurt yourself ok?" Min-jung calmly told her son, veiling her diminishing frustration. Do-yeon nodded and wiped his eyes. "Now just relax in here and play. We'll find out if daddy will be coming to get us soon." Min-jung told him. She then stood up and Do-yeon found some hotel stationery and a pen to start scribbling drawings on. "It might not have been a bad idea if the kid knew how to shoot with how things have gone down lately. Just saying." Hyuna commented. Min-jung shook her head and sighed. Her anger had all but dissipated now and she was back in a clear state of mind. "I know, and I probably overreacted. It's just, I don't like guns to begin with and I don't want Do-yeon to be exposed to the kind of responsibility to choose whether to take someone's life or not. He's not ready for it. I just want him to be a kid. Is that too much to ask?" Min-jung said, attempting to explain herself. "I understand. If I was you I'd probably want my child to have a normal childhood more than anything right now. We didn't choose to have spacemen come down and start a war in our cities. It's not our fault we've been thrust into the situation we're in. I guess none of us really know how to handle it right now. I think Jake meant well by your son. We all want to protect him; he's the future you know?" Hyuna tried to console Min-jung as she paced around the hotel room. "I suppose you're right but still, motherhood is one of those things." Min-jung replied and sat down on the bed next to Hyuna. "Also you've got to understand too, Jake is from a different culture than we are. Where he grew up guns are no big deal. People keep them in their houses and children learn to shoot from a young age. His family probably more so than the average American even. At least based on what he told me." Hyuna explained. "That's true. He's got to recognize he's over here now and should have the same understanding of how our culture works." Min-jung replied. "He's an army grunt; he's sheltered from the real Seoul." Hyuna commented. Min-jung laughed and leaned back a little, stretching and brushing her hair back with her hands. "Ahh, I'm alright now. You don't have to keep defending him. We're good, ok?" Min-jung said as she sat back up straight. "Still don't know what you see in him." Min-jung commented. "It's that obvious isn't it?" Hyuna asked. "Yeah, you're practically broadcasting it to the world, girl." Min-jung answered. "Too bad he doesn't seem to notice." Hyuna commented in a despondent tone. "Thick headed Army doofus, just like you said." Min-jung replied to laughter from both of the girls. "I think we're going to have to make him notice you." Min-jung said as she stood up. "Take Do-yeon downstairs and fill up those ice buckets with water from what used to be the ice machine. I'll find my makeup and we'll have ourselves a little makeover here." Min-jung told Hyuna, following it up by clapping her hands together once. Hyuna got up and took one of the 2x4's as a crutch and went with Do-yeon downstairs. She could use a little walk after all; she'd been lying around for far too long by her count. Meanwhile Min-jung dug around in her bag and got all her beauty supplies out and ready for when Hyuna and Do-yeon came back.

When Hyuna came back with the water she was astonished by how many beauty supplies that Min-jung had with her. The girl sure knew what to bring for the end of the world, she thought sarcastically. "Set those over there by the sink and sit down right here." Min-jung said as she directed Hyuna to a chair she had moved in front of the bathroom door. Hyuna sat down and Min-jung went around behind her. "Actually get up for a minute." she said. Hyuna got up and Min-jung slid the chair back by the sink and propped it up with a few boards she had Do-yeon bring her.. "Alright, now sit down. First thing we will do is take care of that hair." Min-jung told her. Hyuna removed the pigtails and let her hair fall straight down. It was tangled, frizzed and knotty as would be expected after she had slept in it two nights in a row without a shower. Min-jung plugged up the sink and leaned Hyuna back over it. She took one of the water buckets and wet her hair then using the hotel's complementary shampoo and conditioner she proceeded to wash her hair and reused the water in the sink with the empty bucket to rinse it. Afterwards she towel dried it and gave Hyuna a wet rag to clean off her face. "I would've never expected you to have so much makeup along with you given the circumstances." Hyuna marveled while Min-jung was brushing her hair. "A girl's got to be prepared." Min-jung replied. Hyuna giggled at the silliness of the statement. It was as if Min-jung expected this whole ordeal to be over in less than a week. "Ouch! Could you be a little gentler please?" Hyuna complained as Min-jung pulled a nasty tangle out of her hair. "You're going to have to be still. It'll hurt a bit, I'm sorry." Min-jung replied. She continued on and fixed Hyuna's hair then took her out to the main room to do her makeup. Do-yeon contented himself all the while by playing with self-made toys he had constructed from drawn on bits of paper. "You still never told me what you see in him." mentioned Min-jung. Hyuna blushed, afraid to answer the question. "I mean if you're looking for average in the looks department, he's just about there." Min-jung continued. "I don't know. He's a sweet guy really and very loyal. He's funny and nice and we can talk about a lot of the same things. Most of all there's just something there that I can't quite define." Hyuna said half giggling and half too embarrassed to speak clearly. "At first I was just messing with him, I can be a bit of a flirt but I don't mean anything by it. I can't really say when or how but it changed to actually mean something more. You know, I don't know how these feelings came about just that they do, and they don't go away." Hyuna attempted to explain. "You've known him for two days." Min-jung interjected, trying to be the voice of reason to Hyuna. "Hold still a minute I need to do your eyes." Min-jung told Hyuna. These hadn't been exactly normal times and it could've been just that she was latching on to anyone, or anything to hold on to while the world seemed to crumble around her Min-jung presumed. It wasn't that way to Hyuna. What she felt, at least to her was by every measure authentic and true. She couldn't exactly call it love at this point. It was more or less infatuation, but it was the closest thing to love she had ever experienced. She had plenty of guy friends before, boyfriends even that she had known for a long time and it never was like this to her. There was something special there, even if she couldn't explain it, or even understand it herself. "So how long was it before you knew you loved your husband?" Hyuna asked after Min-jung had finished with her eye makeup. "Loved? I wouldn't say I loved him." Min-jung said honestly. She was a little surprised with Hyuna's naivety; the girl really must live in a fairytale world if she thinks there's real romance in the world. "He was quite attractive" Min-jung said with a smirk and a tilt of her head back. "Not to mention well endowed." Min-jung leaned in and whispered in Hyuna's ear so that Do-yeon wouldn't hear it. "Mostly it was that he was a good provider. He gave me a lifestyle that I could never have on my own. If it wasn't for that he would've just been a fling, someone to talk with the girlfriends about over cocktails." Min-jung explained. So she was a gold digger Hyuna mused to herself. She wouldn't dare say this out loud but she knew exactly what type of person Min-jung was, even though she came across as a pleasant woman and a good mother. "So do you two get along well or is it just...a thing?" Hyuna asked. "We get along fine. We go on fancy dates and have our usual little holidays together. The passion's still there although we don't really see that much of each other lately. With me working and Do-yeon and he's got the Army running his life, that doesn't really leave a lot of time for just the two of us you know?" Min-jung replied. "Yeah, I can see how that would be like." Hyuna said. "But, yeah, we're great. Life was fabulous before the aliens came. Enough about me, girl friend, this is supposed to be all about you." Min-jung said. Min-jung stood up, clasped her hands together and looked over Hyuna. She was very pleased with the work she had done. So far, so gorgeous, she thought. "All right now get up and take a look in the mirror." Min-jung said. Hyuna got up and went into the bathroom. "Wow.. That is nice. I look like some kind of model here." Hyuna marveled. "You see?" Min-jung said. "Yeah. The makeup is just stellar. Thanks for not upping it all the way to whore level." Hyuna said, noticing that the Min-jung had concealed and highlighted everything she needed to without making her look like a clown. Her skin still retained its natural radiance and glow. "Now we've got to get you into some new clothes. That Sailor Moon - Punky Brewster look you've got going on there is just not going to fly. He's going to want a woman not some teenybopper fan girl straight off the 9th grade bus." Min-jung said with excitement as she led Hyuna over towards the bed where she had several of the outfits she had brought with her laid out. "Now you're a dainty little thing and most of my clothes are going to be too big on you so I'm going to have to tighten it up a little with a belt, maybe cut, tuck and stitch or find something that looks nice loose on you." Min-jung told Hyuna. "Do-yeon honey could you play in the bathroom while we are doing this?" Min-jung asked. She didn't want her son to see Hyuna undressing in front of him. Do-yeon gathered his things and went in the bathroom and closed the door. Meanwhile Min-jung and Hyuna went about selecting the right outfit for her and modifying it accordingly.

Fontaine reached the battle site to once again find no one there. However there were signs that the area had been previously visited since his last trip here. Several of the bodies that were laid out here were now gone, most of the weapons had been scavenged and most importantly the message he had left here was gone. Fontaine went over to where he had left the message and knelt down. The insignia of the 8th Army was carved into a concrete block next to the wooden cross that he had erected. Below the insignia the words "You are not forgotten." were carved. "The United States Eighth Army is proudly brought to you by the Umbrella Corporation." Fontaine said softly, mocking the similarities between the 8th Army insignia and the Umbrella Corp. logo. His people or someone with the army knew he was here. His message in a bottle was received. Now he just had to wait for the rescue to eventually come. He couldn't expect to be a top priority; after all there were aliens to fight, so the rescue might take a while to happen. He was prepared to hunker down and wait it out until help arrived. That was no big deal for him. The fact that there was even help coming in the first place made him ecstatic. He took a nail and carved into the pavement below the cross instructions to light a signal fire when help arrived to cue him on when to come out of hiding. This would make his periodic checks easier and reduce his risk of exposure to enemy forces outside as the smoke signal could be seen from the roof of the motel. Fontaine stood up and started heading back. As he was leaving the battle site and going into a side street a lone skitter emerged from an adjacent alleyway in front of him. The skitter was as surprised to see him as he was to see it. Instinctively Fontaine fired two quick bursts at the skitter. The first dinged harmlessly off its armored chest plate and the skitter came towards him. The second struck the neck and side of the face of the skitter, wounding it but the skitter still kept coming at him. Fontaine backpedaled fired a third burst as the skitter almost was on top of him. This burst partially split the skull of the skitter and the creature slumped over dead at his feet. Fontaine dusted himself off, his clothes speckled with droplets of skitter blood. He looked around to make sure there were no more coming and then dragged the skitter's body behind a pile of rocks and debris. He climbed on top of the pile and buried it so that if others came they would not see their dead comrade out in the open indicating there were survivors still in the area. After he made sure the skitter's corpse was hidden well enough Fontaine started back towards the motel, taking a circuitous route just in case anyone was tracking him.

Fontaine returned to the hotel with the customary code word and Do-yeon answered the door for him. "Hey kid." Fontaine greeted him and then stepped inside. Hyuna caught his eyes as he stepped through the door and Do-yeon closed it behind him. Both Hyuna and Min-jung were sitting on the bed. Min-jung pushed Hyuna in the back gently urging her to stand up. She looked different, her hair was down, and it flowed with a slight waviness to it down to the center of her back. She was wearing a loose fitting frilly white blouse that had been tailored in a few places to better hug her figure and a short ocean blue skirt that wasn't as short on her as it would've been on Min-jung. Still it revealed some of her thighs. She was wearing black stiletto heels that were very uncharacteristic of Hyuna, made obvious by the fact she was uncomfortable standing up in them. She looked radiant, more mature and simply amazing to Fontaine. "Hi Jake." Hyuna meekly greeted him. "Hey. I like the new look. It suits you." He commented then took his rifle into the closet and set it down. That was it? Hyuna and Min-jung's thoughts were in total harmony on this one. The compliment came across as platonic as could be, as if he was admiring her purely from an aesthetic point of view and had no idea that she had got all gussied up just for him. Hyuna smiled while Min-jung registered a scowl in Jake's direction as he turned back around to them. Hyuna walked towards him but stumbled a little. Fontaine caught her and helped her regain her balance. They looked at each other for a brief moment and smiled. "You sure you can walk ok in those. You know your knee and all?" Fontaine awkwardly asked her. Hyuna leaned in towards him, gazing up into his eyes not saying a word. He was right there, almost why couldn't he just make the connection and make a move. She wasn't the type of girl to take the initiative any further. "That was supposed to be what the guy did!" Hyuna thought to herself. She seemed to hang in a timeless eternity while she waited for something to happen, god dammit Jake! You're too much of a gentleman for your own good. "I'm alright. Just wanted to try them on." Hyuna told him, after it was apparent for whatever reason whether he got the message and was just being overly respectful or truly didn't see her that way still, that nothing was going to happen between them right now. Fontaine walked her back over to the bed and sat down beside her. He was paying too much attention to Hyuna that he completely tuned out the disappointment on Min-jung's face. It wasn't that he didn't find her attractive. Quite the contrary, he found her absolutely stunning. He even had to turn his thoughts to other things, Ron Jeremy dancing in the shower, skitters running naked through the forest, his grandpa's toenail clippings and so on, just to keep from showing the obvious signs of physical attraction. His amenable yet pseudo-Stoic reaction was merely a front. His own sense of honor would not allow him to get too close to this girl. He had assured himself that in any other situation where the world wasn't on fire and he literally wasn't the last man around, that Hyuna would never so much as want to be friends with him. Truth was that especially now, Jake saw Hyuna as a class of woman far above a guy like him. He wasn't the most handsome guy, came from a dirt poor background and was a little odd and goofy to say the least. Hyuna was under tremendous pressure from the past day and a half and this could just be how she copes with it. He wasn't going to initiate a romantic relationship only because of extenuating circumstances and possible desperation of someone that was way out of his league. Such a relationship developing could compromise things in the future and he had to keep his head clear and his judgement sound if they were going to survive.

"Well I've got some good news everyone" Fontaine said as his thoughts shifted back to their rescue. Do-yeon came out of the restroom at the announcement, after all wasn't he included in "everyone?" "Our message at the battle site has been received by someone with the 8th Army. Now I don't when or exactly how they will attempt a rescue but at least we know one is coming." Fontaine announced. "That's great! When will we know more? Any ideas?" Min-jung asked in a mixture of disappointment and excitement. She was still disappointed in Fontaine for what happened earlier and being so oblivious to Hyuna after all the effort she had put into presenting her. Even so, it was hard to contain the excitement of knowing that they could soon be headed someplace safer, more comfortable and generally better. "I've left instructions for them to signal us when they return. All I have to do is go up on the rooftop or outside and around the corner every now and again to check. Once they return we will rendezvous with them at the battle site and go from there. Again I have no idea how long it will take them to organize a rescue party, I'm sure the Army's got a lot on its plate right now, so we may be here for a while longer." Fontaine explained. Min-jung's disappointment grew, just when she thought she wouldn't have to go another day without a real bath or a hot meal the good news proved too good to be true. "That's fine. We're well stocked here to hold out for however long it takes. I kind of like it here anyways." Hyuna said with a smile leaning her head sideways towards Fontaine. "Oh yeah, I just forgot." Fontaine spoke up while reaching into one of his pants pockets. "Do-yeon, I got these for you. It's to apologize for getting you into trouble earlier." Fontaine said as he took two packs of Pokémon cards out and tossed them to Do-yeon. "It's fine, really. Just don't do it again." Min-jung interjected. "I'll try not to. He's your son and I'm not going to get between you and how you want to raise him. I got the two of you something too while I was out." Fontaine said. He took out a small vial of perfume and some assorted gold jewelry, rings and bracelets and things out and handed them to Hyuna. "I saw these on my way back and was surprised the looters didn't take them the first night. Figured ya'll might want something fancy so take your pick." Fontaine said. Hyuna blushed and started looking through what Jake had given her. "That's fine, she can keep it." Min-jung said. It was cheap knock of brands and not the high end designers she liked, was barely worth the gold it was made from, besides it would make a better accidental romantic gift for Hyuna than a meaningless gift for the both of them. "Really? Thanks." Hyuna said. "Glad you thought of me." Hyuna giggled looking back over at Fontaine. "Why of course I did." Fontaine replied. "Now since we might be here awhile we might as well start making this place feel like home. I'm going to go on another run this afternoon so if there's anything you need write it down and I'll try to pick it up." Fontaine announced. Each of them received the new optimism differently. Min-jung couldn't want to be out of this place and get on with her life, though she was grateful to Fontaine and Hyuna for helping her out of a much worse situation. Do-yeon was looking forward to having more things to do, and other kids to do them with. He was bored trying to make do with what they had in a hotel room with no power. He couldn't even watch TV or play video games, how lame was that? Stupid aliens, why did they have to go and mess everything up? Hyuna was the only one that wasn't so enthused about their impending rescue. Now that there was a glimmer of hope to being rescued and picking up where each of them left off that meant once again she had to think about Jake parting ways with her. She would be carted off to some refugee shelter while he would go on to join the war effort, a war effort that could very well claim his life. Being separated from Jake was something she truly and deeply did not want, and losing him completely to this pointless war was something she couldn't stand. If only she could find the right way to tell him these things.


	18. Chapter 18: Scars

Chapter XVIII: Scars

6 Oct 1629 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Ji-hye and Williams were getting close to the police station. Enemy patrols had been stepped up since they left the munitions plant forcing them to take it slow on their way back. The two of them hadn't spoken the entire drive back. Tae-won's death was still too fresh in their minds. Though Ji-hye did not know the man as well as Williams did she had watched every minute of his gruesome death and it got to her. Her time on the police force had not made her insensitive to such tragedy. Incheon was not a particularly violent city, most of her investigations in the world before were for burglaries, graffiti, vandalism and the like. She had only once been assigned to a murder during her time as a detective. That murder was a rather clean affair compared to what she had witnessed, a jealous wife poisoning her husband for perceived infidelity. Williams on the other hand was still shaken up, the guilt for his cowardly actions only added to his constant worries about the state of affairs back home. He was a nervous wreck. Everything was just getting to him so much more than it should. It was more than just survivor's guilt, he felt directly responsible for everyone that died, that he should have been able to protect. Pederson, Carter, Tae-won, Vargas and Fontaine presumably, his family back home, he let them all down. He wasn't the soldier he had signed up to be. Upon self-examination he determined that if he would've been assigned to a combat theater after infantry school he would've been one of the guys who cracked early on. He probably would have been sent home shamefully, being a liability in a front line combat role. At this moment he truly despised himself for what he had demonstrated his character to be. As the jeep approached the final turn towards the police station they noticed the fresh plume of smoke where there shouldn't have been one.

The jeep turned down the corner to the police station and saw the smoke drifting out of the front door that had been blasted apart. On the street were the bodies of several harnessed kids among the shattered glass, shell casings and debris. The abandoned vehicles had been shot apart and were in sad shape. Ji-hye parked the jeep on the street and she and Williams entered the station cautiously with guns drawn. Inside the hallways and lobby were filled with bodies, Inspector Vong, almost all the officers, several harnessed kids and a few civilians. Williams ran down into the prison, stumbling over a few more of the slain as he went down the stairs. Ji-hye followed him. In the prison they found more slain civilians on their way out and the bodies of many of the prisoners shot up inside their cells. Some of the prison cells had been opened and the bodies of the inmates that had been stuffed inside weren't all accounted for either. The scene looked like they were in the middle of an evacuation that had been not been quick enough to succeed. Again Williams mind went dark. If they had made it back sooner they could've stopped this from happening. At least they could have given the people here some extra time to escape. Williams dropped to his knees and placed his shotgun on his chin. Ji-hye saw immediately what was going on. She ran at Williams and tackled him to the ground, wresting the shotgun from his hands before he could place his finger on the trigger. She pulled his upper body up with ease despite Williams being a large framed individual. She got around in front of him and looked him sternly in his bloodshot eyes. "Don't you dare!" she snapped in a commanding voice and proceeded to slap him across the face. She stood up and got back then went over and took the shotgun off the ground. She wasn't going to allow him to have a gun while he was in this state. "Let's get what we can salvage from here and get going. Looks like at least some people made it out alive." Ji-hye told him. She waited until Williams finally got up and they went upstairs. She kept a close eye on him as they gathered up what ammunition and food there was in the station and took it back to the jeep. Ji-hye took an extra shotgun and pistol along with a couple canisters of tear gas and stuffed them in the back seat of the jeep. Williams carried the food, water and a pair of gas masks. Lastly Ji-hye went back into the station and donned a suit of police tactical armor before following Williams back to the jeep. "Sit down in front." she ordered him. Williams got in and sat in the passenger seat. He stared blankly out in front of him while Ji-hye went around the front of the vehicle and got into the driver's seat. "We're going to find them. After that we might as well continue on your mission and head north." Ji-hye told him as she buckled up and started the jeep. She looked over at Williams still blankly gazing off into nothingness. She reached over and turned his face towards her gently, yet forcefully. "Listen. I'm as shook up about what happened as you are. It won't bring anyone back if you go and off yourself. The best thing we can do is to honor their memories by going on and living in a way that would make them proud of us. Tae-won gave his life to protect us. He could've cried out for us to save him and where would we be then? Our heads would be rolling around on the cold concrete next to his and his death would be in vain. We're going to complete his mission. We'll head north and bring back reinforcements to your brothers in arms back in Seongnam. You have my word." Ji-hye told him sternly. The strength in her gaze was strong enough to move Williams to at least want to try and hold on to the will to live. In the end he would have to want it himself in order to sustain the drive to keep pushing on. Right now he just wasn't strong enough. Ji-hye backed up the jeep and turned around. They then proceeded on to find any survivors of the attack on the police station before they intended to turn north towards Bucheon, the river and beyond


	19. Chapter 19: A Piece of the Fallen Sky

Chapter XIX: A Piece of the Fallen Sky

6 Oct 1838 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Williams and Ji-hye headed north combing the streets for survivors from the police station. So far they had no luck. The streets of Incheon seemed even more devoid of human life than they did yesterday following the evacuation. Dong Zhao must have pulled all his thugs in close and left the city patrols to the mecha units. As they traveled north close to the western edge of Bucheon they saw the wing of a commercial airliner in the parking lot of a manufacturing facility for computer hardware components. Further away to the west amidst several other tech firms and offices was the rest of the plane. "Looks like it was heading for Incheon International when the avionics were fried. Tried to land way too soon." Ji-hye commented. Williams was still silent, still disturbed by his own thoughts. Ji-hye pretended not to notice but still kept close watch on him in case he snapped. The gas gauge on the jeep was starting to near empty. "Keep an eye open for any gas stations. We're going to need to fuel up soon." Ji-hye said. Still no response from Williams. Some help he is, Ji-hye thought. She knew he was going through some things and if this is how he was going to deal with it that was fine. So long as he didn't blow his brains out or blow her brains he could have his time to be like this. Hopefully he would eventually get himself back together. Ji-hye sighted a gas station off one of the major highways and drove towards it. She pulled into the station and went up to one of the pumps opposite of a maroon pickup truck with a white Nissan sentra behind it. "You know how to siphon gas?" Ji-hye asked Williams. "You think just because I'm black I know how to steal gas? Fuck that shit. I am so sick of this bullshit!" Williams roared at her. It wasn't sarcasm this time, it was genuine rage. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm not American so I don't know those stereotypes. I was just asking if you would like to help out." Ji-hye calmly replied. Williams was losing it, the walls between reason and madness in his mind were coming down at the moment, any little thing could potentially set him off. Ji-hye was best just not to speak to him right now. "Get your own fucking gas, bitch. Damn Chinese and their fucking stereotypes." Williams growled as he faced back forward in his seat. Ji-hye wasn't even going to make mention of the Chinese comment. Let him get it all out, she reasoned. Ji-hye managed to fill up the tank without Williams' help while he sat lost in himself in the passenger's seat.

When Ji-hye was walking back to the driver's side door after hanging up the pump a raving drunk in a fur lined aviators jacket and slightly soiled slacks came running towards her, stumbling and flailing a bottle of expensive Russian vodka. He had a thick five o' clock shadow and thin hair with a receding hairline. He looked to be in his late 30s or early 40s with a very haggard appearance about him. She stood in the door to the jeep and watched. The man didn't come off as hostile, more like he needed help. His words were badly slurred and he shifted between terrible English and Russian in mid-sentence. "Miss Г-жа полиции леди вы видели мой самолёт?" the man asked. "What? Come again?" asked Ji-hye. "Polishe Lady, Видели ли вы мое plane?" he asked again leaning against another gas pump. "What plane? The crashed one back there?" Ji-hye inquired. "Нет не в том, что плоскости, the plane I приземлился в реку Хан" the man slurred and sloshed back then took a swig of his vodka. "She doesn't speak Ukrainian asshole! Talk where she can motherfucking understand you! And put that motherfucking Vodka down! I think you've had enough!" Williams shouted as he got out of the jeep and slammed the door behind him. For someone that got so pissed off over stereotypes he sure was pulling off a textbook Samuel L. Jackson. "Он not Ukrainian Он Russki you Дэнди пропущенный, гайка гудение Congolese prick!" the drunken man shouted back. Oh now he's done it thought Ji-hye. Williams went up to the man. "What the fuck you say?!" he shouted and promptly decked the man in the nose. The man staggered back and regained his balance from a vicious punch. "Да, то, что как это будет прошлой неделе? Он затем!" the drunken man shouted and tackled Williams, pushing him up against another fuel island. Williams gripped the man by the collar and tossed him off of him. The man stumbled back and nearly fell over but he caught himself and stood back up. "English motherfucker! Can you speak it?!" Williams shouted. Oh no he did not just say that, Ji-hye thought as she couldn't contain an outburst of laughter. "I said, is this how it is going to be asshole? Then bring it!" the drunk shouted back and charged Williams once again. Williams pounded his assailant on the back as the drunken man went to head butt him in the stomach. In response the drunk uppercutted Williams in the crotch. "You think with elephant dick for brain, see how you can't protect your families jewels" the man slurred as he clocked Williams across the jaw while he was stunned. Williams retaliated with a series of gut punches and tackled the drunk to the ground. The drunk smashed the bottle of vodka across the side of Williams' face. "Look at this! You made me spill my vodka!" the drunk screamed in rage. Williams, dripping blood down onto the man's face gripped the hand of the man holding the vodka tightly until he relinquished his grip. They rolled over and away from the bottle and now the drunk was on top. Williams flipped the drunken man backwards and got back on top of him. The two of them exchanged blows and holds until Williams clearly had the upper hand. Williams repeatedly slammed the man's head onto the concrete and dealt punishing punches to his face. Unwilling to see this go on any longer and allow the man to be killed Ji-hye retrieved a shotgun, aimed it up and away from all of them and fired. "That's enough both of you!" Ji-hye screamed. The deafening blast froze the two men in the midst of their brawl. "Stand up and get away from each other!" Ji-hye demanded while pointing the gun back and forth between the two. "Now Williams, I know you've been through a lot today but you need to calm the fuck down before I leave you here to your own devices." Ji-hye forcefully yet calmly told Williams. The drunken man began to approach her. "Get back!" she shouted pointing the gun at the drunk. "Now you, apologize for being a racist piece of shit." she commanded. "I am a sorry mister. You not have giant dick." the drunk apologized mockingly. "Not that shit! Apologize for real or so help me you'll wish I had let him break your skull open!" Ji-hye insisted. "I am sorry. Don't mean any hurtful things. I have much Vodka to day or not enough in morning. One of those." the man forced out a half hearted apology. "That's better. Now explain yourself, you were talking about a plane? Remember we're not in Russia so speak in a manner that we can understand you." Ji-hye interrogated the man. "I saying that I landed plane in Han river. I am pilot. I crash land. I find good vodka. I get drunk, or as you say crunk. I go and look for my plane and not find. Have you seen plane?" the man replied. "This guy is too wasted. Williams can you get the heavy duty zip ties out of the back and tie that guy up. We'll take him over to that elementary school back down the road a bit and let him sleep it off." Ji-hye instructed him. "Why don't we just leave him here?" asked Williams. "He's a pilot. He might be of some use to us later. Maybe when there's more blood in his alcohol stream he might not be as much of an asshole." Ji-hye explained. Williams went to get the zip ties while Ji-hye turned the gun on the drunken pilot. "No we are going to have to restrain you for our protection and yours. After that display we just saw I hope you understand." Ji-hye told the pilot. "All right I understands. Take me to dungeon police lady." the pilot replied then got down on his knees with his hands behind his back and waited until Williams restrained him. "Can you walk him to that school? It's not too far away I just don't want him in the jeep with the guns." Ji-hye asked Williams. "Yeah I saw it back there. Nothing like a good sweat to get the vodka out eh fella? Gives us some time to have a little chat about a few things they might not teach you back in mother Russia." Williams replied. Ji-hye then got in the jeep and left for the school while Williams and the pilot followed her on foot.

Fortunately they didn't come across any mech patrols on their way to the school. It was dark now and settling down would be their best bet even if they hadn't stumbled into the pilot. Ji-hye parked the jeep inconspicuously next to two other cars that had been abandoned in the parking lot close to the school. There was a window to an upstairs classroom looking out directly at the jeep as well so they could maintain surveillance through the night. She gathered what equipment she could and buried the rest under an oily blanket on the floorboard of the jeep. Williams and the pilot met Ji-hye as she was locking up the jeep. Ji-hye offered Williams a shotgun and a flashlight. "Can I trust you with this?" she asked sincerely. "Yeah. I'm feeling a little better after smacking this fool around." Williams replied. "Alright. Don't make me regret this." Ji-hye said and handed Williams the gun. They then went inside the school, cautiously checking around every corner. Williams led the way while Ji-hye covered his back and sides as well as kept an eye on their bumbling prisoner. "Let's go to cafeteria. I want food now. Big hearty stew or lamb and goat cheese sandwich." the pilot spoke up unaware of the loudness of his voice. "Shhh... shut up." Ji-hye admonished him. "What you shushing me lady? Is not library." the pilot continued. "Shut. Up." Ji-hye sternly admonished the pilot. Before the pilot could say another word Ji-hye held up her hand as if to slap him and he stopped. Going through a hallway the drunken pilot ran into an open locker door that hit his head hard. "Stupid Japan school boy close your door!" the drunk yelled and slammed the locker. Ji-hye sighed then turned back and glared at the pilot with eyes that could burn right through him. If there was anyone or anything in here that guy surely had given away their position by now. Fortunately the school was completely empty and they made their way upstairs to the classroom overlooking where they had parked. It was the music classroom for the younger children. There was a raised carpeted area in the front of the room where the teacher's desk and a stand for reading sheet music was. Behind the desk were a large dry erase board and a filing cabinet next to a smaller desk with a computer. There was an open area in the room between the raised stage and the rows of desks in the back making this classroom one of the larger ones in the building. Williams took the pilot back to one of the desks sat him down and told him to stay quiet. Ji-hye came in last and locked the door. Outside their shone a spotlight onto the school parking lot as the now familiar moan of a mech resounded into the night. Ji-hye got down and Williams got behind the pilot and put his hand on the pilot's mouth preventing him from making a noise. The mech continued on its rounds and passed them by. A few minutes later Ji-hye got up off the ground and Williams released the pilot. Williams took a few more zip ties out of his pocket bound the pilot's ankles to the legs of the desk and cut the bonds on the pilot's hands. "We'll get something to eat in the morning. It's too dark right now and we don't know what's lurking around out there." Ji-hye told the pilot. "What if I need to toilet?" the pilot asked. Williams set a half empty water bottle down on the desk next to him. "There you go." Williams told him. "What about the poo?" asked the pilot. "Hold it. Or you can change your skivvies in the morning." Williams coldly replied. "You hat ass." the pilot grumbled as Williams went over to Ji-hye in the front of the room who was busy setting down and putting away what she had managed to bring in. "Does he know it's supposed to be asshat not hat ass? English isn't even my first language and I get that." Ji-hye whispered to Williams. "Probably not, half the shit he says in Russian probably doesn't make any sense either." Williams whispered back. Ji-hye laughed a little under her breath while she put the bullets in her pockets into a small cardboard box under the desk that used to hold ink cartridges. "Seriously, like when you two were fighting some of the stuff he said, like I know he was trying to be a racist jackass and all but some of what he said didn't make a lick of sense." Ji-hye softly said as she put away the box. "If he's this drunk when he flies planes no wonder he landed in the river." Williams mocked the pilot quietly to Ji-hye. "That's assuming he actually does fly planes. He could just be some scam artist pretending to need help only to turn around and steal our vehicle and supplies." Ji-hye postulated as she stood up. "I'm inclined to believe him, in spite of his attitude. Why else would a looney Russian dude be walking around here?" Williams replied inquisitively. "Incheon is an international city; we get people from all over the world here." Ji-hye answered. "Might as well give him the benefit of the doubt though. Tomorrow we'll have him take us to wherever the passengers from his plane evacuated to. If he's telling the truth some of them should be able to vouch for him not to mention we'll be part of a larger group. The more people we have in this the more likely we are to survive it." Ji-hye said. "That's the plan then. Well, I'll take the first watch. You should probably rest while you have the chance." Williams said. Ji-hye nodded. "Alright then. Just try to keep your cool tonight. I want you and the other guy still breathing in the morning." Ji-hye said before she laid down on the stage carpet behind the desk. Using her knapsack rolled up with a couple spare pairs of socks in it as a pillow Ji-hye curled up and went to sleep.

Williams headed back and sat down two desks over from the pilot. He wasn't able to sleep, still had too much on his mind. Although his emotions were now in check he still couldn't get the thoughts that haunted him out of his head. So Williams decided to pass the time by striking up a conversation with the pilot. "Now so you don't go calling me Biggie Smalls and shit we might as well get to know each other on a first name basis. My name is Jesse Williams and I'm from New Jersey not Zimbabwe." Williams introduced himself to the pilot. "Leonid Petrikovich. So you like Jersey Shore then?" the pilot asked. "Fuck no." Williams replied. "Good. Good. So are you like police lady's prisoner? She take you from jail and you on run together?" Petrikovich asked. Williams knew full well that Petrikovich was making another racist assumption there. At least when he snapped at Ji-hye earlier she didn't mean it in that way. Williams decided to let it go, it wasn't like him to rip into people like that. It was more because that kind of stuff was what Carter used to mess with him about. He was always ripping on Williams for being such a by the book nerd and supposedly not being "black" enough. If it wasn't for Carter's ghost metaphorically haunting him Williams really wouldn't care, he always would prove himself by the caliber of his actions, not what some idiot defined him as. Now in spite of the fact he had actually been locked up by Ji-hye he wasn't going to feed into this guy's false narrative. "No actually I'm with the US Army. We are working together to try and recruit people to fight the aliens." Williams told him. "Oh, you mean the stinking roaches? I see one before I find Vodka. Roach comes at me all roachy like and picks me up. I punch but roach bites hand so I grab roach on neck from inside. Roach pass out and I get let go. To be sure I take shovel and make roach brain into pancake." Petrikovich told him. "Roaches eh? I guess everyone has their own name for them. I hadn't actually put much thought into it myself. Just called them the aliens." Williams said. "No, sounds too clean. Roaches dirty. Roaches ugly. Need dirty name that is ugly too." Petrikovich said. "Roaches, Cock-a-roaches, whatever works." Williams remarked. "You know what?" Petrikovich said shifting his voice to a more somber tone. "When I was growing up back in Old Soviet Union days, they tell us only that that would survive nuclear war would be roaches. We never have nuclear war and we get roaches anyways. Big nasty roaches from moon even." Petrikovich reminisced. "I think when man build bomb to kill man why not build bigger bomb to kill roach. That just me. I not make these decisions." Petrikovich continued. "I sure hope we no see roaches when we..." Petrikovich started to say but then dozed off with drool already dripping from his open mouth. The vodka had finally caught up with him all the way. Best make sure he doesn't choke on his own vomit while he sleeps thought Williams as he assumed a new duty for the watch. He got up and checked the window and the door, then sat down below the window and leaned up against the wall. There were no distractions now. He was alone with his thoughts til Ji-hye got up to relieve him. It would be a long night.


	20. Chapter 20: Flight 1437

Chapter XX: Flight 1437

7 Oct 0651 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Ji-hye gently shook Williams on the shoulder to wake him. Williams groaned and shook his head then slowly opened his eyes, squinting from the sunlight shining into the classroom. "Rise and shine sleepyhead." Ji-hye greeted him. Williams rubbed his eyes and looked up at her. "So I actually did fall asleep?" Williams asked. "Yes, and you were talking in your sleep all night. In fact you were only quiet when you were awake." Ji-hye told him. "Sorry. What the heck was I saying?" Williams asked. "A bunch of jibberish mostly." Ji-hye lied. She didn't want to bring up the topic of his nightmares and stir up that mental mess with him again. "Really I'm sorry I had no idea." Williams apologized and sat up in the desk he had fallen asleep in. "No worries, you didn't draw any attention to us. The robots just made their usual passes every hour and went on their merry way." Ji-hye explained. "What about our new friend?" Williams asked. "See for yourself." Ji-hye told him while pointing over at Petrikovich. Williams turned to see Petrikovich slumped over the desk with his tongue flopped out like a dog, his face lying in a pool of his own sticky saliva. "I bet he'll be feeling it today." Williams remarked. Ji-hye grabbed Williams a bottle of water from under the teacher's desk in the front of the room and handed it to Williams. "Let him sleep for now. You thing you'll be alright for a minute while I go check out the cafeteria and see if I can find us some breakfast?" Ji-hye asked. "Yeah I'm good." Williams replied.

About thirty minutes later Ji-hye returned with a couple gallon jugs of water and a plastic bag filled with pudding cups, packaged cookies and Jell-O fruit cups. "Sorry, this is all I could find. Without refrigeration for 2 days most of the meats and veggies have started to go bad. Someone's already snatched up all the bread, canned goods and rice and I wouldn't even want to check any of the milk that's down there. I could have brought you powdered eggs but ehh.." Ji-hye said apologetically while setting down the bag on Williams' desk and then placing the water jugs on another adjacent desk. Williams rifled through the bag and took out two Jell-O fruit cups and a plastic spoon. "That's alright. It's always a good time fo O." Williams said with a grin. The sound of the rustling plastic bag woke Petrikovich from his slumber. "What? What? Is it dinner already?" Petrikovich said in a hoarse voice. Ji-hye filled up one of the empty water bottles from one of the jugs and handed it to Petrikovich then gave him a pudding cup and a cookie. "It's breakfast, and here you are." Ji-hye said. Petrikovich took a gulp of the water, wished it around in his mouth and spit it out. "What is this shit?!" he exclaimed. "I am wanting some of your James Dean whisky this morning. "Do you ever stop drinking? I thought you had enough last night?" Williams asked in astonishment. If he had been that sloshed he would've woken up with a brutal hangover the next day and wouldn't even be able to look at a beer he supposed. I guess what they say about the Russians and alcohol was true, at least for this guy. "..And besides its Jim Beam bourbon." Williams corrected Petrikovich. "Close enough. Could use a bit though, it helps me think" Petrikovich replied. Petrikovich took another drink of water and this time swallowed it before opening his pudding. "Tell you what? I make feast of can of spam when we get back to people from my plane." Petrikovich offered after taking his first bite. "So you're going to take us there?" Ji-hye asked surprised that he even knew where they were, if they even existed, after asking all over about his long lost plane last night. "Yes, yes. I tell them to wait under bridge by hardware store and gas station. They have can of spam there." Petrikovich answered. "You think we should check it out? He might be leading us into a trap." Ji-hye leaned over and whispered to Williams. "I think it's worth a look. Besides we have him as a hostage in case anything goes awry." Williams whispered back. "Why you so quiet over there. Go ahead and kiss already!" Petrikovich interjected at the conversation that was inaudible to him. "I'm not like that. I got a girl back home." Williams replied. "Back home probably big hole in ground. Smolensk probably big hole in ground too." Petrikovich laughed. He did not just go there, Ji-hye thought, after Williams had finally come back to his sense you've got to go pushing that button. She waited for the reaction from Williams but thankfully he kept his cool. "Ah, I admire your chivalry though. That's impressive these days." Petrikovich said. "Chivalry's not dead sir. I'll drink to that." Williams said and toasted Petrikovich with their water bottles. "So after breakfast I take you to meet lovely crew of flight 1437 yes?" Petrikovich asked. "That's the idea." Ji-hye replied.

7 Oct 1209 KST

Gangseo District, Seoul, South Korea

Later on Petrikovich took Ji-hye and Williams to meet the passengers and crew of his plane. Being unfamiliar with the area as well as having a foggy memory of the night before, Petrikovich had been leading them aimlessly around in the general direction that he had come from. This did not help Ji-hye's suspicion that Petrikovich was making up the whole story about the plane. They parked and hid the jeep after reaching the general area Petrikovich claimed his people were hiding in. This was because Ji-hye didn't want to risk their transportation and supplies being taken if Petrikovich was leading them into a trap. Already they had set out on foot five times and found nothing. Now, on the sixth try, the group was nearing the Han river in a desolate area filled with badly damaged structures and many collapsed bridges and overpasses. There were fewer mech patrols here than there were in Incheon and Bucheon where the damage was not as severe. There were almost no undamaged structures here and not far to the east of the group there were hardly any structures left standing at all. . Despite having to hide from a few bands of roving skitters and mechs throughout the morning Petrikovich's hands were left bound together. It had not gotten bad enough that they were compelled to release him "Do you even know where you are going?" asked a frustrated Williams. "Of course. Be patience. It is hardware store near to gas station under big bridge. Is this way." Petrikovich replied as he led them under a partially collapsed overpass. He then stopped, turned back around and went the other way. "No wait, is this way." Petrikovich said before taking another turn to the north. "We are getting close I know it." Petrikovich claimed after another series of wrong turns. Ji-hye looked over at Williams as they walked at a distance behind Petrikovich. She was about ready to call it quits. "Admit it, you're totally lost." Williams remarked. "I not lost. It all look different than before. If you had let me get whisky first I could find place easier." complained Petrikovich. Ji-hye shrugged. Petrikovich clearly had no idea where they were going. Before they turned their back on him and left the sound of an explosion thundered behind them. "That was close by." Ji-hye whispered. "It came from the west." Williams added. Ji-hye turned and faced in the direction of the explosion and saw a faint puff of smoke rising behind a halfway collapsed building and a pile of concrete and rubble. Ji-hye drew her weapon and held it at the ready while Williams got behind Petrikovich and turned him around. "Is nothing. Probably that Middle Eastern kid. He is good with hands, and shifty eyed. We watch him closely on plane." Petrikovich rambled, completely unconcerned with the explosion. Williams didn't know if Petrikovich was talking about a real person or just tossing out another stereotypical assumption. Williams prodded Petrikovich along as they stealthily made their way in the direction of the explosion. They went down a road leading to an underpass next to a minor waterway. In between a narrow path between two large piles of rubble were the smoldering carcasses of two skitters. "Toasty roaches that's all." Petrikovich exclaimed. "Be quiet you idiot." Ji-hye scolded him. She went ahead and examined the bodies of the skitters and the area around them. Their bodies were scorched on opposite sides though it wasn't the burns that killed them. Upon closer examination Ji-hye found a number of nails lodged into the skitters. The nails burrowed into their flesh at varying depths. Their armor was scratched in several places as well and an assortment of nails were also lying all over the ground and in the rubble. On two points on either side of the narrow path there were scorch marks extending radially from where the bombs that had killed the skitters had been placed. She then found the trip wire that the aliens had triggered and carefully examined the area to make sure there wasn't another one. "Someone set up nail bombs here; probably to guard against these things." Ji-hye stated the obvious. "See. Then we are close to my people." Petrikovich said. "There's bound to be more traps under that bridge we're going to have to go the long way around." Ji-hye turned back and told Williams and Petrikovich. "Or we can send this guy in ahead of us to...disarm them?" Williams said jokingly, however Petrikovich did not get the joke. "No, no we won't do that. Come on around and keep him back. I don't want to set off anything." Ji-hye told Williams. The group circled around and came back on the other side of the underpass, carefully keeping their eyes open for booby traps. As they came around the back of a gas station Ji-hye spotted a trip wire and guided the other two safely over it. They were now looking straight at a hardware store close to the banks of the Han river. "Is that it?" Ji-hye asked. "Is hardware store. Let me go speak to them." Petrikovich replied. "Williams, take him but don't let him get away." Ji-hye said. Williams took out a pistol and put it against Petrikovich's lower back. "No need to be like that. We friends now." Petrikovich remarked. "Let's go." Williams said, ignoring Petrikovich and nudging him forward. The two of them started off towards the front door of the hardware store.

"I am back guys! Open up!" Petrikovich shouted as he had Williams stood a few yards outside the front door of the hardware store. Ji-hye remained across the street at the gas station. There was no response as Petrikovich called out several times. "Well I guess we just walk inside now. Ready?" Williams said. "That would be a little difficult.." spoke a voice coming from around the right side of the building. "You see we've set up a little barricade and everyone inside is still a little jittery. Wouldn't want to catch a crowbar to the side of the face now would you?" said a man wielding a Makarov pistol as he stepped into view and walked around to the front of the store. He was a tall, slim clean shaven man in his late 20s dressed in a pilot's uniform with slick black hair. He spoke in a thick Russian accent though he had a far better command of the English language than Petrikovich did. Ji-hye trained her weapon on the man in case he became hostile. The man didn't seem tense, probably because there were others covering him. However his weapon was drawn so enough of a threat was presented for Ji-hye to be concerned. "Leonid you son of a bitch what have you got yourself into?" derisively asked the man as he turned his attention to Petrikovich. "Let me guess, he was drunk wasn't he?" the man asked Williams. "That's an understatement." Williams replied. "Should've known. I told you I should have been the one to go look for help." the man said. "I do fine. I bring back help, see?" Petrikovich retorted. "Two days later. We had almost given up on you." Sergei replied. "You sure two days? Felt like one to me." Petrikovich remarked. "Easy mistake to make for you fella." Sergei laughed as he stopped in front of the front door. "I hope he didn't cause too much trouble for you." Sergei smiled with a lighthearted apology. "I'll take you inside if you want, unless of course you want to stand out here and attract insects." Sergei offered. Williams looked back at Ji-hye. She motioned by cocking her head up and slightly to the side that it was ok to go with him. "Alright." Williams accepted. "Your lady friend can come with us if she'd like." said Sergei as Williams and Petrikovich approached him. "She would rather stay out here for now." Williams told Sergei. "Oh well, alright then come with me." Sergei responded. Sergei led Williams and Petrikovich around to the back of the hardware store to a small blue door by the unloading dock.

Williams entered the hardware store to find the rest of the survivors of Flight 1437 holed up inside. The single back door was the only entrance into the store. The roll down dock door was closed, locked and further reinforced with rusted lengths of rebar. The front door and windows were barricaded by a row of 2 by 2's and dowel rods sharpened into pikes and mounted diagonally into a foundation of cement, cinderblocks and barrels. As for the passengers and crew themselves they were a motley bunch. For many of them this was a connecting flight. There were several Russians and Koreans of course but also a number of Filipinos and Japanese persons, two Chinese men, a German man, two British women, a middle aged Turkish couple, an aboriginal Australian family of five, a Frenchman, a young bearded Syrian man, and a single American woman. Along with the flight crew there were 47 people in all taking refuge in the hardware store. Many were armed with hammers, axes, sharpened sticks, pipes, crowbars and other tools. Aside from the co-pilot however there was only one other person carrying a gun, Grigor Stepanov, an FSB agent that had been assigned to this flight. Seeing that he was telling the truth, Williams felt convinced enough to release Petrikovich. He holstered his gun and took out his knife and cut Petrikovich's bonds. He was taking a big leap of faith here but he hoped this act of good faith would resonate with the survivors of the flight. "Ladies and gentlemen, help has arrived!" announced Sergei. Williams stepped away from Petrikovich and looked over all the people staring at him. Many of them soon returned to what they were doing before shortly but a few keep staring at him with apprehension. The head flight attendant, Yulia Konstantinov along with another young man and woman came up to Sergei and Petrikovich and spoke with them in Russian. Petrikovich then walked away with Sergei and the flight attendants. The lone American among them quickly recognized the US Army uniform Williams was wearing and approached her fellow countryman. She was in her mid to late 30s, slender with long straight red hair. She wore khaki pants, a white knit shirt and a vintage brown jacket. She had press credentials draped around her neck hanging down at roughly chest level. "Hello there, Private. Melissa Lonaghan, Rolling Stone." the woman introduced herself, holding her hand out expecting a handshake. "PFC Jesse Williams, Ma'am." Williams introduced himself and shook her hand. "Never thought I'd find another American around these parts that wasn't a soldier." Williams remarked. "I was coming back from an assignment in Moscow. Russian punk rock and it's relation to the lesbian community, its impact on society and culture in the region and beyond." Melissa explained. "Real hard hitting stuff." Williams laughed sarcastically. Even in the world as it was before he would've thought something like that masquerading as serious news was ridiculous with all the war, crime, political corruption, rampant poverty and disease in the world. He didn't really have an opinion on such subjects one way or the other; he just didn't think they were anywhere near as important as the media made them out to be. "Don't laugh, people care about that stuff. If they didn't they wouldn't be buying the magazine." Melissa replied. "Fair enough, I guess it's not the teenagers ogling the new hot rock band that's driving sales is it? I'm just messing with you." Williams joked. "..and I didn't mean all the stuff I said about the Army in my articles." Melissa said. "I never read them, so we're good." Williams said. "So you're here to rescue us then? How many of you are there?" Melissa asked. "Not exactly. We got separated from our group while on a run. We found your pilot when we were out looking for them and were taking him back." Williams told her. "He might be the pilot but Mr. Kaverin, the co-pilot is the one calling the shots. Well him and Grigor that is. Should've known there would be no help coming." Melissa responded. "Is that Grigor over there?" interrupted Williams pointing to the FSB agent heading to the employee breakroom door. Melissa turned and looked over where Williams was pointing. "Yeah that's him." she answered. "Would you mind if I go had a word with him for a minute? If he's the leader here, it'd probably a good idea." Williams asked. "Fine. I'll see you around you later on." Melissa excused herself. Williams followed after Grigor and went into the employee breakroom.

Inside the breakroom there were several sections of PVC pipe, paint cans, duck tape and a few boxes of nails laid out on the lunch table. Next to the table were several bags of fertilizer containing high levels of ammonium nitrate and a couple of gas jugs filled with diesel fuel from the nearby gas station. There were a number of IED's stacked up on the countertop next to the sink along with a homemade mortar tube. There were jugs of bleach, bottles of cleaning supplies and industrial chemicals along with canisters of refrigerant also set out on the countertop. Grigor turned towards Williams the moment he got in. "So you're the backup Petrikovich brought back." Grigor said. "Something like that. I see you're doing just fine by yourself here though." Williams commented after he closed the door behind him. "A hardware store is basically the poor man's armory. That's one thing among many I've learned during my time in Chechnya." said Grigor. "So you're military too?" asked Williams as he examined the weapons and devices that they had built. "Not exactly, Russian Security Services." Grigor replied. "I was on the flight to keep tabs on a certain passenger. The Syrian guy with the beard and the loose fitting clothes, we had kept a file on him. Sometime over the last seven months we believe he had made certain associations with known terrorist organizations. Was expecting him to do something on the flight and I would be there to take him down." Grigor explained. Williams went over to the fridge and found it empty, then to countertop by the sink and looked at more of what they had. "Word of advice, keep close watch on that guy and don't turn your back on him. Your type, American GI, he would likely want to kill." Grigor warned him. "Advice taken." Williams replied. So Petrikovich really was telling the truth, they did have an experienced bomb maker from the Mideast among them who aroused enough suspicion to have an FSB agent shadowing him. Williams reached over and picked up a pair of plastic bottles bound together as the door opened. "Be careful with that!" an unfamiliar voice shouted. Williams turned around to find the Syrian man in the doorway. "Homemade napalm, very volatile." the man explained. Williams gently set the bottle down and walked away from the counter. "Hamza, don't mind our guest. You may begin when ready." Grigor told the man. Williams walked over besides Grigor as he watched Hamza assemble explosive devices out of the materials they had available. "Hamza was a member of the Free Syrian Army until seven months ago when he disappeared off our radar for a while." Grigor whispered to Williams explaining where Hamza had learned his bomb making skills. Williams just nodded ever so slightly not to arouse suspicion. Hamza didn't hear or notice them. He was busy building improvised weaponry to use against the alien invaders. Williams watched him closely. He had never gone to Iraq or Afghanistan, US forces had mostly pulled out of those theaters by the time he had finished infantry school. It was true that under different circumstances at a different time or place he and Hamza would be arch enemies. Hamza had no love for America or the West, though his reasoning would be quite different than what Williams would have generally assumed for his animus. It wouldn't have taken much for the two of them to have been on opposite sides of the battlefield. For the moment though they would have to learn to coexist on the same side of an entirely new battlefield.


	21. Chapter 21: Broken Spear

Chapter XXI: Broken Spear

Seongnam, South Korea

6 Oct 1945 KST

Vargas awoke lying flat on his back on the fragments of the floor that collapsed beneath him when the mech fired upon his hiding place. His vision was blurry and there still was dust floating around in the air here. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, it was midday last he remembered and now the vermillion sky that followed the setting of the sun shone in through the gaping holes in the collapsed structure. His body was sore and his joints ached tremendously. How many floors had he fallen down he wondered. He felt the sting of scrapes and bruises all over his skin. He felt a massive square support pillar maybe an inch or two above his upper abdomen. The support pillar was wedged between the floor and a pile of thick rubble fragments. It was a miracle he was still alive. "I guess God still wants to keep me around down here." Vargas groaned softly. The first thing he needed to do was get out from under this pillar. The rubble supporting it could give way at any time. He wiggled to the side and slid his body over on the floor to where the gap was larger between the pillar and the floor. The ground was of uneven consistency and extremely rough. His uniform tore in places and he scratched himself up even more as he slid along. As if the muscle aches and sore joints in his body weren't bad enough he had to go and get cut up some more. He managed to wriggle most of the way out from under the pillar but had a hard time twisting his left foot to get it out from under the pillar. Vargas was forced to twist his body around uncomfortably until he was lying on his side and slither out from under the pillar like a worm. Once he was free he used the pillar to help him rise to his feet. His balance was shaky and his knees and ankles hurt like hell. He dropped back down to his knees because the pain was too much at first. He said a short prayer asking for strength and thanking God for allowing him to live another day. Vargas then attempted to lift himself back up. This time he could manage to stand, it still hurt considerably though. He used the pillar and other masses of rubble and objects that had fallen through the ceiling with him to support his body as he made his way to the outer wall of the structure. He wondered how the battle had turned out. When he had lost consciousness it could have gone either way. Vargas made it to a window partially obscured by a fallen ceiling panel. He placed his hands on some mangled ductwork and propped himself up as he looked outside. He was still three floors up which meant he would have to find some way to get down now. He didn't see any signs of alien or human activity outside. It was quiet and still, the flames and dust had settled leaving only faint traces of smoke and ash in their wake. The scene outside would even seem peaceful if not for the great multitudes of corpses lying around. The grassy field east of what had been the Seongnam safe zone was awash with dead skitters. The carcasses were spread over the field like a rushed paint job; evenly distributed and spread over a large area for the most part but piled into great mounds and clumps in places where the fighting had been most intense. He scanned the area along the tree line outside the city and saw the smoldering wreck of an M1A1 Abrams. His heart sank knowing what that had meant. If he ever saw another human being again it probably wouldn't be an American and almost certainly not one of his dear friends. If it were anyone else the convictions of his faith would tell him that he would see them in the afterlife. However knowing how Bremer always mocked him for "that Jesus stuff" he couldn't feel quite so certain for the state of his friend's soul. Turning his attention back to earthly matters, Vargas climbed around the room trying to find a stairwell. To the best of his ability he kept the pressure off his leg joints though his elbows and shoulders weren't doing all that hot either. Nothing felt seriously messed up though, he was just very sore. This was comforting to Vargas, knowing that he would be quick and limber again in due time. Vargas bemoaned his body for not having its wolverine-like healing abilities in his thirties as it did in his twenties and late teens. To his dismay the main stairwell was blocked by a pile of crumpled up cubicles, chairs and computer monitors on top of a huge slab of ceiling and floor tiles. It looked like half of the office furniture from the floor above was dumped into the stairwell. So much for that idea, Vargas shrugged off the setback and looked for another way. The elevator shaft wouldn't be much use without the power and this wasn't Mission Impossible where he could gracefully climb down it, especially not with his aching joints. He looked around the windows for a fire escape instead he found the next best thing. An adjacent building had completely collapsed and left a pile of bricks and steel girders leaning up against the building he was in. A mostly intact piece of the outer wall of the fallen building rested up against the outside of his building 4 to 6 feet below him. If he could carefully climb out the window and drop down onto the wall he should be able to descend to street level by navigating the support girders that had fallen alongside the wall section, leaving him with a final drop off a heap of bricks of maybe 3 feet at the worst. The trickiest part would be the first landing Vargas assumed. After gathering his composure and uttering a quiet prayer he opened the window frame and brushed away all the broken glass. Vargas then lifted himself onto and over the windowsill and draped himself down towards the section of collapsed wall. He held tightly onto the windowsill and looked down at his feet. It was still a little bit of a drop if he let go. He was hesitant to let go but at this point he didn't have the strength in his joints to pull himself back up. "Would be quite a waste to make it this far and have this be the thing that does me in." Vargas mused. God willing he would see fit to keep me around a little longer. Vargas let go and dropped down onto the stone wall. His legs crumpled under him and he rolled to the side. It sent an acute burst of pain through his legs when he first landed but he made it. He stretched out his legs and made sure he could still use them. Afterwards, when he felt confident enough Vargas crawled on all fours over to the first diagonal leaning girder and started his descent. Carefully he navigated his way down and made it safely onto the street. He was overjoyed to be on terra firma again. Vargas knelt down and kissed the ground then stood up and outstretched his hands to the sky before he started walking out of the city to investigate what was left of the American camp and to lay the body of his friend to rest.

Vargas walked out of the city past the heaps of slain humans and skitters that had been given to the slaughter. "Hmmph, they bleed red too." Vargas mumbled upon noticing the blood stains soaking the soil as he walked past the devastated perimeter gate and onto the field. At this time Captain Han and Sgt. Sobieski pulled up from the south in front of the route Vargas was taking out of the city towards what was left of the American encampment. Han was on the motorcycle they had initially fled in and Sobieski pulled up behind him in a fully restored cherry red classic 1952 Cadillac. They had returned after the enemy had departed to check for any survivors and gear they could salvage. Upon Sobieski's request the first place they would check would be the American camp. Sobieski noticed Vargas hobbling in their direction soon after she stepped out of the car. "Vargas? Is that you! Oh my God you're alive!" she ran screaming in elation towards him. Vargas couldn't really run to her but he hobbled along the best he could. When she reached him she gave him a strong bear hug and pulled back from him, holding onto his upper arms and smiling at him. This is the first glimmer of good news she had all day. "I can't believe it! You're actually alive after all of that! You are one tough cookie Antonio I'll give you that." Sobieski told him. She then got beside him and helped him walk back to the camp. "Sure is one sweet ride you found yourself there." Vargas commented. "Yep, even in this country there are still guys that like to show off with the biggest flashiest junk they can whip out." Sobieski replied. Vargas laughed as the two of them continued on. "Knowing how you are quite the gearhead I'm sure you jumped on that shit the first time you saw it." Vargas said cheerfully. "You know me all too well. Didn't take much to get her going though. Whoever had it before took really good care of it." Sobieski said as they met Capt. Han on the hill. As they all gathered together a familiar voice called out from the bushes. "Why if it isn't an old fashioned family reunion." Bremer said as he emerged from the woods and put his pistol away. "I just figured I'd double back and try to pick up a couple new guns but I never thought any of you losers would've made it." Bremer said as he approached the group. "Damn Chico I am so glad to see your face, could've swore you were a goner when that mech took out that building." Bremer said turning to Vargas. "You too Lyndsey, and you Prince Won ton whatsyourname." Bremer greeted the other two. "I see the tank over there blasted to kingdom come. I was coming over here to bury you. How is it that you are still alive?" Vargas asked. "Ever hear of a little thing called an escape hatch? They come standard on all Abrams models. No need for you to be saying your little prayers over my grave today Chico." Bremer answered. His countenance changed and Bremer became despondent in his tone and mannerisms. "Sadly though Tay tay and our two Korean friends didn't make it. The tank collapsed on top of Taylor when I was trying to pull him out of it. The new guy was hit with a piece of shrapnel and never even had a chance. One of the crunchy crabs got Won-yong as we were running through the woods. Truly the mark of a shitty leader there, I tried though dammit. Fucking crab just wouldn't die." Bremer sorrowfully recounted the fates of his crew members. Bremer turned his head and looked down at the ground as he spoke, his voice breaking a little as he told the tale. This was the first time Vargas had ever heard Bremer pronounce Won-yong's name properly and for some reason that impressed him more than the display of empathy Bremer had shown several times in his career of service. "You tried. You did all you could, that's war. That's what we signed up for. Hurts like hell but that's reality." Vargas consoled him. Bremer let the single tear fall from his eye and looked back at Vargas. "I know. This isn't my first time around. You just try and see every one of your boys make it back home alive. That's the mark of a good commander." Bremer said. He was resolute and compartmentalized things well, he just needed to vent a little first and grieve. Sobieski came up to Bremer and gave him a hug. "Well you still have your girl. You didn't lose everyone Captain." Sobieski said. "You didn't fail them sir. They served honorably and died as heroes, every one." she continued. "They'll be remembered as heroes, mark my words. Once we kick these alien assholes back to Uranus their names will be on a monument in DC and Seoul." Bremer said. He had quickly regained his composure and returned to his former self just as fast as he had let his feelings slip through. "It's pronounced Uranus not your anus." Han corrected him. "I know what I said." Bremer replied. The group all got a good laugh before looking around at the camp and back at each other. "Well, well we sure got our asses kicked today." Bremer cynically remarked while dusting off his pants. "We all got banged up pretty bad I'll agree, but the war's not over. So how about we head on into town and see if we can find a place to hole up for the night?" Captain Han suggested. "Agreed. Then tomorrow we go out, gather up our survivors, re-arm and bury our dead. The next day, after we've dressed our wounds we start making reservations for our guests to take a one way flight to Uranus." Bremer agreed. "That joke was funnier the first time you told it sir." Vargas remarked. "Who said it was a joke?" Bremer asked rhetorically. "I've got to get something real quick. Wait one." Bremer said. He ran over to where the camp had been; dug around through the collapsed tents and assorted skitter carcasses and found Won-yong's tool box with all of his old mix tapes on them. "Keeping the music alive brother." Bremer spoke into the air as if he was speaking to Won-yong. Bremer then returned to the group and he, Vargas and Sobieski got into the car while Han mounted the motorcycle. Han took off, leading the group into the city from a good distance ahead of them. There they would find refuge to weather the night.

Ji-hwan and Jae-sung came out of hiding in the employee restroom of a home appliance store along with a pair of ROK Army soldiers that rode out the fall of Seongnam in obscurity after the battle lines collapsed. Ji-hwan felt no remorse for ducking out and saving his own skin. He wasn't the noble soldier that was supposed to stand and fight a hopeless battle. He was the self-important fashion gangsta that had a knack for drawing followers to him based on his swagger and natural charisma. Though he might have garnered much less support if the people with him knew he was a model and not a real gangster. Jae-sung on the other hand was a street youth as tough and gritty as they come. He had run with real gangs before and had a few dust ups with the law. As far as Ji-hwan knew he was the only one of the group that actually lived it. It wasn't anything that Jae-sung was proud of, and certainly nothing he boasted of. Ji-hwan didn't know from whence he came and how they managed to cross paths but was certainly glad to have him on hand. Jae-sung was the enforcer of the group and gave Ji-hwan legitimacy to his tough guy image. The four survivors crept out of the store and looked around to make sure the aliens had indeed left. The last of the day's fading light cast long shadows over the vacant streets. It was so quiet they could hear themselves breathing. "This is fucking creepy yo." Jae-sung whispered. "Shh..." Ji-hwan hushed him. Soon afterwards Ji-hwan noticed a spotlight coming from a cross street to the south followed by a deep droning hum. "One of those damn walkers. Get back inside. I can't machete chop robocop." Ji-hwan told everyone. The four of them quickly hurried back inside before the mech crossed the street, only briefly looking in their direction. It looked like for the mean time they would be spending the night in the store. The streets weren't quite as clean as they had first assumed.

So-hyun and Shi-woo emerged from the sewers after nightfall. The rapid movements of the skitters and the people on the streets, the whoosh of the aerial units flying overhead, the screams and the sounds of fighting had faded away. The city had gone silent for over an hour now. It was long enough that So-hyun was ready for them to make their ascent. She had tightened the scarf over Shi-woo's eyes though it looked now that even if his one salvageable eye could've been repaired they would not be able to find suitable medical assistance in time to save it. Permanent blindness seemed to be the fate Shi-woo was reserved to. So-hyun whispered to Shi-woo and guided him by the hand up onto the streets above. Once they were both above ground she gripped his hand and led him where they needed to go. It was dark and the streets were silent. Even with her sight So-hyun couldn't see very far into the blackness. The smoke of the day's fighting obfuscated much of the glimmer of the moon and stars. They couldn't do much until morning. The best she could try to do for now was to find somewhere more comfortable to rest than the sewer. She found an apartment complex several blocks to the south that looked untouched. While searching for the entrance she saw a spotlight shining out of the alleyway north of the building. So-hyun quickly pulled Shi-woo behind a dumpster and got down. The mech came out of the alleyway and shined its spotlight in their direction then in the opposite direction. Then they heard its footsteps coming closer to them. Its right foot landed near the dumpster when it stopped. A sound from the north drew its attention. It turned out some fireworks from street vendor had been ignited by one of the smoldering fires near one of the major battle sites from the first wave of the attack. The mech did an about face and marched north to investigate. They were spared by an accident of luck. So-hyun opened the door to the apartment building, surprisingly it was left unlocked. She led Shi-woo to one of the downstairs apartments and picked the lock with a nail file and a hair pin. She took out a glow stick from her satchel and snapped it to activate its luminescence. She brought Shi-woo in and sat him down on a plush chair. She then locked the door behind them and took out her rifle. She combed the small two bedroom apartment to make sure there was no one else in there with them. Once she made sure it was clear she took a quilt out of a bedroom closet and brought it out to Shi-woo. She laid it out upon him and checked the small fridge in the apartment for anything they could drink. She pulled out a couple cans of warm root beer and gave one to him. "Sleep well. I'll check on you in the morning." So-hyun told him. She then took the other can of root beer and went into the bedroom and crawled into bed. She would be sleeping with one eye open tonight but a cat nap was better than no nap at all.


	22. Chapter 22: Domestication

Chapter XXII: Domestication

Lt. Hui awoke lying in a fetal position, disoriented, somewhat cold, naked and afraid. He had no recollection of the hours, days or weeks that had passed only fleeting thoughts and images. The dim reddish orange glow of ambient lighting, bright white lights shining down upon people restrained on operating tables being tortured and experimented on, children pulled from their parents arms and taken away, a menacing tall slender figure in the shadows. These were but flashes in his mind, no more real than a lucid dream. He had no way to gauge how long it had been since he was taken up on the ship by the skitters. It could have been mere minutes or it could have been years. It was completely dark wherever he was and there was almost no room to move. The walls were slimy and slick; they gave in like a sponge when he pressed against them but their overall structure was solid. There was no door, window or opening of any kind. The place where he was felt the same all over, he was completely sealed in. There was nothing to distinguish one part of his prison from another. His breathing was normal though he had no idea how he was being supplied with oxygen. The walls that formed his cocoon had a gentle vibration pulsing through them that seemed in a strange way to be soothing to him. He assumed he was still onboard the alien ship and being kept alive for some reason. He fought to extend his limbs and attempted to claw through the gooey mush he was contained in. It spread and squished but it could not be torn or broken. It felt like one of those dreams where you try to reach a door just in front of you to escape the thing that's chasing you but for some reason you never get there. His mind, still in somewhat of a subconscious state wondered if what he was experiencing was real. Was he trying to come out of anesthesia while a group of aliens were hovering above his opened up body tinkering with his internal organs to see how they tick? Could he have even died and this is what hell, or limbo or the dismal space between life cycles was like. Certainly it could not have been heaven; nothing about this place was pleasant. He reached his hands up and touched on his face, he was still solid, still human. Thank god he was not being reincarnated as an eel or one of those damned skitters. As his mind continued to cycle through the possibilities his chamber was flooded with a light, thin fluid and he was pushed out a circular opening that had just opened up in front of his head. As he went into the light at the end of the opening he braced himself for what was to come.

Hui was belched out of his hiding place onto the floor in front of a young girl. Behind him a vast greenish-blue wall of thick porous organic tissue stretched from the floor to the ceiling. The ceiling, at least 17 feet above them was covered by strands and sinews of the same organic matter as the wall. The wall was dotted with many pods, evenly spaced out, that had the appearance of boils on the skin of the living structure. No doubt there were others entombed within them just as he had been. A nearly subsonic hum vibrated in waves over the walls and the ceiling much like the rhythm of a slowly beating heart. The floor he had been vomited onto was made of tile much like that of many public buildings, a stark contrast to the pulsating biomass that comprised the rest of the room. He turned his head upwards from the pool of clear liquid that puddled up under him on the floor tiles and looked at the little girl. It was Soo-young, the gentle child that had been at the hospital with her father when his unit arrived to rescue them. She was different now, her eyes had a glazed over look in them as if her thoughts were elsewhere. Her hair and clothing was disheveled and there was a faintly glowing serpentine creature mounted upon her spine. Behind Soo-young was a single skitter holding a staff like weapon. "Welcome Hui Ji-yong. You are ready for utilization." Soo-young said in a soft monotone voice without emotion or inflection. Hui groaned and struggled to speak. "Whaaa...? What are you talking about?" Hui moaned. Soo-young picked him up from under his armpits and stood him up. Astonishingly the small child had no difficulty lifting the full weight of a grown man and holding him steady on his shaky legs. Hui slowly regained his footing and equilibrium and Soo-young released him to stand on his own. "It will be less painful for you if you follow me of your own accord." Soo-young stated in the same lifeless voice as before. Hui looked past Soo-young to the skitter whose body moved as if gesturing the content Soo-young was speaking as if the words were its own. "I get it. You're talking through her aren't you?" Hui addressed the skitter. "Yes. You are wasting too much time. Now come with me. The skitter walked away followed by Soo-young who gently took Hui's hand and led him along with her. Hui did not try and resist, he followed the alien as he was told for the moment. He had no idea where he was and what he was up against. He had just been birthed out of some kind of bio-stasis chamber and wasn't even in command of his full faculties yet. Putting up a show of resistance would do nothing for him at this time. He would be observant to plan his escape while pretending to cooperate with the aliens in whatever they wanted him to do. God willing these creatures couldn't read minds, Hui hoped. Hui was led out of the room into a darkened corridor. Reddish orange bulbs grew out of cracks on the walls to provide only the faintest of light to gauge his surroundings. Here everything appeared more man-made and less alien in nature. This corridor was made of concrete with steel railing along the sides. The yellow and black striped markings on certain parts of the floor looked familiar as did some of the posted signage on the wall that was partially obscured by alien vines growing over them. Ahead of them was a small flight of stairs going up then a turn to the right leading to a stairwell leading both up and down. The skitter led them both down the stairwell. Hui feared for his fate, was he to be experimented on, interrogated, eaten for lunch or sadistically killed for the creatures' amusement? "We regret that we had to terminate so many of your race before making ourselves known." Soo-young stated as they walked down the stairs and into a mazelike complex. What a bullshit apology, Hui thought, if they actually felt remorse for killing all the people they did with the asteroids and the bombs and so forth they wouldn't have done it. "Then why did you? You could have come to us in peace and talked with us rather than bombing our planet back into the stone age!" Hui angrily retorted. The hostility in his voice had no effect on Soo-young or the skitter. "Our analysis of your species indicated that would be unwise." Soo-young explained. "Yours is a violent species much predisposed to killing. You murder your own kind with reckless abandon. Such a concept is completely outside the realm of our experience. For millennia you have slaughtered each other over petty tribal and ideological differences. You butcher your own over the meager resources of your world. You sacrifice your sons and daughters for fleeting pleasures and convenience. The foundations of every nation and society on this world are based purely on the threat and actuality of force. Your species cannot have order without violence. In the vacuum of order your species again resorts to violence. It is one of the deepest parts of your nature. You kill for greed, you kill for lust, you kill for envy, you kill for sport, and even you kill to revel in the act of murder itself. The act of slaughter is exalted among the cultures of your species. With such passion to destroy those of your own kind how can we expect you to handle we who are so foreign to you? Violence is to be met with violence. We have defanged the beast that is all." Soo-young coldly explained. "If you cared about our lives so much then why couldn't you have gone about dealing with our species in another way? That EMP would've allowed you to come in and abduct world leaders and negotiate with us that way." Hui inquired. "You mistake regret with compassion. Does the patient taking penicillin concern him or herself over the lives of each individual Penicillium organism or does he simply care that they exist in sufficient quantities to produce what he or she needs? Soo-young told Hui as they arrived in a large open area with a row of bulbous reddish orange lights placed on the outside of a fence hastily fashioned from wooden posts, reformed concrete, barbed wire and stone. Two skitters walked up and down the length of the fence while keeping a distance from it. "We have means to ensure sufficient quantities." Soo-young stated as the skitter leading her came up behind Hui and prodded him in the back. He felt a slight shock and started to walk forward. The two skitters converged on a small door built into the fence. As Hui neared closer he could see beyond the fence there were dozens, perhaps hundreds of adult human males imprisoned inside. The two skitters stabbed their staff like weapons in through the fence and sent out a wide spread of electrical energy that forced all the men inside to back away from the gate. Then the gate was quickly opened and Hui was shoved inside. The door was locked behind him and Soo-young and the skitter accompanying her turned around and left him there.

Amanda Kyung was tossed into a small private room by a pair of skitters. The room was maybe three times the size of a bathroom stall lengthwise and the same size as a bathroom stall widthwise. At the back it had a small mattress, around the size of one that would be in the bunk of a small RV covered by a thin tattered sheet. Next to the bed were two buckets, one filled with water and one empty. A single fluorescent bulb lit up the room from overhead. The room vaguely resembled a partitoned off part of an office building. The floor was made of 1 foot square striated white and grey tiles. The ceiling was made of generic paneling just like what was used in many large offices and businesses, The walls to her rear and left were made of painted over cinderblocks while the wall to the right appeared to be plastered over ceiling tiles Like Hui she was completely naked when she was tossed inside. The solid steel door slammed behind her and locked shut. She heard screaming and the faint murmurs of distant conversations on the other side of the door and through the thin right wall. She crawled onto the bed and huddled up in the rear corner. What was she doing in here? Oh god I hope they don't want to probe me, she thought. Maybe they already did probe her and she was awaiting something worse. It didn't take long before the door opened and a fat, acne ridden man in his mid 20s was thrown in. He reeked of onions and feet. Amanda could smell it encompassing the entire room the second the door closed behind him. It wasn't just body odor from the power being out for however long she had been here, this was a built in stench that had took months to accumulate. The man had the look of what one would assume was a guy that stayed up on week long benders playing World of Warcraft. He was almost a dead ringer for the Korean version of the South Park portrayal of such a guy. Seeing this guy without his clothing made him appear even more unappealing to her than if he was clad in grease and mustard stained sweatpants and a T-shirt. "They say we have to mate if we want to live." the man stuttered to say before attempting to climb on top of Amanda. His breath was even worse than his body odor as he panted with effort to reach her. She shrieked and kicked him in the stomach and the groin to force him away from her. The man fell backwards onto his rear and bumped the door to the room. He tried to crawl towards her but Amanda continued to keep him at bay with her feet to his face and throat. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" she shouted. If this was some lame excuse to try and get some booty in a bad situation or if the aliens really did force this guy to try and breed with her it was not going to happen. After several minutes the door opened the man fell onto his back outside it at the feet of Soo-young who was carrying a K5 pistol. "You were told to produce." Soo-young stated. "She's not letting me!" the man yelped in terror. Without hesitation Soo-young shot the man in between and above his eyes at point blank range, almost instantly killing him. Soo-young then looked up with a stare fixed on the frightened form of Amanda Kyung. "He was inadequate stock. We shall find another." Soo-young stated then turned and walked away. A skitter came up behind her and dragged away the carcass of the man before another skitter closed the door and locked it.

Hui was packed in closely with the herd of other men that were jammed into the holding area. Several indistinct conversations merged into one unintelligible blob of background noise. Everyone here was frightened and disoriented; most of them were probably just as fresh out of the pods as he was. He wandered around through the crowd but couldn't get very far back. The men further away from the fence did not want to be anywhere near the front and did not easily allow others to push them closer. Presumably it was because they didn't want to be shocked every time the skitters stuffed a new person in the cage. In his attempts to move back he ran into Moon Ki-ha, Soo-young's father. "You? You are one of the soldiers from the hospital right?" Ki-ha asked. "Yes, we came to get you guys back to our safe zone in Seongnam." Hui replied. "Oh, if only you had come sooner. They have my daughter! Oh my, if we had just left with the first soldier that came." Ki-ha started to cry. First soldier? Could he have been talking about Fontaine? That was the hospital he was sent to get help from. Hui couldn't help but see the irony in the fact that they were unable to assist the same hospital that was unable to assist them earlier during the invasion. Hui wondered if Fontaine was still alive. He had seen the message he left but that was before the ground forces started coming in. With the luck they had against the aliens Fontaine surely suffered a similar fate being all alone and so poorly armed when he went out. "About that first soldier you saw?" Hui asked. "Yes, he was American army not ours. He was really shy but had a good head on his shoulders. He was looking to reconnect with his unit I think." Ki-ha told him. "Have you seen him in here?" Hui inquired. If there were two of them here it would give them a better charge of coordinating some means of escape. The fence wasn't that sturdy and there were only two skitters guarding it. It was just a matter of convincing enough of the prisoners to act together. The two of them could at least verify each other's status in the military maybe giving them more credence for forming a strategy than if he was just some naked guy yelling at people. The more he saw while he was taken to this holding tank from the pods, the more he had been convinced he wasn't on the ship after all. More likely he was inside a reconfigured human structure somewhere in Seoul. He had no idea where any of the diverging passages in the maze he had been taken through led but one of them had to go somewhere. "No I haven't. I would recognize the boy if he was." Ki-ha abruptly dashed Hui's hopes of having another military man to back him up. It was all on him now. "Ok. If I had a plan to get out of here do you think you could back me up on it?" Hui asked. Ki-ha however was distracted by something else. "Soo-young! There you are!" he shouted as he ran up towards the door just after the area was cleared by an electric shock. The door opened and one of the skitters grabbed Ki-ha by the throat and set him down in front of Soo-young before while the other closed the gate. "I've been so worried about you!" Ki-ha exclaimed as he put his arms around Soo-young and sobbed. Soo-young just stood there with her arms at her side. Her own father's display of emotion could not even arouse one subtle change in her demeanor. One of the skitters pulled Ki-ha back. Ki-ha fell to his knees and cried. "What have they done to you my sweet little girl?" Ki-ha sobbed. "You are incapable of producing. You have no value to us." Soo-young coldly stated. "What are you saying?" Ki-ha asked, drying his eyes with his hands. Soo-young's response was swiftly raising the pistol in her hand and shooting her father through the heart. Ki-ha clasped his chest, heartbroken in more ways than one. "Soo-young...Soo-young, please!" he cried as his last few breaths left his body. Hui watched in horror as Ki-ha fell over to the side before the skitter accompanying Soo-young dragged his body away.

Amanda didn't have time to think before four minutes passed and the door opened again. She was still frozen in shock by what had happened. That little girl had just killed that man and didn't as much as blink. Another man was thrown in. This one was attractive but he was just as aggressive as the first. He didn't even try to talk to her first he just went straight for her. Amanda fought against the man but this time it was harder. This guy was in excellent physical shape and could not be overpowered by her. He grabbed Amanda's wrists and pinned her down. Despite all his strength he still had the male weakness and Amanda was determined to exploit it. She frantically kicked, three of her flailing attacks were guarded against but the fourth found its target. She followed it up quickly with an even harder, more focused kick to the groin that stunned the man and made him relax his grip on her. During this time the she rolled over and put the man on his back. The man backhanded her across the face as she tried to stand up. Amanda staggered back and slammed into the door. The man began to sit up as the door opened, Amanda fell down to her knees and Soo-young shot the man, bursting the contents of his skull all over the wall and the back of the mattress. One skitter seized Amanda and pulled her out in a full nelson while another skitter went in and removed the body of the second man. Soo-young turned and looked at Amanda. "If you continue to be intransigent we will be forced to remove your eggs and dispose of you. Natural conception has much higher rates of survival but if necessary we are capable of producing without your compliance." Soo-young warned her before the skitter tossed her back into her cell. It was still sullied from the disposal of her last would be suitor. Would it have been too hard for the aliens to clean all the blood and brains off the wall? So this was it. These aliens were going to keep trying to breed her like a farm animal. She would rather die, which is exactly what would happen if Soo-young's threat was for real. There was nothing good that could befall her here, trapped between two horrible fates. In another few minutes that door would open and another man-shaped monster would be tossed in here with her. She was going to make a run for it. If she was going to die anyways it was better that she should die at least trying to escape than to die like a dog waiting in here. She stood up and waited by the door. As planned the door opened and she attempted to run. Before she could get out the door she was knocked over by a skitter throwing Lt. Hui at her. The both of them fell back into the room. Hui got off from on top of Amanda first before she recoiled back into the rear corner. This was a first; he didn't try to take her even though he knew the stakes. "I'm not going to do anything to you. Please trust me on this." Hui whispered to her. His words didn't serve to reassure Amanda at all. He could just be trying to get her to let her guard down, maybe sweet talk her a bit before he goes in for the kill. What guy is going to voluntarily sacrifice his own life for the supposed "crime" of not fornicating with a moderately attractive woman? "I need to get closer so they don't hear what I am about to say ok?" Hui told her in the softest voice he could muster. Some pick up line dude, it wasn't going to work. Hui slowly crawled over beside her, not on top of her but alongside her in an attempt to show his intentions were pure. Amanda still tried to kick and scratch him away. Hui grabbed her foot and pinned it down then put one hand over Amanda's mouth. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you or try and mate with you." He whispered into her ear. "These creatures are dead set on factory farming humans for whatever reason. Now you know that if I go away they are just going to throw someone else in here and eventually someone will overpower you and that won't be pretty. What I am suggesting is that we pretend to do it. We make noises and all that but it's going to be as fake as daytime TV." Hui proposed. "I've been working on a plan to get out of here but we're going to need more time. If you will go along with me here I can buy us some time. At least this way I get to live and you don't have to get violated. I'm going to stand up and back away now. Take it or leave it. Either that door opens and they kill me or you're all in with me. What'll it be?" Hui told her. He then slowly backed away and stood up next to the door. Amanda laid there nervously thinking and eyeing over Hui. He kept his word so far but what if it was a trap? She didn't like the idea, she would expose herself too much to him, but what was the alternative? If the aliens took Hui away and killed him the odds were that the next guy in would be worse. How often would she get someone that even might want to work with her to avoid this? Even at its worst it was more of an opportunity than she was likely to get before the aliens finally gave up on her and put her down. She looked Hui over, she only vaguely recognized him until it dawned on her. He was the Army officer that tried to rescue her from the hospital. He looked a lot different without the uniform. At least he wasn't just some random thug or pervert. Well he still could be one of those things but he was the best chance she had. It was either trust him or deal with random guys trying to get frisky every 4 minutes until her time was up. She had made her decision.

Amanda motioned for Hui to approach her and she slightly spread her legs. They assumed a faux position and began to imitate the appropriate grunts, moans and other sounds that would accompany the act. Outside the door the sound of a skitter moving away was heard. They continued to put on the performance for about ten to twelve minutes. Then Hui sat down beside her and she covered herself with the tattered grey sheet. About thirty minutes later Soo-young opened the door again. "You. Get out. We have brought her another partner." Soo-young commanded. "Wait, wait. You obviously don't understand the mating habits of humans. We are a species that mates for life. You can't just go around throwing random dudes at a girl and expect to get babies out of it. She won't conceive that way, or she'll miscarry, four out of five times you'll end up with a dead baby or no baby at all. I don't know why you want to make more of us but you can only make more of us if we give birth to live offspring. What you're going to want to do is leave me in here with her until she conceives. She's a difficult one and she's already imprinted on me so there's your first step. I'm good stock, very healthy, I don't drink, smoke or any of that. What that means is that our offspring will be healthy and would produce even more, stronger offspring." Hui explained to Soo-young and the alien controlling her. He lied in a convincing enough manner he could fool a human that at least Hui believed he was telling the truth, so with any luck it would be enough to convince aliens who had little knowledge of human reproduction at the time. "Very well. Males are not in short supply, I will give you thirty days. If she does not conceive by then you will die." Soo-young replied. "She will, don't worry about that. Say, why exactly are you breeding us in the first place?" asked Hui, trying to deflect the thoughts of the alien controlling Soo-young so it wouldn't reconsider its action. "We are currently unable to adapt our technology to your species in its adult form. However in the pupal stages of your life cycle a series of hormones are released that when modified aids in the adaptation of your species to our purposes." explained Soo-young not even showing the slightest of concern over revealing their intentions to the prisoners. To the being manipulating her it was like confiding your secrets to a pet mouse. Perhaps it was even that Hui's interest had shown that he was someone that could be malleable to serving the aliens' agenda as they had already enlisted the aid of many human collaborators around the globe. So that's why it is so important that every female they had taken would have to be impregnated thought Amanda. It also explained why males were expendable as one male could be used to impregnate several females if need be. "Now resume your activities." Soo-young commanded before shutting the door. Hui had just bought them a significant amount of time. They were still prisoners but for the short run at least, they would not be victims.


	23. Chapter 23: From The Ashes

Chapter XXIII: From The Ashes

7 Oct 0700 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Vargas, Bremer, Sobieski and Han had sought shelter for the night in an apartment complex not far from the edge of the devastation near the old perimeter. With the sun going down they had little time to forage for supplies and found no survivors before they had to turn in for the night. They had made their home in a third floor corner apartment overlooking one of the main roads. It was a small bachelor's apartment with one bedroom, one bathroom, and a combined kitchen and living room. Vargas slept on the couch in the living room while Bremer, who had the last watch, poured everyone a bowl of dry cereal for when they woke up. In the bedroom Sobieski slept on the small twin bed while Han, being the gentleman, slept on the floor. The bedroom walls were plastered with posters of movies and bands. There was a guitar leaning against one of the walls and several boxes of DVD's and video games lying on the floor. Half eaten TV dinners, used tissues and Japanese brands of Cup O' Noodles also littered the floor and the computer desk in the room. This room had probably belonged to a young man just striking out on his own when the invasion hit. Bremer ate his cereal and watched out the window while waiting for his comrades to wake up. Alien activity had been light throughout the night. There were the hourly mech patrols and the occasional skitter teams that made their rounds but it was nothing like before. There were no more flyovers seen all night. All the aerial activity was way off in the distance towards Seoul. Of the few skitters he did see some of them weren't wearing body armor anymore. He took it that either the aliens were stupid and overconfident that they would go into battle unprepared or more likely that these new skitters were the "worker bees" much like the contractors that the US would send into a battle zone to rebuild once the enemy had been eliminated. He glanced over at Vargas, still out cold from the midwatch. The day was wasting away but Bremer was inclined to let him sleep. Yesterday had kicked their ass, hard. They needed to come at today full force. They had underestimated their enemy as much as their enemy appeared to have underestimated them. If the best they could throw at them were a bunch of unarmed bugs, reasoned Bremer, these were some really sad sack excuses for space invaders. He was almost certain they had better forces in reserve. This was taken into account as he began to consider possible strategies to counter them. He might as well start thinking with a big picture perspective, he was the de facto commander of the 2nd ID, hell he was the de facto commander of the 8th Army for all he knew. Until he heard otherwise US Armed Forces Korea consisted of himself, Vargas, Sobieski and possibly Williams and Carter.

Sobieski came out from the bedroom and sat down at the built in bar table in the kitchen. "Yes that cereal is for you, you're welcome." Bremer said after she had already started eating it. "hmmmhmmmhmmm" Sobieski mumbled with her mouth full, glancing over at Bremer. Major Han came in a few minutes later as Sobieski finished snarfing down the last of her cereal. "Anything to report?" he asked Bremer. "Not much. The bugs must think they'd finished us off already." Bremer replied. "All for the better. We have a lot to get done today." Han added. "Indeed." Bremer said. Sobieski got up and started smoothening out the dirt dusted tangles in her hair while Han ate breakfast. "Its times like this I'm glad I don't have long hair." Sobieski commented. "Must suck for a lot of girls back home eh?" Han jokingly remarked. "Eh, probably. Running water, its little things like that you miss the most." Sobieski said. "I'd say that's a pretty big thing, but whatever, first world problems. Better go wake up Chico." Bremer commented as he got up from his seat and walked away from the window. He went over and shook Vargas gently to rouse him from his slumber. "I just went to bed, holy fuck is it morning already?" Vargas complained. "Yeah the sun doesn't know when to cut us some slack, but up and at 'em or if you prefer, up and let's go!" Bremer answered. "So what's the plan, Major?" Bremer asked as he came back into the kitchen. "Well, like you said we'll go hit up one of the storehouses and load up. If there are any survivors that would be a likely place they would retreat to." Han told him. "Also a likely place for the bugs to set up an ambush." Vargas warned as he sat down to his breakfast. "That's why we go in and kick them in the teeth!" Bremer braggadociously proclaimed. The four of them finished eating and getting ready then departed their borrowed home.

Bremer, Han, Sobieski and Vargas reached a distribution center that had been partially converted into an armory during the short time the safe zone was in operation. They encountered no resistance on their way here, not even a single mech patrol. It wasn't surprising though; this distribution center was in the northwest part of the city where the destruction during the opening hours of fighting had been most severe. The distribution center itself was mostly intact however, apart from a few shattered windows and burnt out cars in its parking lot. "What do you suppose they kept here before we filled it with guns?" asked Sobieski quietly as they went alongside the back wall towards the loading dock. "Memory cards for computers and smartphones it looks like. A lot of good that stuff will do us now." Han whispered back. They went past the single dock and down further along the wall to a set of red metal double doors. Vargas pulled on one and it opened. Bremer made hand signals at him before they both entered and scanned the area with their guns at the ready. The room was empty as well as they could tell. The crates of weapons and ammo were in a corner on the far wall and the rest of the distribution center was basically emptied out with the exception of a couple forklifts in the middle of the building and several stacks of boxes by the inside of the loading dock. The inside was very dark, the only light coming in was from windows high overhead on what would be the second floor that cast bright spots onto the floor. The rest of the building was shrouded in the shadows. "Clear!" Vargas called back quietly. Sobieksi and Han entered into the building and all four of them fanned out as they approached the weapons crates. Vargas went along the north wall while Bremer sprinted across to the first forklift. Sobieski and Han crept along the east wall towards the stack of boxes over by the loading dock. When Bremer tried to go between the first and second forklift a silenced gunshot whiffed into the stillness and hit the forklift just behind Bremer. "We're human asshole!" Bremer shouted out. "My bad! I thought you were one of the crabs!" an unseen voice replied. "No crabs here!" Bremer called out. "That's what she said." snickered Vargas as he reached the weapons crates. "Shut up Chico!" Bremer quipped back. "How about you show yourselves!? I'm Captain David Bremer 2nd ID" Bremer announced. "'Mericans huh? I'm Sergeant First Class Jung Tae-yang, 7th Infantry, ROK First Army." replied the voice from the shadows. Tae-yang emerged from behind the ammo crates along with a Seongnam police officer and a teenage boy. From behind the boxes on the docks a woman armed with a submachine gun and two girls in their early teens came out of hiding. "Don't mean any harm sir. We were just hiding from the crabs." Tae-yang apologized. "At least you didn't hit me, so I guess we're cool." Bremer replied now walking casually towards the ammo crates. Sobieski and Major Han followed suit from a distance away. "The crabs seem to have moved on for the most part." mentioned Major Han. "That's good to hear I guess." said Tae-yang. "Coming here to arm up I take it." Tae-yang said when Bremer and Vargas reached him. "Yeah, we're nearly dry on supplies after yesterday." Bremer replied. "Take what you need though I'll warn you its slim pickings here too. We've got a handful of K2's, a bunch of half empty crates of ammo, some bags and knapsacks and two RPG's with no launcher." Tae-yang said offering up their surplus to the soldiers. "We can find a launcher off a body out there." Vargas commented. Bremer and Vargas began looking through the ammo crates and started to reload their magazines. Sobieski joined them once they arrived while Han watched over them. The other group of survivors from the docks joined Tae-yang behind the ammo crates. Aside from Tae-yang everyone else was completely silent. They were deeply fearful as they should be considering what was outside. When Tae-yang realized Han was an officer with the ROK army he came to attention and delivered a salute to show he recognized him as one of their own, which was returned in turn. He didn't extend the same courtesy to Bremer though no one was going to bust anyone's chops over protocol at the moment. "So you'll be heading back out after this?" Tae-yang asked. "Yes." Han replied. "Mind if we tag along?" Tae-yang asked. "Sure. We're trying to get everyone that lived through this mess bag together anyways." Han answered. "Great. I've too many non-combatants to protect. It would be nice to have a few more trained guns on hand now." Tae-yang said. "We're hoping to find more." Han commented as he handed his extra magazines to Sobieski for her to reload them. "I hope you know the crabbies are still out there though. They might not have the numbers they once had but they're still very much a threat. I just thought I'd warn you before you decide to come with us in case you thought it was all sunshine and lollipops out there." Bremer cautioned Tae-yang and his group. "We're not that naive sir, but thanks for your concern." Tae-yang replied. Bremer finished loading up the last of his spare magazines while Vargas put the two RPGs into a bag that he slung onto his back. Bremer took two of the spare rifles and walked around towards Tae-yang's group. "If you're going to be out there everyone is going to have to be able to defend themselves. I know it's not your way but if we have the weapons we can't afford to have any weak links that'll expose the rest of us to unnecessary danger." Bremer said as he offered the two guns to the teenage boy and the older of the two girls. "Very well." Tae-yang agreed. He then turned to the two newly armed teens. "You stay back away from the fighting as best you can. Protect your little sister in case anything gets through ok?" he instructed them. The kids nodded in agreement. "You think it would be best to split up so we could cover more ground?" Han asked Bremer as he took back his weapons and magazines from Sobieski. "Not a good idea this time. As much as we have a lot of space to comb through we still have to deal with our enemies out there. One of our groups gets killed or cut off we'll end up losing days trying to find them. I suggest we stick together, cover our backs and take our time sir." Bremer advised. "We haven't had much luck so far in splitting up." Vargas added. "Alright, that makes enough sense so I'll go with you on this one." Han consented. Bremer had commanded troops in combat more than he did so despite being the senior officer of the group Han thought it wise to defer to him. After everyone was fully armed and they packed their bags with as much ammo as they could comfortably carry everyone left the distribution center and made their way into the city to look for survivors.

Ji-hwan's group had managed to elude the mech patrols and return to the stadium in search of equipment and other survivors. In the parking lot were heaps of bodies and charred wreckage scattered about. They went into the stadium and found much of the same. The administrative apparatus that was set up inside was utterly devastated. They found the de facto kitchen and a small dining area set up around where the stadium concessions had once been served. Tables and chairs were overturned; used propane burners and cooking utensils littered the floor with many more dead bodies, both human and alien. There were also some foil wrapped trays of day old food that had been prepared the previous morning sitting on a table that was still standing. Ji-hwan took a couple of unopened cans of vegetables and several protein bars then removed the foil from a few of the trays. He leaned in and smelled the food inside while Jae-sung and the others kept a sharp lookout. It smelled alright Ji-hwan supposed. Still uneasy about eating anything that had been left around dead bodies for so many hours he walked away without even a taste. "If you're feeling brave they have pork ribs, eggs and rice there." Ji-hwan told the others. The soldiers declined to eat any but Jae-sung took a serving spoon full of rice and ate it. They looked around the dining area some more and found a number of two liter bottles of grapefruit and cranberry juice that they took with them after drinking each of their fill. Outside a skitter was waiting for them above the entryway to the stadium. As the group passed under it on their way out the skitter pounced on one of the shoulders and tore him apart before the other soldier shot it several times and Ji-hwan hacked it to death with his machete. "Got to be more careful." Ji-hwan muttered. They looked down the street to the south and then to the north where they observed the hourly mech patrol moving away from them. From an upstairs window a rocket hit the top of the mech's main body while at the same time a grenade round hit the underside of the main body from the opposite side, effectively bringing down the machine. Ji-hwan then saw the small forms of men come out from their hiding places and one of them drop another grenade onto the damaged mech, destroying it as they scattered. "Looks like we aren't the only ones still around guys. How about we go say hello." Ji-hwan looked back and said to his group.

Ji-hwan, Jae-sung and the surviving soldier walked to the north where they encountered Bremer and Han's group which had now swelled its ranks with eleven more members that they had encountered on their way through the city. Bremer stood triumphantly on top of the smoldering mech while some of the others searched the bodies lying around them for weapons then neatly piled the dead together. "Holy shit, we're not the only ones after all!" Ji-hwan exclaimed. "Damn straight boy. You think we would all go off to join the ranks of the honored dead and leave your punk ass alone to keep up the fight? I don't think so." Bremer sarcastically greeted Ji-hwan's group while stepping down from the mech. "Where's the rest of your crew?" asked Bremer. "So-hyun was taking Shi-woo to the hospital when the lines collapsed. Don't know if they made it. The rest of them...dead." Ji-hwan reported. "I see. We'll check out the closest hospital for your people next." Bremer said. "She was heading south if that helps." Jae-sung added. "Doesn't hurt. I'll get with Prince Won Ton and see if he knows enough of the lay of the land here and we'll be on our way." Bremer commented. Bremer went off to find Major Han while Ji-hwan and Jae-sung met with some of the other people in the group and assisted them in their tasks.

So-hyun went back out early in the morning, leading Shi-woo by the hand hoping to find a hospital or clinic or anything where possibly one of Shi-woo's eyes could be saved. It was a long shot now, more than like all the staff at such places were long gone. She would be able to find the supplies to do it but she would be the one that would have to try and reconnect Shi-woo's optic nerve provided his eye was still usable at all. She hadn't checked under the blindfold and was afraid to look lest it be all gross under there. She really felt like she was just going through the motions now but she had to try, just to say she did all that she could do. Truly these unfortunate circumstances were beyond her control. She knew Shi-woo before the attack though she never would've considered him much of a friend, just a guy she knew, so it wasn't like there was a deep personal connection here, only the obligation of one human being to another. The two of them made their way to the nearest hospital, the one they had originally set out for. It was badly burned on the west side and smoke still slinked out of the windows on the upper floors. The main entrance was blocked off by rubble so she had to go around to the emergency entrance. There were a few bodies lying outside on the streets but inside the hospital it seemed almost devoid of any human presence. A couple of dead aliens in the waiting room startled her and she opened fire until she realized they were just corpses. "What's going on? We under attack?" Shi-woo asked. He started to panic, running away from So-hyun and tumbling over some chairs in his path. "It's alright. I just freaked a bit." So-hyun told him as she walked towards him. She helped Shi-woo up off the ground and then went further into the hospital. She found the ophthalmology department on the hospital directory posted in one of the hallways and made her way towards it. She found not a single living soul along her way; she knew that she would have to perform the surgery herself. She wasn't a doctor or a nurse, nor did she have any medical training whatsoever, she was in no way qualified to perform eye surgery but at this point it was the only chance they had. Shi-woo's eye was probably a lost cause anyways. She took him into the optical surgery operating room and sat him down upon the operating table. She moved a chair up beside him and stooped over towards him. "Wait right here ok?" she told him. Nervous did not even begin to describe what So-hyun was feeling. She had no idea of where to begin. She looked around in the drawers to see if there was anything she could use. She gathered some gauze, several sterile alcohol pads and a few sutures along with a small scalpel. There was a laser in the room as well that was normally used for retina surgery, if only that thing still worked. She sat down the items she had gathered on a small steel tray and moved the tray over next to Shi-woo. Shi-woo grunted in pain as she carefully removed the blindfold. His eyes were encrusted and oozing with pus. The intact eye looked worse than the missing eye socket. She turned her head away from the revolting sight. She couldn't bear to even look at him. She was not going to be able to operate on him. "I'm sorry." she whispered inaudibly. "Lie down please." she said to Shi-woo. She continued to look down on the ground away from him as he felt his way into position on the table. This was too much, the sight of his eyes turned her stomach and he winced in pain from the slightest touch in the area. She didn't even have any anesthesia. This simply wouldn't work. She would have to tell him the truth, he would never see again.

Almost an hour went by while So-hyun sat and drearily pondered her associate's fate along with her own. The sound of footsteps outside in the hallway brought her back into the real world. She grabbed her rifle and stood up. "Don't move." she told Shi-woo. "So-hyun if you're in there don't shoot! It's me Ji-hwan, your fearless leader!" Ji-hwan called out from his position next to the other side of the door. "In here!" she called back. Ji-hwan entered, followed by Jae-sung. They all lowered their weapons after seeing each of them was who they said they were. Jae-sung ran back to the hallway and called over to some of the other members of their group. "She's in here!" Jae-sung shouted. "Good lord, he looks terrible..." gasped Ji-hwan as he stared in horror at Shi-woo's eyes. "What? What's wrong?" Shi-woo asked. "Nothing. I think we might have a doctor or something with us." Ji-hwan replied. A couple soldiers ran into the room. "Can one of you go see if we picked up a doctor along the route?" Ji-hwan turned around and asked the soldiers. One of them ran off and went downstairs to the emergency room waiting area where the rest of the group was. "We'll do something for you. You'll be alright." Ji-hwan knelt down and reassured Shi-woo, lying through his teeth. Moments later the soldier returned with a young woman. "You? You're a doctor?" asked So-hyun, finding the woman they brought to be a little too young to be a practicing physician. "No, I'm a surgical nurse. Well, an intern training to become one. I was almost finished with my internship though." the young woman replied. "She's the best we have." the soldier chimed in. "Fine. She'll do." Ji-hwan stood up and replied. The nurse went over to examine Shi-woo. "This infection looks pretty bad. I don't think we can salvage his eye. I'm probably going to have to remove it to keep the infection from spreading. We'll have to get going soon if we want to stop it from spreading into the cranial cavity." the nurse said looking over Shi-woo. The nurse left the operating table, found a pad of post it notes and a pencil and wrote down a list of various items. "I need you to go downstairs to the pharmacy and pick up these items exactly as I have written them." the nurse told So-hyun and handed her one of the post it notes. She then looked down and removed the next post it note and handed it to the soldier that brought her inside. "Go around the offices and exam rooms and see if you can find any of these things." she told the soldier handing him the second list. "I'll go with." volunteered Jae-sung. Jae-sung and the soldier then left together. The nurse then went over and sat down beside Shi-woo. "I'm going to have to use a local anesthesia on you. I'm afraid if I try and put you under I'll screw it up. I'll try to make this as painless as possible. Let me know if it gets to be too much." she told Shi-woo. "So I guess that means I'm going to stay blind forever?" Shi-woo asked the nurse. "I'm afraid so." she replied. Shi-woo would've cried there if his tear ducts weren't scabbed over. The nurse looked remorsefully over at Ji-hwan who was lingering near her. "I'll keep out of your way but I'm staying here." he said. The nurse did not respond, she just turned back towards Shi-woo for a moment then got up and started setting up for the procedure while she waited for the supplies she requested to arrive.

Later that afternoon after a difficult and painful procedure, the nurse and So-hyun left the operating room. Ji-hyun stayed inside with Shi-woo to comfort him. The nurse handed So-hyun a large bottle of antibiotics. "Make sure he takes one of these three times a day. Finish the entire bottle, even if it looks like he's cleared up and clean the wound at least daily." the nurse instructed her. "Will do." So-hyun replied. So-hyun took the bottle and both of them got out of the way of the door before it opened again. Ji-hwan helped Shi-woo walk out into the hallway. Shi-woo's eye sockets were freshly wrapped with a new blindfold. He would live but his sight was forever lost. "He's not going anywhere for a while. Tell the others we're going to make ourselves comfy for the night. They can finish up what they're doing and meet us here in the morning." Ji-hwan told one of the two soldiers posted outside the operating room. One of the soldiers left to report to the rest of their group. The other soldier went with Ji-hwan and Shi-woo as they went off in search of a room to bed down for the night. So-hyun looked at the nurse then walked off behind Ji-hwan. The nurse stood there for a while, mentally exhausted then followed off after the rest of them.


	24. Chapter 24: Silence in the Church

Chapter XXIV: Silence in the Church

7 Oct 1538 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

While Shi-woo was being treated at the hospital Vargas and Bremer took a few men and went to scout the area around the hospital. They made several sweeps looking for more survivors and keeping alert for signs of enemy activity. Each time they made their rounds they went a little further out from the hospital. Aside from one flyover by a squadron of beamers they detected zero enemy presence. For the most part the area was devoid of survivors and useful materials as well. Eventually the patrol came to the small church that Vargas had stopped by before the battle of Seongnam. The building was still intact despite being surrounded by other burned out structures and a portion of a crashed beamer that bisected a sketchy looking restaurant across the street. The windows were boarded up so they couldn't see inside. It was as good a place as any to check for survivors, that and Vargas felt drawn to it. He wanted to thank God for sparing his life in a proper place of worship. It just felt more appropriate to him, even if the place was deserted. Vargas stopped in front of the door while Bremer and the other soldiers posted themselves on opposite sides of the door in case anything unfriendly was awakened inside. After everyone was in position Vargas attempted to open the door. It wouldn't budge. "Locked." Vargas whispered. "Want me to smash the windows and toss in a flash bang?" Bremer offered. "No." Vargas derisively and firmly whispered back. "Hello! Anyone inside? Friendly humans here!" Vargas called out. "I promise we're not the terrible thing from Uranus!" Bremer added. Vargas struck Bremer gently in the ribs with the butt of his rifle. "Not here, ok?" Vargas told him. Yeah, Bremer was a superior officer but Vargas had no tolerance for irreverent assholes at the moment. It wasn't the time or the place. After a minute or two of silence the sound of wooden planks and beams could be heard behind the door. Bremer and the soldiers opposite him readied their weapons as the deadbolt was unlocked. Even Vargas felt a little tense but he kept his rifle lowered. There were good people inside, he knew it. The door slowly opened and the face of Father Yang peered outside. Vargas motioned to the soldiers to lower their weapons. Father Yang finished opening the door and stood in the doorway with his hands raised, palms open. "Father, you're alive!" Vargas happily exclaimed then stepped in and unexpectedly hugged Yang. "Chico, I'll let you catch up. We'll be back in two hours. Make sure you and whoever's coming with is ready to go by then." Bremer told him. Vargas let go of Father Yang, backed up and turned to Bremer. "Yes sir. Good luck with the rest of the search." Vargas said. Bremer and the rest of the soldiers then proceeded onward leaving Vargas with Father Yang out in front of the church. "Come inside." Yang beckoned to Vargas as he withdrew back into the church building. Vargas stepped into the church and looked around as Yang locked and barred the door with a solid wooden plank. Vargas saw several women and children sitting in or standing amongst the pews. Many of them were staring nervously at him, not in fear of him, but clearly given to fear. The look of terror in their faces was undeniable, as it should be given the circumstances. Vargas then turned to help Yang brace the door with thick wooden posts as if they were reinforcing a castle gate in the Middle Ages. "The Lord watches over the widow and the orphan." Vargas commented as he turned back towards the people in the church. "All the men went out to fight when the aliens attacked. We still are praying for their safe return." Father Yang told Vargas. "Your prayers could be answered. We've found a few survivors already and still have a lot of ground to cover." Vargas replied. "That will be a relief for these people. They were worried you were going to tell them their husbands, brothers, sons and fathers had been slain." Yang said. "Uncertainty can be just as bad as bad news." Vargas responded. "That's where faith comes in." Yang said putting his hand on Vargas' back. "Indeed. I hope their faith is strong." Vargas said as the two of them walked to the front of the church. "Like I said we're gathering survivors. We've taken refuge in a hospital not far from here. When the rest of my squad gets back we can take you there. You might find some of the men you're looking for. We can offer you protection, though I'm afraid not much else though." said Vargas. "It will be enough, and thank you. We have a little food and water that was dropped off yesterday that we can give you as well." Father Yang replied. "Thank you, and Father could I possibly ask a favor of you?" Vargas asked. "What is it?" Yang replied. "I was wondering if I could have a confessional with you. I should have before but I was afraid. After that brush with death yesterday I don't want to leave this world with anything weighing down my soul." Vargas answered. "Catholic, I presume. We don't quite do things the same way as you're used to so I might not be able to give you the kind of formal absolution you're seeking but I can listen to you confess your sins before the Lord. We can use my office." Father Yang replied. It was good enough for Vargas, an approximation might not be in line with tradition but it was the same Jesus they worshipped, so Vargas believed his sins could be forgiven. Several of the people inside the church looked towards Vargas and the priest as they walked towards Yang's private office. A young lady ran up to Father Yang and took hold of his hand while his other hand had just touched the door knob. "Where are you going Father?" asked the teenage girl. "I have a personal matter of faith to discuss with this man. Do not fret, everything is fine." Father Yang replied. The girl let go of his hand and rejoined her younger sister who was sitting beside the altar.

Father Yang and Vargas entered into Yang's office and shut the door behind them and locked it. The room was dimly lit by a few candles. There were no windows here to allow in what sunlight there was outside on this grey overcast afternoon. Yang sat down behind the desk and Vargas pulled out a folding chair and sat in front of him. "What troubles you my child?" Father Yang asked. "I hope you've got a while. Well when I was four I used to be mean to my sister. I put finger paints in her hair and would steal her stuffed dragon all the time. Then when I was six I stole some light bulbs from a Home Depot. My older brother told me to take them but it still was wrong." Vargas began. He then recounted every sinful act he had through childhood up through his teenage years. "I was either fourteen or fifteen when I had intimate relations with one of my friend's ex-girlfriends at the time, that's a few sins and a violation of the bro code right there. I took my dad's thunderbird without asking more times than I could count. Drank behind the wheel a few times but never got caught. Took a wizz in public at an Ozzfest once. Is even being at an Ozzfest a sin? Might as well not take chances, so yeah that happened several times, going to an Ozzfest. I tried smoking weed and did it regularly the last few years of high school. Then there was that time I made out with Elsa in the girls bathroom. I brought tequila to prom night..." Vargas continued with many more instances on into adulthood now. "There was some inappropriate behavior going on in boot camp that I looked the other way on. Then there were the strippers that night in Seattle although I didn't want them there, it was all Bremer's idea, though I should have had the moral clarity to walk away." Vargas continued. When it was appropriate Father Yang would stop Vargas to provide counsel and offer prayer. While Vargas was genuinely remorseful for many of the sins he confessed Father Yang found his long confession, going on well past an hour now, to be quite taxing. Yang felt he needed the patience of a saint to get through all of it. A man of god he was, but a saint, far from it. "Father, I've shed innocent blood. In the war, the war before this one I mean, it was hard to tell who the enemy was. I can't say with certainty every man I killed in combat was an enemy combatant arrayed against me. In Afghanistan I let a child slip past my vigil. Turns out he had a bomb and planned to detonate it in the middle of my platoon. Fortunately for the platoon the soldier on overwatch took out the boy before he could trigger the device. I feel there was no way out of that one without blood on my hands. I nearly failed my brothers in arms and could've cost their lives, and I did allow for the death of a small child. There had to have been some other way I could've stopped him without killing him." Vargas confessed with a tear in his eye. He had many more wartime confessions but this was the one that haunted him the most. Finally he got to what had been gnawing at him when he first came to this church. "After all that, my wife left me two years ago. She said I was gone too much and didn't pay enough attention to her. Things had been getting rocky for a while before that. Really around the time of my second deployment was when our marriage started to go south quickly. I tried to make it work, did video chats with her and the kids when I could but in the end I lost her. One day I came home to find her in bed with another man. I was even willing to let that slide but she threw me out and filed for divorce herself. I got to see the kids for a few months after that until she just up and disappeared. Was never able to locate them and haven't spoken to her or my kids since. Getting sent off to Korea didn't help things much either. I feel I have fallen short on so many levels here, being a father and a husband was my first duty and I couldn't perform either." Vargas said, his eyes now welling up and redness burning in his face. "You performed admirably. Few people would have been so forgiving after being wronged like that. However forgiveness is a two way street, it takes one party to forgive and another party to be willing to be forgiven. The ball is in her court now." Father Yang consoled him. He was right, though with the shape of the world right now Vargas was doubtful he would ever have another chance to be reconciled with his family half a world away. "Now I can be certain that the Lord is faithful to forgive those who seek his forgiveness. So I will leave you with the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; your sins are forgiven thee. Go now and sin no more." Father Yang said concluding the confession.

Yang and Vargas returned to the sanctuary of the church to find Bremer and his men had already arrived and were waiting for them. "Let's get a move on. Everyone's ready to head back but you." Bremer greeted Vargas. Vargas reached down into a cardboard box and took two pocket sized copies of the New Testament before he went outside with Bremer and everyone else. One of them he put in his pants pocket the other one he slapped on Bremer's chest. "There are no atheists in foxholes brother." Vargas told him half-jokingly. "Whoever came up with that saying is full of shit." Bremer retorted then thumbed through the pages. "I'll keep it though; the pages make for some good kindling." Bremer said mockingly. "Just give it a little read through when you're bored. Consider it entertainment if you have to. It's not like we have TV and movies anymore." Vargas replied. Even if he had to pretend it was fiction he presumed at least it would be a way to get God's foot in the door with Bremer so to speak. Bremer on the other hand could care less. He tolerated Vargas becoming more serious with his faith during their time at war but he himself wasn't planning on joining him in it. Father Yang bid farewell to his church and helped the others carry what they could use out of it. Together the soldiers and survivors headed back to the hospital for the night.


	25. Chapter 25: Scavengers

Chapter XXV: Scavengers

7 Oct 0916 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

A group of ROK Army soldiers walked out in front of a jeep and a beat up sedan going through an abandoned row of boutique shops, convenience stores and night clubs. The soldiers were scouting ahead a path for a number of civilians from the nearby districts that had escaped the initial wave of attacks. They were moving towards what they still believed was the Seongnam safe zone. "Keep your eyes open, people." said Lt. Seo, the company commander. They were all on edge, constant skitter attacks had picked their number down from 29 to 16 over the past day or so. "There's a bug hiding around here somewhere I can feel it." One of the soldiers grumbled. "Stay focused men. Don't let fear get the best of you." Lt. Seo exhorted his troops. A bit of debris came down from a rooftop near the squad's left flank. They all turned to see a skitter run out of their sight on the rooftop. A few short bursts of gunfire followed, hitting nothing but bricks and air. Seconds later a skitter leapt at them from an alleyway in between two of the buildings. The soldiers opened fire, taking down the creature but not before it managed to land several blows on one of their own. The soldier was wounded with cuts across the face and his body armor roughed up but he was still very much alive and in the game. Another skitter darted across the street in front of them. They fired but were unable to hit it. A third came at them from the rear, drawing their fire while the one that had eluded them sprang out of a side street at the head of the column. The soldiers took down the one at the rear of the column while an unseen gunman shot dead the one attacking head on before it closed in on the soldier's formation. A fourth skitter was stumbled out onto the street, impaled under the shoulder and through the neck with pieces of rebar. Afterwards the mystery gunman revealed himself to the soldiers. "Greetings. It looks like you could use a hand." the gunman announced as he walked out of a two story building housing a local bank branch and an accounting firm. Along with him about 8 other men and two women came out from the side streets and abandoned buildings wielding pick axes, shovels, hammers, knives and a few guns. "More survivors." one of the soldiers commented. "Thanks for the assist. We're taking people to a safe place. You're welcome to join us." Lt. Seo told the new group of survivors. "There are no more safe places, Lieutenant." the lead gunman said as his band infiltrated into the soldier's formation. "Not since these things came." he continued as he walked up to the jeep. "We'll come along with you still if that's cool. Strength in numbers right?" the lead gunman said. His men drew closer to the soldiers and mixed in amongst their ranks. The soldiers were still a bit nervous expecting another skitter attack to come at any second. The new arrivals seemed more laid back as if they hadn't been hounded by aliens the past few days. "So where are these people you're taking to this magic place at the end of the rainbow Lieutenant?" asked the lead gunman. "Hiding out with our rearguard. We only move them once we've cleared a path forward." Lt. Seo explained. "Ah, so nowhere around here then." said the lead gunman softly. "Everyone back in the vehicles. Let's get moving again." Lt. Seo said while looking at a few soldiers that had gotten out of the jeep to investigate.

While their leader was talking to Lt. Seo the new group of survivors had gotten really close to the soldiers on patrol. Each one of them shadowed one of the soldiers from within arm's reach, sometimes even two of them on a single soldier. Once everyone was in place the trap was sprung. In a well-rehearsed move the new band of survivors turned on the soldiers, seizing them and their weapons. Some were stabbed and clubbed to death; others were turned into human shields, absorbing a reactionary round of gunfire from the soldiers in the vicinity of the jeep. The driver of the jeep was pulled out of the vehicle and beaten to death by two members of the new gang. One of the two was shot in the upper arm by a wounded soldier on the ground. This only invited another of the gang to stomp on the wounded soldier's head until he was killed. The lead gunman took the weapon from the soldier he had seized and shot the soldier hiding behind the jeep with it. Then he turned and shot Lt. Seo four times in the chest and abdomen as he cast aside the soldier he had seized when he was hit by a burst of friendly fire. The driver and front seat passenger of the sedan were gunned down through the windshield. The other survivors hacked and stabbed the remaining soldiers to death until only one remained a scared private fleeing out of the back seat of the old sedan. The lead gunman dropped the soldier's rifle and took aim with his own weapon and shot the fleeing soldier in the back. "Like I said, there are no safe places anymore." the lead gunman said looking down at Lt. Seo's body. "Alright, gather it up." another member of the renegade band commanded. "Thank you for your contribution gentlemen." the lead gunman said as he pulled the body of the driver out of the sedan and allowed one of his henchmen to get inside. "Go scope out the area and find out where this rearguard is. They're bound to be quite the prize. I'll go see if I can't find this Shangri-La these guys were after." the leader told the new driver of the sedan. Meanwhile the rest of his group took the guns, armor and ammo off the dead soldiers. A few more got into the sedan and drove away. The leader then walked over to the jeep and climbed into the driver's seat. One more of his men joined him in the passenger's seat; the rest of them remained on foot. The jeep and those on foot then resumed the march the soldiers had been on and headed off with their newly acquired bounty.


	26. Chapter 26: Change For The Ferryman

Chapter XXVI: Change For the Ferryman

7 Oct 1949 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Vargas and Bremer brought the survivors from the church back to the hospital and another group of soldiers went out on patrol. At the end of the day their meager band of stalwarts had grown to almost a hundred persons, of which were 33 armed soldiers and civilian conscripts. Once they had enough weapons for everyone that number would be closer to 70 armed combatants. For the meantime however the soldiers would hand off their weapons to the next duty section when going off duty. Each of the new survivors along with those already incorporated into the group were set up in a section of the hospital close to the emergency room. The non-combatants were housed several to a room, taking care to keep families and close relations together, in patient rooms on the mid floors of the hospital so they could be easily defended. The soldiers and civilian conscripts were housed two to a room on the floors directly above and below the non-combatants as well as in the top and bottom floor. The ER waiting room along with the exam rooms and offices adjacent to it had been converted into the main guard post and command center for the small reconstituted army. Several roving watches took shifts patrolling the unoccupied sections of the hospital and the immediate environs. There was also a permanent watch stationed on the roof with the last remaining RPG in case of an aerial attack. The hospital kitchen and several hallway vending machines had been raided to provide the group their meals for the night along with what food the church group brought with them. Come daybreak they would send people out on supply runs but for now they had to make do with what they had.

Bremer went with another soldier to search the hospital while Vargas remained in the vicinity of the emergency room and helped show the new arrivals where they needed to go. He later went downstairs and handed off his rifle to the soldier that would be relieving him. "Better enjoy what sleep you can get. Tomorrow's bound to be busy again." the soldier told him. "Don't need to tell me twice. I feel like I could drop right now." Vargas replied. He then left and made his way upstairs, stopping at the room Father Yang was being housed in along the way. "It's Sergeant Vargas, may I come in?" Vargas asked after knocking on the door. "Come on in." Yang called back to him from inside. Vargas entered and shut the door behind him. "Got a room here all to yourself?" asked Vargas noticing that Yang was alone. "No, and I didn't ask for any special treatment. They put a few children that lost their parents in here with me. Miss Do, my Sunday school teacher, is taking them to the hospital library and gift shop so they can pick out some books and games to bring back up here." Father Yang explained. Vargas walked over and sat on the second bed opposite Yang and yawned. "Your work is never done." Vargas said with a smile. "Indeed. I enjoy it though." Yang replied. "Well I just came by to say thank you for earlier today. I really needed to get a lot off my chest." Vargas said. "You're quite welcome. If there's anything else I can do, or if you just need to talk, you can come by anytime." Father Yang replied. "I might just do that." Vargas said before he got up and headed back to the door. The door opened before Vargas got there and 3 children, two little girls and a boy all around the ages of 5-8 ran inside with two books and a few crossword puzzles. Miss Do followed in behind them. She smiled at Vargas briefly and caught up with the kids who were climbing on and around Father Yang in excitement. "I'll leave you to your bedtime stories father. God bless." Vargas said as he stepped out the door. "Be seeing you Sergeant, God be with you." Yang replied as the kids sat down around him and picked out a story from the book. Vargas shut the door and went up to his own room for a quick nap before his duty rotation started up again.

Sobieski and Major Han were in the third floor of the parking garage next to the hospital finishing repairs on an old Toyota truck. Lyndsey was underneath the truck while Han was leaning into the driver's seat. A Korean soldier was in the garage at the far end overlooking the street keeping a lookout for any threats that may present themselves. The truck that Sobieski and Major Han were working on was more towards the center of this floor of the parking garage. A cake pan with oily rags in it, some miscellaneous tools and three half drank bottles of Pocari Sweat were on the ground next to her. "Alright, start it now." Lyndsey told the Major. Han started the truck; it turned over and fired up just as it should. "How's the oil pressure?" she asked. "It's holding steady now. Looks decent." Han reported back. "Good. That should do it then. You can shut it off now." Lyndsey called back to the Major. While they were wrapping up Bremer came up the ramp of the parking garage wheeling a cylinder of nitrous oxide he had taken from the hospital. "Sergeant Sobieski." he spoke up as he approached to get her attention. Lyndsey got out from under the truck, stood up and walked towards Bremer. "Yes sir?" She asked. "I need you to find the fastest car you can and rig it up with this." Bremer instructed her. "Also I need you to set up the loudest stereo system you can find and put it in said car. Oh, and it all has to work." Bremer went on. Sobieski took the nitrous cylinder from Bremer and let out a deep dissatisfied breath. "I just got this truck running for us to use and now you want me to rig up some hot rod race car for what? Just so you can get your kicks? Sir, with all due respect I'm running on empty here. I've hardly had any sleep the past three days and been fixing stuff nonstop. Half our team is dead and that still hasn't registered yet. My mind is all over the place and I haven't had a cup of coffee or anything more than that bowl of cereal to eat all day. I'll get to it in the morning." Sobieski complained. "Lyndsey." Bremer said in a short, assertive tone. "Yes sir?" Sobieski answered turning back and focusing her attention on Bremer. His voice indicated he meant business, Sobieski expected something along the lines of "stop griping and get to it, soldier!" but instead Bremer reached into his pocket and tossed her a snickers bar. "Have a snickers." Bremer told her. "You're not you when you're hungry." Bremer joked as Lyndsey caught the candy bar. "Yes sir. Right away sir." Sobieski responded pretending to be stone cold serious in her mannerisms. She unwrapped the snickers and took a bite in front of Bremer. "Better?" Bremer asked. "Most definitely." Sobieski sarcastically replied. "Alright then, back to work! I'll catch up with you in the morning." Bremer said clapping his hands together once for effect. Bremer then turned around and left Sobieski and Han alone in the parking garage. Just as she was about to start hunting for the perfect car for Bremer it started raining outside. The rain was light at first but quickly picked up into a heavy downpour complete with thunder and lightning. "Great. Now we're stuck in here all night." Sobieski complained. "At least we've got each other to keep us company through it." Han said, trying to cheer her up. "He did not just try and flirt with me did he?" Sobieski wondered to herself. She really had to keep a lid on this fraternizing with the officers thing, especially one that is married. "We're under cover too, and if it keeps going any of these cars would work as a bed for the night." Han explained. "You've got a point. I'm just really burnt out that's all." Sobieski said. "I understand and I feel you there. I'd be nice just to get a break from it all but dammit these aliens don't give us a moment's rest it seems." Han replied. "Tell you what, let's find us the right car and I'll work on the wiring while you take a nap. Tomorrow morning all you'll have to do is find some speakers and that part will be out of the way at least." Han offered. "Thanks." Sobieski replied. He was a genuinely nice guy, one she believed in time could wear down her thick exterior and they could be the best of friends. Together the two of them headed up to the next floor of the garage seeking the fastest of fast cars the city of Seongnam could offer them.

8 Oct 0620 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

At daybreak Major Han, Bremer, Vargas and Tae-yang met in the on call doctor's office in the ER to discuss the day's strategy. Tae-yang also brought with him another soldier that had arrived shortly after midnight. He had the appearance of a man who had just gone to hell and back. His face was unshaven and weathered. His uniform was tattered and torn in places. In some of those places where his clothing was torn there were day old scars clearly visible. Overall he looked like a strong, healthy man who had gone lean from several days without food and little water. He carried an unloaded MSG90 sniper rifle and wore a combat knife on his belt. He didn't speak but followed Tae-yang's lead. "Before we begin I'd like to introduce the rest of you to Sergeant First Class Bu Ryong-ho of the 707th SMB." Tae-yang introduced his guest. "I've heard of you guys. You're like the ROK version of our Delta boys." said Bremer. "..and according to the soldier that found him he also killed one of those bug things with his bare hands." Tae-yang boasted. "That's not entirely accurate. The creature was wounded in one of its legs." Ryong-ho modestly corrected Tae-yang. "Still that's pretty damn impressive. Even wounded those things are stronger and faster than us." said Major Han. "For a race of super-advance aliens they're still not smarter than us." Ryong-ho added. His voice was steady and serious, without much in the way of inflection or emotion. He was visibly tired as well and his focus seemed a bit off. "So how did you manage to end up in our neck of the woods?" asked Bremer. "The 707th's headquarters is here in Seongnam, but I was coming back from a mission in the North. We were just arriving in Uijeongbu when it hit. First everything went dark, and then the sky lit up to the north and to the south. It was as bright as day in the middle of the night. The ground shook like an earthquake. For a moment there I thought the entire planet was going to blow. We bugged out quickly and made for the mountains before the bombers came in and glassed the area. We made our way around Seoul, trying to evade the alien presence. In spite of our efforts we still had to fight off small alien attacks on a number of occasions. All the bridges were out so we attempted to swim the Han River east of Gwanju. On the far bank we met heavy resistance and those who were with me were killed or taken. I managed to survive and continued on hoping that something would be left standing when I got here. I arrived in Seongnam yesterday to find the city in ruins. The buggers tried to ambush me about the time that your patrol found me. So here I am. Looks like I'm reporting to you Major." Ryong-ho recounted his tale to them. "First thing after this briefing I want you to head to the kitchen and fix yourself up something to eat. Then take at least a 30 minute nap. You look like you haven't slept in days." Major Han told Sergeant Bu. "Haven't had time. Been on my feet since this thing hit, if I stopped moving the buggers would be on me in heartbeat." Ryong-ho commented. "You're among friends now. After you're back at full strength we will definitely have need of your skills." Major Han said.

"Now shall we begin?" Major Han asked. Vargas and Tae-yang scooted the doctor's desk to the center of the room and cleared it off. They then unfolded and laid out a street map of Seongnam and placed various objects on the corners of the map to keep it in place. The five men then turned in towards the table. Han took out a pencil and lightly drew an "X" on the location of the hospital and drew a circle a distance around the hospital. "That's us, and that circle marks the limits of our patrols last night. We've also noticed regular enemy movements in these areas." Major Han said while marking several locations where enemy forces had been encountered. "This area up here and the streets to the north and west are where the damage is most severe. This is also the area where we've seen most of the enemy walkers. That's also where the majority of our dead still are as well. It's only logical to assume the enemy also believes that's where the most survivors would be as well." Major Han reported. "That and they don't want us to get our hands on all the equipment we abandoned there." Bremer interjected. "Now about the dead, those bodies have been out there for a day and a half going on 2 days now. It won't be long until they start decomposing and then we'll be swimming in disease. The storm last night didn't help and it continues to drizzle or rain off and on now into the morning." Bremer added. "I've got several of the civilians coming with me today to dig graves in the fields south of the airport. It's almost in the middle of all the major battle zones." Vargas mentioned. "If you had a thousand men and mechanized earth-moving equipment you still wouldn't be able to dig enough graves for all our fallen brothers in time, not to mention the difficulty in transporting all the bodies there. We've got limited manpower and still have to cover supply runs, search and rescue, scouting enemy positions and so forth. Fifteen people would probably be the most we can spend on grave digging. Health concerns aside I don't think anyone wants their last memory of someone to be that off a rotted away corpse." Bremer said rejecting Vargas' proposal. "Also what do you presume we do about all the dead crabbies out there? No telling what kind of alien germs those things are carrying." Bremer inquired. "I don't care. Burn them." Vargas replied. "You're on to something there. Now I would alternately propose we do something with the bodies while they're still pretty instead of all rotten and icky. We burn them, but we do it in a way where we do care. The bugs, well we can still not care about them. Fuck em' they can just plain burn. It'll be like a Viking funeral, but on land. How about you go and dig about a hundred or so graves. While we're going through and reclaiming our gear we'll be ID'ing the bodies and finding the ones close to the people here. We'll also get Taylor, Won-yong and Colonel Cho and his crew and bury them. We can have an honorary ceremony for everyone today when we bury those select few then tomorrow night we light the funeral pyre." Bremer suggested. "As much as I don't want to see our slain soldiers burned away like refuse the necessity of the situation mandates it." Major Han reluctantly agreed. "I can live with this. Promise me it won't be rushed though." Vargas replied. "It won't be. We'll make it worthy of their memory." Bremer promised. "If you are going to burn half the city down wouldn't it be smart to try and take some of the enemy out in the process?" Ryong-ho spoke up. "Way ahead of you there." said Bremer, now pacing back and forth behind Vargas and Han. "I've already ordered a super fast getaway car to be restored. We can use it to lure the bugs and their robots out into the open. Draw them into the center of our funeral pyre and boom!" Bremer explained. "Alright then. So it is decided." Major Han stated. "Aye." Vargas, Bremer and Tae-yang said in near unison. Bremer had sort of hijacked the strategy meeting but he came up with a plan, which was more than Han himself had going into this. He had hoped to lay out the situation and just wing it from there, taking input from the others as needed but it seemed Bremer had things all thought out beforehand and once again Han would defer to him. Bremer came across as more of a natural leader whereas Han's experience had been predominantly serving directly under senior staff officers who made all the big decisions leaving him to relay them down the chain of command as appropriate. Being the man at the top was something new for him, and a role he didn't fit into quite well. Bremer on the other hand had been concocting plans since last night and had even fallen asleep mulling over the finer details of what their strategy should be moving forward. "I'll take a team and begin combing through the bodies and setting up the fireworks for tomorrow. Once spec ops guy here is rested up I could use his help to keep the bad guys off my back. We'll try to use flammables in the immediate area we're working in first and only use fuel if we have to...or if it's just going to be burnt up anyways." Bremer said. "I'll get with Father Yang and have him prepare the funeral service then take a handful of men to go help dig the graves." Vargas stated. "Great. Now you just need a Buddhist monk and a Wang Chung shaman and you've got all your bases covered." Bremer mocked Vargas jokingly. "We might not have a monk but I can probably find someone that's a serious Buddhist to do their funeral rites. I think they would be cool with cremation for the most part actually." Vargas replied. "Also Wang Chung isn't a religion, not in Korea or anywhere." Vargas snidely commented. "Sure it is. It was big back in the 80s for a little while." Bremer laughed. Vargas then was dismissed and got to work on the funeral preparations right away. "Oh, and Major, If you could send some people out to pick up some guns and equipment from one of our old armory locations. I believe there's a few that are still standing. We had one in a school gymnasium somewhere south of here and there might still be some equipment left at the airport too. I'll make a list real quick of specifically what I need." Bremer turned to Major Han and said. "I'm on it." Tae-yang volunteered. Han nodded in consent and Tae-yang and Bremer left the briefing room. Ryong-ho then took his leave and left for the kitchen while Major Han remained a while longer to finish updating his maps and charts with the information brought in by their scouting parties.

Bremer then sent for and gathered up all the soldiers and civilian volunteers that had were not on watch guarding the hospital grounds or those who had gone with Vargas and assembled them in the ER waiting room. They had been divided into groups of five to seven, each with a squad leader, one additional armed fighter and three to five workers and support personnel. With the addition of the soldiers that had arrived overnight they managed to form seven such teams. "Alright everyone listen up! We've got a lot to do today if we're going to dust ourselves off from that ass whopping we got the other day. Each of you were assigned a squad and a duty section last night. Those of you who just got here were given that information when you got here." Bremer announced. "Has everyone here reported in to their assigned squad?" Bremer asked seeing some people were still looking around for where they were supposed to be. "We'll wait a little while for everyone to get where they need to be." Bremer said and patiently waited for everyone to finish falling in. "Alright now. The first assembly of the Reformed First Army of the Republic of Korea is called to order." Vargas announced having himself unofficially re-designated the amalgamation of various military units and so forth as the new 1st ROK. "As I was saying each of you are assigned to a squad. I personally will be leading Alpha Squad. Each of the other squad leaders are ranking military personnel hand-picked by myself and Major Han. Due to the scarcity of weapons at the present moment only one other member of your squad will be armed. As you find more weapons and gear out there we will be able to properly arm and equip more of you. Priority will be given to trained military and police personnel. Our mission today is threefold; search and rescue, gathering vital supplies and containing the public health hazard posed by thousands of decomposing bodies at our doorstep. Search and rescue operations are ongoing and will be the top priority for all teams. Delta and Echo squad will be tasked with acquisition. You will head south to a storehouse inside a high school gymnasium. Major Han will fill you in on the details after you are dismissed. You will gather anything of value you find both there and along the way. The most critical items are of course guns, rockets and rocket launchers, Stinger missiles, grenades and grenade launchers, standard types of ammo, nonperishable food items, gasoline and diesel fuel, and working vehicles, especially motorcycles. I will be needing at least five functional motorcycles before tomorrow night. Also remember when it comes to vehicles, I know it's counterintuitive but old and busted are generally more reliable. Golf and Foxtrot squads will be assigned to the central and southwestern areas of the city to locate survivors and acquire additional equipment. Alpha, Bravo and Charlie squads will be the first squads tasked with preparing the dead. Charlie will take the stadium grounds and east to the old command center. Bravo will cover the area north of the stadium grounds to the northern perimeter. Alpha will cover the area west to the perimeter, including the airport. The plan is for a mass cremation tomorrow night after a proper funeral service today, and if we're lucky we'll be taking a bunch of those aliens up in smoke with them. If you locate any friends or loved ones that you would prefer to be buried please move the body aside and place it in a marked location apart from the others. Don't worry as each squad rotates in throughout the day you will be reassigned to each of the different battle areas to check for loved ones. We must make sure to reclaim as many of the weapons as possible from our fallen brothers before tomorrow. Once you have procured all the equipment you can carry return here and report to Major Han or his staff for your next assignment. Be smart about this people. Don't grab a bunch of junk down the street and come straight back here. Delta and Echo teams especially, make sure you go to the armory first. Some of what we need can only be found there. Also get a vehicle first so you can carry more, this shouldn't have to be said but I'm sure someone out there is going to do something to prove that it had to be said. Alpha, Bravo and Charlie teams make sure you've done a thorough search through all the bodies before you turn around and go back. We only have enough time for each time to go through there once. Those teams should be primarily concerned with getting all the flammables into position for tomorrow; requisition of supplies should be secondary. Pile all the guns up somewhere and another team can come through for them later. Lastly, if you encounter the enemy do not engage unless absolutely necessary. Stealth is our friend, people. The less the enemy knows about our activities the better. Let him think he has us down for the count; it'll make it easier for us to light his ass up tomorrow night. Now I think I've about covered everything. Hop to it people! Dismissed!" Bremer instructed the assembled squads. The squads then dispersed to go about their designated duties with the exception of Alpha squad which waited for Bremer to finish his dealings at the hospital.

Later that morning Bremer returned to the hospital parking garage. It was still cloudy and overcast outside with a light mist of rain. He made it inside the garage just seconds before the rain picked up again. He went up several floors to find Sobieski back at work on a modified 1967 Shelby Cobra. It was painted shiny metallic blue and looked like it had been fully restored prior to Lyndsey tearing it apart. The trunk door was removed and two large speakers and a subwoofer were awkwardly mounted inside it at an angle. Freshly laid wiring crisscrossed the rear of the vehicle and was threaded under the passenger seat. The nitrous tank had been installed with its opening valve sitting just behind the gearshift between the driver's and passenger's seats. Overall what had been a sweet classic sports car had become a cluttered mess. Bremer whistled when he saw it. "Where did you find this baby?" asked Bremer. "Found it in a space marked reserved for Dr. Kang, chief of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery." Sobieski said while tightening some connections under the hood. "There were some faster vehicles up there but they're all too reliant on modern electronics to be any good. It would take days to restore and we'd have to drive into Seoul to find the parts and pray that they were still in working order. Everything else that could run would either be a mid-size Toyota or a Daewoo." Sobieski added. "She'll do fine. Must've paid damn good to give nose jobs in this country." Bremer remarked. "It paid damn good to give nose jobs back in California." added Sobieski. "True but Hollywood can afford to pay outrageous prices for a new nose and a pair of fake titties." Bremer commented. "That's something this country needs, more fake titties, seriously, when this war is over someone might want to think about coming over here and setting up shop." Bremer mused out loud while looking the car over. "I'd say Dr. Kang was already doing that." Sobieski said. "Yeah, but that's just a start. I mean if you really milk the demand you could buy a lot better cars than this. I'm talking a fleet of tricked out over the top super cars." Bremer replied. "You're over estimating the demand, Captain. Just because you think the women around here have small breasts doesn't mean they think the same way." Lyndsey said as she stood up and walked towards Bremer. She took out a crumpled piece of insurance paperwork with various items written in black marker on the other side. "I've made a list of what I'll need to finish the job. So if you can, please have one of your teams pick these items up on their next supply run." Lyndsey told him as she handed the list to Bremer. "Will do. We might have picked up a couple more mechanically inclined people to help you out up here too." Bremer replied. "Thanks. It'd take a lot of the pressure off if I wasn't the only one up here." Sobieski said. "There will still be plenty of pressure to go around, girl. I'm going to need the new guys fixing up some more vehicles to help move the bodies we're burying over to Vargas and company." Bremer replied. "Ok. Do you want me to install some armor plating on your car? This thing is built for speed so it won't hold up under fire." Lyndsey asked. "No. that'll just slow it down. These guys can pierce through steel as if it were butter anyways so you'd be wasting your time." Bremer said before leaning into the trunk. "Jeez, this thing looks like an electrical fire waiting to happen." Bremer commented upon inspecting the trunk. "Would you rather drive a Daewoo? I've got limited space to work with here. Everything is grounded properly and well insulated, nothing will blow on you. It just looks like a clusterfuck that's all." Sobieski explained. Outside the rain lightened up to a slow trickle as Bremer gave the wiring a closer examination. "Well." he said as he exhaled deeply. "Looks like I should get going now. I'll let you get back to your work. Oh, and I'll see about your parts and sending some help your way." Bremer said and began to walk away. He then stopped as if he forgot something and turned back around. "Are the keys still in the truck?" he asked. "No. I've got them here. Catch." Sobieski replied. She took the keys out of her pocket and tossed them to Bremer. Bremer snatched them in midair with both hands, leaning over slightly to make the catch. He then went back down to the lower levels of the garage to find the truck Sobieski had fixed up the night before.

8 Oct 1400 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

After he had spent several hours getting his sections of the city ready for the big day tomorrow Bremer drove up to the field near the airport where Vargas and his team had been digging graves all day. He had just recovered the bodies of Taylor and Won-yong and placed them In the back of the truck along with several weapons he had found along the way. In the passenger seat he had placed his duffel bag with all his clothes and uniforms in it. He found it roughly where he had left it, in the remains of what had been the American encampment. He had held onto that bag ever since the evening he left the base prior to the attack. Bremer parked the truck and got out to meet Vargas. They had dug many graves already, more than Bremer had expected them to be able to. There were empty jugs of water and cans of Korean Gatorade lying around on the field along with a couple spare shovels and a wheelbarrow. Vargas took a break from digging when he saw Bremer get out of the truck and went over to meet him. Vargas was in a pair of plain black pants and a white tank top. He soaked through and through with both sweat and rainwater. His hair was wet and matted down and his hands and face were muddy. "I think this is going to have to be a closed casket Chico." Bremer told him. "Our boys aren't looking too good." Bremer elaborated without going into the gruesome details. Won-yong was tore up pretty bad when the bugs got him so his insides had been exposed to the elements all this time. It also appeared that some of the local wildlife had started chewing on him too. Taylor was in even worse shape, having been crushed underneath the Abrams when it exploded. His body was torn apart and Bremer had the task of putting him back together in pieces, which took its toll on Bremer as Taylor was the one he was closest to from his tank crew. Bremer would have had no problem putting him back together like Humpty Dumpty if Taylor was just "some guy" to him. He couldn't even find all of Taylor's body amidst the wreckage of the tank. In the end he managed to scrape up roughly 70% of Taylor to bury. It was good enough, it was all ceremonial anyways. If Taylor was buried without an ear or part of his legs it wouldn't really make a difference. Bremer and everyone else would know what it represented. "I see what you mean." said Vargas after glancing into the truck bed. "I've got some linens we can wrap them in." Vargas suggested. "Ok. You go get them then come back here and help me carry them to their graves." Bremer told Vargas. Vargas went to get the sheets and came back. He and Bremer carefully wrapped up Won-yong and Taylor. "Can we put them in the front row? Next to Cho and the others we knew?" asked Bremer before they picked up Won-yong. "I don't see why not." Vargas replied. Vargas and Bremer then carefully carried the bodies one at a time to the grave sites and laid them down inside. Afterwards Vargas continued with his work to dig the last of the grave sites as the bodies started to arrive within the next hour. Bremer returned back to the hospital to finish up his duties and then change clothes for the funeral later in the afternoon.

8 Oct 1602 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

It was almost time for the funeral service to be held. Vargas' group had filled all the graves that they had already dug and it still wasn't enough for all the bodies they had to bury. He and his crew still had a few more graves left to dig after the service had concluded per the request of some family members. For the moment however his crew had to get ready for the service itself if they were to still have it during daylight hours while the enemy patrols were still at a minimum. Bremer's plan was still a work in progress though there was still another entire day left to set it up. The reformed 1st ROK Army had managed to acquire several new vehicles and repair a few others. They were now better armed and equipped to fight. A few skirmishes occurred throughout the course of the day which resulted in the loss of 4 more lives. All of those lost in fighting today were also to be buried at the funeral service. For the most part however the alien forces seemed to be ignoring them so long as the various teams did not come into direct confrontation with them. Either they considered the token human presence in Seongnam to be irrelevant or they knew something was afoot and where withdrawing from the area for the time being. Perhaps they were being studied from afar, the aliens could be curious about human customs and belief systems concerning the dead. They had already proven their curiosity prior to the invasion by observing the planet for two months prior to striking; it would not be a far-fetched theory to believe they were still doing so. For whatever reason the enemy actions served to facilitate the funeral arrangements. The entire population had been extremely busy today and had much to show for it. Despite their losses they were in a much better position in the mid afternoon than they were in at sunrise. Everyone had contributed something today. Those who couldn't fight or work in the city performed administrative duties, prepared meals, tended to the wounded, ran errands and delivered messages within the hospital. Even the small children made flags to place at the soldiers' graves during the funeral ceremony later.

While Vargas and his crew were getting ready at the grave site Bremer had returned back to the hospital. Father Yang and all of the non-combatants who wished to attend the ceremony were now boarding a school bus that one of the teams had appropriated from the high school earlier in the day. The bus had just been washed out after being used to transport bodies to the grave site and still was somewhat wet inside. Those who did not wish to attend stayed behind with Miss Do and the small hospital security detail that remained to guard their base of operations while they were away. Most of these were children who did not yet understand or wish to see death, several of whom still held on to hope that their father, mother, brother or sister was still alive and would return to them. Seeing a body or hearing their loved ones name read aloud would destroy what little comfort they had left. While the civilians were getting preparing to leave Bremer cleaned himself up the best he could and changed into his dress uniform. It would never pass a formal inspection at this point but by the new standards he was more than presentable for a military funeral. He put on a pair of aviator's sunglasses and donned his cover and left the rest of his clothes and his duffel bag on the bed in his room when he left. Bremer then met with Major Han on his way out and then with Sobieski who was waiting for them out front in a rusted up white van. Major Han climbed into the passenger's seat and Bremer sat down on one of the middle seats directly behind him. "This van is giving off a total creeper vibe. This is like the exact that people always told you to watch out for when we were kids. Where the hell did you get it?" Bremer commented as he got in and buckled up. "Echo team found it on the side of the road by the tennis courts next to the school." Sobieski replied as she fired up the van. It started rough and shook a little while the engine was running. "Well that ups the creeper factor over nine thousand." Bremer commented. "If it makes you feel any better the creepy dude that might have owned this van is probably some bugs dinner right now." Han jokingly interjected. "Ewww. Kind of feel sorry for the bugs." Sobieski commented. They drove off on what would be a bumpy ride to the grave site. "Say Captain seeing as you don't really buy into the supernatural this is probably all just a waste of time for you huh?" Sobieski asked trying to make conversation. It was a little unsettling being in a car and hearing nothing but the rumble of the road. There used to always be music playing or conversations with her friends and comrades when she drove somewhere. To get her mind off the funeral and how dire their situation truly was she wanted this trip to feel like that. "I wouldn't call it a waste of time. It means something to a lot of the people here. If it gives them closure and helps them cope with the reality of it all then it's worth the effort. Morale is a powerful thing Sergeant." Bremer replied. "True, but for you personally being all science-y and stuff you probably just believe that once you die that's it. Poof! You're gone. Just curious, that's all." Sobieski inquired. "Just because I don't believe in some magic dude in the sky tossing lightning bolts and granting wishes to people doesn't mean I subscribe to the ridiculous notion of annihilationism. The idea that anything can simply just cease to exist requires as much blind faith as thinking that Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Brahma, Zeus, Thor, Shang Di or L. Ron Hubbard will carry them into some blissful utopia or reincarnate them as a squirrel. To be honest with you I simply don't know what happens when the brain shuts down, and I don't really think about it. I would say that I believe in free will, something that's not exactly science-y as most people would think of it and in continuity. It's like everything we know so far about the universe points to the idea that something has always been there and always will be, at least on the quantum level. Then again we really don't know shit about how the universe really works and I'm fine with not knowing that either. We didn't think it was possible to travel the vast distances between the stars either but apparently someone out there figured it out or we wouldn't be having the problems we have right now. The bottom line is that I'm fine with not knowing. Admitting that you don't know is the only option that doesn't require faith. I just strongly doubt that there's some intelligent entity behind everything and somehow we magically know this entity's name here in our little speck in the cosmos." Bremer answered honestly attesting to the way he saw. "You think maybe the bugs know the answers to those questions?" asked Han. "Probably not. They know more than we do about some things but they're probably just as clueless as we are. They might even have their own little ridiculous cults and shit." Bremer commented. "What about you Lyndsey? I've never heard you talk about this stuff before. It's usually Chico that starts with the preaching this, Jesus that, Abraham hit me with a wiffle ball bat." Bremer asked. "Not something I talk about much I guess. I'm a little iffy on the whole organized religion thing although I would describe myself as spiritual." Sobieski replied. "Oh so you're one of those? Should've known with you coming out of the Bay Area." Bremer commented. "Cults and space magic aside, you know what I miss?" Sobieski continued, changing the topic all of the sudden. "What's that?" Bremer said. "Showers. A girl can get funky too with the stink after a few days. There are times that deodorant doesn't cut it either." Sobieski answered. "You're telling me. A crisp clean uniform on a dank ass dirty body really makes you feel it. I guess as long as you're funky fresh we'll be ok." Bremer added. "We're almost there." Sobieski said as they drove into the airport parking lot.

It was late in the afternoon when the funeral service began. After a couple hours of sunshine prior to the commencement of the service, partial cloud cover had now returned and a slight drizzle was coming down. Nearly everyone was in attendance save for the skeleton crew and a few kids back at the hospital. Snipers, along with Ryong-ho were posted in the nearby airport tower and in the ruins of buildings to their rear in case the enemy decided to crash the event. Furthermore most of the fighters in attendance were appropriately armed as well. Those who had fresh changes of clothes were dressed in their best. The crowd was gathered to the east of where the graves had been dug. In front of them to the west a mound of dirt covered with wooden planks served as a raised stage that would later be used to fill the graves. The graves themselves were already partially covered with dirt to stifle the scent of death in the air. Small South Korean flags were placed in the ground at the foot of each grave. On occasion an American or different flag crossed with that of South Korea was used to identify the soldiers of foreign nationalities. As the ceremony began the attendees filed into ranks in front of the stage and stood at attention until Father Yang started talking. Bremer stood in between Vargas and Sobieski in the front row. Tae-yang and Major Han were also in the front row further down on Sobieski's left. A soldier passing by gave an umbrella to Vargas who held it over both himself and Bremer on account of Bremer being one of the best dressed among them and the one who was set to give the closing speech. There were a few other umbrellas in the crowd but most of the men and women stood exposed to the elements. In the second to last row stood Ji-hwan, Jae-sung, So-hyun and Shi-woo among other fighters and civilians. An introduction and opening prayer was given by Father Yang and an elderly woman who was a devout Buddhist that served as the representative from practitioners of that faith. After the prayer service had concluded Major Han ascended to the stage in between Father Yang and the elderly Buddhist woman. "Survivors of Seongnam, citizens of the Republic of Korea, fellow humans of Earth; We have gathered here today to pay tribute to those who valiant gave their lives in defense of our world and everything we hold dear." Major Han announced. "They were our sons, our daughters, fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. They were our friends, our neighbors, people we barely knew and total strangers. Whoever they were to each of us, to all of us they are heroes. Soldiers from seven nations fought and died here against the never ending tide from beyond the stars. They died not as South Koreans, or Americans, Japanese, Canadians, Chinese, Malaysians or Australians but as defenders of Earth. In spite of their sacrifice Seongnam has fallen, but in their memory Seongnam will rise like the mighty Phoenix of legend and we will retake our city. Then we will lock arms with our brothers in other regions and take back our country and then go on to take back our world!" Major Han orated. He paused for applause as Tae-yang approached him with a plastic binder and a bell. "We will now observe a moment of silence as each of the names of the deceased are read aloud." Major Han said before he was handed the binder. One by one he started to read off the names in the binder out loud. After each name was spoken Tae-yang would ring the bell and there would be a brief pause of silence. The list was not a complete list, not all of the bodies could be identified. There were also inclusions of the loved ones of people in attendance that had been taken away by the aliens and those who were lost and unaccounted for. Notable among these inclusions was Han Min-jung, the Major's wife. After all the names were read aloud the stage was opened for anyone who wished to say some words on behalf of the departed. One by one several people ascended the stage and spoke fondly and tearfully of their friends and loved ones. The last person to offer up such words was Captain Bremer. He marched up the stage and turned to face the crowd. "I didn't know most of these people, but after seeing what I saw during the battle and hearing what I heard from each of you, I am proud to say that these were the finest men and women I have ever had the pleasure of serving with. Yes, our losses were grievous and our city was taken from us, but know this; We sent more of them to hell than they took of ours! We made them pay for every one of our brothers and sisters they took from us with at least three of theirs! These weren't just mindless zombies or brainwashed douchebags from the North either. These were members of a super advanced alien species with both technology and biology that surpasses or own and still we hit them back harder than they hit us! Take heart in that my brothers and sisters. If these men and women can see us from wherever they are now they will see us carrying on their legacy to complete and total victory in this war. I promise you all, their sacrifices will not be in vain!" Bremer declared then paused for applause while he collected himself and continued on a more somber note. "Now if I may have a moment to speak on behalf of those most dear to me. Among the fallen we honor today were two men of my tank crew, Corporal Richard Taylor and Sergeant Park Won-yong" Bremer began. Both of them had been promoted posthumously, in Taylor's case he was promoted three whole paygrades. "Both of these men were good soldiers and excellent tankers. Beyond that, in the short time I knew them I can honestly say they were more than just my brothers in arms. They were my friends; Sergeant Park with his lukewarm taste in music and famous laziness when the situation allowed and Corporal Taylor who was like a little brother to me. He was my companion everywhere we went, both in the foxhole and taking in a good time on the town. I got to know him very well in the time I served with him, and Sergeant Park as well. Park would always pretend to get mad when I intentionally mispronounced his name or made generalized assumptions or called him Chinese just to piss him off. In turn he would rip on me for being from SoCal and made the cliché assumptions just to get my goat. You know the shallow, self-absorbed surfer, the gay frilly Hollywood type that kind of stuff. We were all a tight knit crew. I knew about their hometowns, their families, their friends, interests and hobbies. They told me about their life in high school and before the military. Hell, in Taylor's case they were both one and the same. He left for basic two days after his graduation. To them I was more than just their commander; I was their friend and mentor." Bremer continued. "Those of you who know me know that just about anything can roll off my back. I can be a hard man at times and often come off as unsympathetic. I would be lying to you however if I did not say that their absence today has left a hole in my heart." Bremer went on to say, his voice began cracking a little towards the end. "That's all I have to say." Bremer concluded, not wishing to let his emotions spill over as he was addressing the crowd. As he stepped down and returned his place next to Vargas, Father Yang gave the closing prayer. After he was done Sobieski stepped out of ranks and marched across the front of the gathering where a Korean soldier handed her a set of bagpipes. She took her position next to the stage and started to play TAPS on the pipes. Bremer and Vargas were impressed that she even knew how to play them. This was a new revelation to both of them. A squad of soldiers filed in next to her and delivered the customary 21 gun salute. During the 21 gun salute the rain cleared and the sun came out, shining brightly as if to say a new chapter of life had begun for everyone there. Afterwards a single American and South Korean flag was folded by the burial detail and handed to Major Han and Captain Bremer on behalf of all who had died. As the rest of the attendees left the area to return to their duties, Bremer and Vargas remained dwelling on thoughts of their fallen comrades, Bremer more so. Vargas' faith gave him strength to know that they were in a better place, though he still missed them, albeit he was not as close to Taylor and Wong-yong as Bremer was, especially Taylor. Bremer was taking it much as if he had indeed lost a little brother, and had no such hope of ever seeing him again in whatever, if anything lies beyond this life. "Great speech Captain. On the bright side at least the rain has stopped." Vargas said trying to console both Bremer and himself. "Has it?" Bremer said, his voice cracking and trembling as he spoke. Vargas turned to see a single tear slipping out from below Bremer's sunglasses and rolling down his cheek. "I can't tell." Bremer continued. Vargas could tell Bremer was trying to keep it all inside but it wasn't working. He truly was wounded deeply and only now when his thoughts were focused on the matter the true gravity of what had happened hit him all at once. Bremer was deeply hurting and he could not just brush it away this time. Vargas had never seen this much of any negative emotion come through with Bremer. Taylor was his buddy but it wasn't just Taylor that was getting to him Vargas supposed, but maybe the grief for everyone that Bremer had lost to date was now coming through. They may have been few in number but Bremer's units had taken casualties during his service in the human wars of the past. Vargas continued to hold the umbrella over Bremer as the two of them stood there as the burial detail finished covering the graves. They stood silent for some time while the sun set, lighting the sky in a reddish orange haze reflecting the melancholy spirit in their hearts.

9 Oct 2017 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

The following day all the preparations for Bremer's plan had been put into place. The bodies were soaked in fuel and the area around them and the nearby structures were packed with incendiaries and explosives. The affected area had been thoroughly scoured for survivors and was completely deserted as night fell across the city. A lone mech marched past the stadium completely unaware of what has about to occur. Though the hospital was deemed to be at a safe distance from the funeral pyre to err on the side of caution the population was moved to an area in Seoul north of Seongnam proper. This left only Bremer, Sobieski, Ryong-ho, Tae-yang and six other volunteers left in the city to execute the plan. Outside the hospital were six motorcycles of varying models, the old truck with two Stinger missiles underneath a blanket in the truck bed, and Bremer's souped up sports car. The modifications had been completed on the vehicle. It looked a little cleaner and more aerodynamic. A tape deck was now installed and connected to the speakers. They gathered in the ER waiting room to go over the plan one last time. "One more time to be sure everyone. Those of you on the bikes I want you to spread out into the side streets in the south of town and make a lot of noise, pop a few bugs if you have to in order to get them pissed off and on your tail. Draw out all the crabby critters you can and lead them onto the main roads. That's where I will be, once you've flushed out the enemy make your way to the northwest and head out of town. I'll be blasting out my speakers at full volume to get the robots to follow me as well. When I pass by the stadium I'm going to ignite the bonfire. Each of you has a pistol, a flare gun and a grenade. Once you see the first flames go up I want you to light up the fires at the airport and the western perimeter. Bike team you're dismissed." Bremer instructed the soldiers. The six bikers then departed towards the south to draw out the enemy. "Spec ops and Tae-yang, you will be waiting at the northern edge of town with the stingers. There's a good enough chance that the enemy will send in zoomies to take us out once we start lighting them up. You only have one missile apiece and their guidance systems are totally ineffective on these guys so it's straight up line of sight and you can't miss. I know both of you are crack shots so that's why I requested you for this role. I intend to pass by you on my retreat after you see, and probably hear me pass by you need to bug out of there pronto. Good luck and I'll see you on my way out." Bremer instructed Tae-yang and Ryong-ho who then went into the truck after he dismissed them. Bremer then took out Wong-yong's old tool box and selected the perfect mix tape for the mission. It was one in the middle of the row entitled "Annoying Mix." Bremer took it out and smiled. "Won ton dude I love ya but really, who makes themselves a mix tape to annoy themselves with." he laughed and got up. "Alright Lyndsey. You're driving. Let's do this!" Bremer said.

The Shelby Cobra cruised down the thoroughfare into the southern part of Seongnam where most of the alien forces had been sighted throughout the day. Bremer was loaded for bear. He had an assortment of four flare guns, a K1A submachine gun and an M32 multi-shot grenade launcher in case things really got ugly. Time to start it up, thought Bremer as he inserted the cassette into the tape player. Bremer grimaced as the first song began booming out the speakers. "Dear no, Taylor Swift as the opening salvo here. Talk about weapons of mass destruction aye yai yai!" Bremer muttered. "Lyndsey, if we ever get brought up on war crimes charges when this is all said and done remember that this never happened! I'm about to violate the Geneva protocols right now!" Bremer said looking over to Sobieski and then turning up the volume halfway. As he went down the road he indeed began to attract attention. Sobieski quickly made a loop through some other streets near the far southern edge of the city and got turned around heading north. There were already about 40 skitters tailing them before one of the motorcycles darted out of from a side street in front of them bringing a whole new horde out onto the thoroughfare. Lyndsey sped up and just barely beat the skitters coming out of the side street. The skitters themselves were surprisingly agile, keeping up with the Cobra cruising at around 40-50 mph, climbing buildings and leaping ahead as a means of gaining on them. Even so, Bremer and Lyndsey knew they had enough speed in reserve to outrun them if they had to. Right now they were just stringing them along. Bremer turned up the volume louder as the song "Gangnam Style" came on. "Of course this song must be included in any annoying mix compilation." Bremer laughed. The noise drew more skitters out of a building to their right as they were passing by. Bremer had to fire a few quick bursts to keep some of the skitters away from them and Lyndsey swerved to avoid some more coming out from an alleyway to their left. In the distance behind them they saw their first mech give chase. It ran past the skitters as if they were standing still and started to close the distance on the Cobra. "Give it some more gas Lyndsey!" Bremer goaded her. She accelerated up to 70 mph, whipping through the disabled vehicles and skitters ahead of them. Bremer opened fire and cleared a path ahead of them. The mech was still gaining on them but they were putting too much distance between themselves and the skitter horde; they couldn't afford to lose their prey before they could draw them into the trap. "You see that walker back there?" Bremer asked Lyndsey. "Yeah." she replied. The mech's searchlight reflected ever so often in her rearview mirrors. "We're going to need to juke and jive a bit, make it hard for it to hit us." Bremer told her. "And slow down, we don't want to lose the crabs." Bremer continued. "Are you fucking crazy!" Lyndsey said to herself but she obeyed orders and dropped their speed. Meanwhile the other motorcycles were combing through the areas to the east and west of them, drawing out the enemy garrison towards the stadium and western perimeter. Along the route one of the motorcyclists was ambushed from above by a skitter and battered into the ground. Bremer picked up the grenade launcher and got ready. The mech darted out in front of the advancing wave of skitters and opened fire. Lyndsey swerved erratically to evade the incoming fire. As the mech got even closer it a series of light beams converged onto the back of the Cobra indicating it was locking on. During this time Bremer fire a grenade round even though he was out of range. The grenade detonated on top of a disabled KIA and destroyed the car. The debris from the explosion was enough to shake up and disorient the mech. "Speed her back up!" Bremer told Lyndsey after buying them some time. As they drew nearer to the stadium grounds Bremer cranked the radio, now playing some Avril Lavigne song, up full blast. Two more mechs diverted away from their rounds and approached the Cobra from the flanks. Bremer launched another grenade, damaging one of the mechs and causing some rubble from a nearby building to rain down on the other two. A fourth mech along with a fresh new swarm of skitters was coming from the southeast onto an intersection behind them. They were now too close to their trap to open fire again without prematurely setting off the fireworks they had planned. This situation was made even worse when a fifth mech stood obstructing their route north past the stadium grounds and opened fire. A few grazing rounds shattered the windshield and blew out the left speaker. Sobieski shielded her eyes and swerved sharply to the right. "You ok Lyndsey?" asked Bremer. "Fine sir!" she replied. "Then floor it, but save the nitrous!" Bremer told her. She slammed her foot down on the gas and quickly pulled back to the left to avoid the next barrage of mech fire from up ahead that instead impacted on the building walls on the right side of the street. Two of the mechs to their rear also opened fire briefly but stopped short of hitting the mech in front of Bremer and Sobieski's vehicle. A Korean rap song came on as Bremer took a flare gun in each hand and pointed them towards a pile of bodies lumped together with homemade explosives in 55 gallon drums and large sacks. He fired the flares moments after they sped past the flares' intended targets. One of the pursuing mechs fired an explosive energy bolt towards the Cobra just before the flares ignited the bodies and detonated the drums causing a chain reaction of explosions from within the nearby structures that consumed the mechs and skitter hordes behind them. Lyndsey quickly swerved to avoid the rocket which caused another series of explosions to prematurely go off that knocked over the mech in front of them with large fragments of burning steel, wood and concrete that were hurled outward from the blast. She managed to race through the narrow path between the rubble and the flames to get through the main intersection at the stadium grounds. They scraped up against a parked car in the process that completely tore off the passenger's side door. As new hordes of skitters accompanied by a handful of mechs closed in from the east and the west a cascade of explosions was triggered from the first detonation and rapidly spread through the city setting everything ablaze. The biker teams passing by the airport and western perimeter saw the fires billowing up into the night sky and ignited their parts of the city as well. A desperate skitter on the western perimeter managed to tackle and dismount one of the bikers however before both he and the skitter were consumed in fire. The Cobra raced towards the north edge of town as the flames fanned out behind him. Lyndsey was giving it all she had without reaching for the nitrous as the heat from the all-consuming fire grew ever closer, devouring skitters, mechs and the slain of Seongnam as it spread. To the north the dim blue lights of a single beamer appeared on an intercept course. "Look alive Lyndsey, zoomies incoming!" Bremer shouted. As the beamer dove down in preparation for a bombing run Tae-yang and Ryong-ho fired their stinger missiles. All would have gone perfectly to plan if the beamer had not suddenly stopped on a dime in midair, thus allowing the missiles to pass harmlessly in front of it. "Sons of bitches are learning! They've adapted their strategy!" snarled Bremer. "Now's the time for that nitrous Lyndsey!" Bremer shouted. Bremer reached down and opened the nitrous valve fully. The car took off, shaking violently as the beamer fired a pulsing warhead at a point well behind where Bremer and Sobieski were. The right speaker became loose and fell out of the vehicle onto the road where it broke apart in bits. Ahead of them he saw the tiny image of the old truck with Ryong-ho and Tae-yong speeding off in the distance to the north. Smart move, glad they didn't wait up for us he thought. Bremer took out his remaining two flare guns and fired them into piles of corpses ahead of them causing a pillar of fire to shoot up into the sky directly below the beamer before the flames radiated outward to the east and the west. The fireball torched the underside of the low hovering beamer, destabilizing it slightly as Bremer and Lyndsey drove underneath it moments before the entire area burst into flames. The beamer's warhead struck south of the stadium grounds and detonated in a violent flash, intensifying the flames consuming the city by an order of magnitude or more. The biker cruising along the narrow roads on the eastern edge of the city was enveloped and consumed by the flames he was unable to outrun. The shockwave from the expanding explosion reached the edge of the city and knocked the beamer that caused it out of the sky. The Cobra shook mercilessly and the remaining speaker and subwoofer blew out as the shockwave dissipated behind them. They had made it out alive after all.

The Cobra sputtered and ground to a halt as it reached the base of a hill where all teams were to rendezvous after the mission. Sobieski and Bremer got out and looked over their once magnificent car. It was scorched and covered with soot, the tires were smoking and worn bald, the tail pipe was dragging on the ground, it was missing a door and the windshield and steam was rising out from under the hood. "She's in some sad shape but she got us out." Bremer commented. He and Lyndsey then gathered up their things and walked up the road to the top of the hill where Tae-yang and Ryong-ho were already waiting for them. "Glad to see you made it." Tae-yang greeted them as they reached the summit. "The bastards are wising up to us, and picked a damn good time to do it too." Bremer complained. "..But we still got the best of them!" Bremer exclaimed and high fived Tae-yang into a stylized handshake. Ryong-ho reached into the truck and tossed a bottle of Korean Gatorade to each of them. "I would offer you a victory beer if we had any, so take this instead." Ryong-ho said. "Victory still tastes just as sweet." Bremer said after finishing the first long gulp that consumed half the bottle. Bremer leaned up against the hood of the truck next to Ryong-ho while Lyndsey sat on the grass in front of them and Tae-yang leaned on the driver's side door. Together they watched close to half of Seongnam burn while they waited for the three surviving bikers to arrive. "If only we didn't raze such a large chunk of Seongnam to the ground." lamented Ryong-ho as he watched his hometown reduced to ashes. The four of them sipped their Gatorade and went "mmmmhhh." in concurrence. Seongnam burned throughout the night to pay the toll to honor their fallen brothers with the first real victory of the war. "Change to pay the ferryman, that's all this is. Change for the ferryman, no one crosses over for free." Bremer commented.


	27. Chapter 27: Lines of Communication

Chapter XXVII: Lines of Communication

7 Oct 1514 KST

Gangseo District, Seoul South Korea

Ji-hye waited patiently outside the hardware store while Williams was inside talking to and getting to know the people inside. She stood alert, seeking cover anytime she thought a skitter or one of Dong Zhao's men was approaching. Due to the extensive devastation in the nearby area enemy activity was light compared to Incheon. There would be an occasional flyover and mechanized patrols frequented the opposite shore of the Han River but nothing came through the immediate area around the hardware store. After waiting for close to two hours Williams came outside and waved both hands over his head to attract Ji-hye's attention. She came out of hiding and took a few steps towards him. "It's ok! Everything checks out!" Williams shouted over to her. She walked over to him and looked around in case they had attracted any undue attention. She kept her weapon close just in case as Williams led her inside the store. Once inside they encountered the co-pilot and FSB agent waiting for them at the door. "I'd like you to meet Sergei Kaverin and Grigor Stepanov. They're the ones in charge of this group." Williams introduced the two Russians to Ji-hye. The group didn't give off the impression of being a merry band of post-apocalyptic bandits. They looked like a genuinely scared group of unprepared civilians huddled together to ride out the days ahead. "We're sorry about Leonid. He has a drinking problem. Also can be a bit of a jackass when drunk." Sergei apologized. He had a very strong accent that was hard to understand at times but his English was markedly better than Petrikovich's by Ji-hye's standards. "Apology accepted." Ji-hye replied. "As you can see we are what he said we would be, survivors of plane crash. It wasn't his fault though. He was sober on the flight I make sure of that. The avionics failed and we lost our left engines and we were forced to make an emergency landing. Leonid is good pilot. He is just rough around the edges as a man." Sergei told her apologetically. "Where's Hamza?" Williams asked Grigor after noticing he wasn't with him. "He is in boiler room handcuffed to a pipe. Alfonse is watching him." Grigor answered. "So where are the rest of your people? You are police no?" asked Sergei. "We were separated during an attack. We're still looking for them." Ji-hye told him. They were all in now; she just gave away the last card they could've played. They had no choice but to trust these people now. "I understand. If we can be of any assistance let us know. You returned Leonid to us, is only fair that we should return the favor. He would have likely died out there if he had been on his own for too long." Sergei said offering the flight crew's assistance. "Thank you. I just might ask you to honor that." Ji-hye politely responded. Williams was scanning over the small store. He didn't see Petrikovich anywhere. More than likely he was in some back room drinking or passed out asleep. Williams turned back towards Ji-hye. "Come, I'll introduce you to the rest of the flight." he offered. Ji-hye and Williams left Sergei and Grigor and went to meet the other members of Flight 1437 that he had briefly gotten to know. He found Melissa and the German man sitting down on folding chairs in the lawn and garden department. "Why hello again." Melissa greeted Williams. "Hello. I'd like you to meet my associate Ji-hye. She's a detective with the Incheon police department. Ji-hye, this is Melissa Lonaghan, a reporter with Rolling Stone and Mr. Klauss." Williams introduced both parties to each other. "Dr. Dietrich Klauss. I'm an epidemiologist with the WHO. I was coming back from assignment in the Philippines when the plane went down." the German man stood up and more fully introduced himself, shaking Ji-hye's hand. "What was going on in the Philippines that had the attention of the WHO?" asked Ji-hye. "I was there investigating a new outbreak of a neurological disease with symptoms similar to meningitis that had sprung up in isolated spots worldwide a few days after the aliens had first arrived. There was speculation that the disease was extraterrestrial in origin in the news media and I was sent to this new hotspot to try and debunk that theory and get to work on treating the real cause of the outbreak. I mean how could it have been alien at a time when the aliens were all sealed away in their ships." Dr. Klauss explained. "I see." Ji-hye replied. "..and I was en route from Moscow to Los Angeles to write a story for Rolling Stone." Melissa added. "I probably would have read it online during my downtime if the world had remained normal and you had gotten around to publishing it." Ji-hye replied. "Everyone's reading things online these days. No one appreciates picking up the print edition anymore. Well, I should have said everyone was reading the online edition." Melissa commented in a lightly cynical tone. "So these days people have no choice but to pick up the print edition right?" Ji-hye chuckled. "Wait a second, Doctor, you said it was a neurological disease right?" Ji-hye asked after having a sudden idea come across her mind. "Yes. We hadn't yet identified the pathogen responsible but it would almost always lead to inflammation of the nerve tissue in and around the spinal cord and brain stem among other symptoms such as stiffness in the neck or joints, unexplained fear or paranoia, elevated metabolism, severe thirst, increased sensitivity to light or sound, changes in mood, thoughts or behavior and even outright psychosis " Dr. Klauss told her. "Well when you told me that I was thinking that these aliens either are themselves or employ some kind of parasitic organism that attaches itself to the spinal column of a host species, such as humans. Maybe this disease was intended as a means to "prime" us so to speak to accept this parasite?" Ji-hye theorized. "Sounds more like zombies than aliens." Williams laughed. "Don't be silly zombies aren't real." said Dr. Klauss. "Neither were aliens til a couple of months ago." Ji-hye added. "Anyways you said this thing appeared worldwide right?" Ji-hye asked. "Not exactly. It appeared in locations spread all across the world within a matter of days from the first reported cases in Newfoundland, Uzbekistan and Guinea. The places it first appeared though were all extremely remote and isolated, Easter Island, Western Australia, northern Canada, Svalbard, Madagascar, and southern Utah for example. You'd think if it was intentionally released by aliens they would disseminate it in our major population centers. It wasn't like they didn't have ships over each and every one of them. I'm sorry miss but I'm a man of science, I can't be so easily persuaded to go off and pursue wild conspiracy theories. It was a fun diversion for a minute there though." Dr. Klaus replied. "That it was. How else are we supposed to pass the time?" Ji-hye smiled and said. "Well, we're glad to have entertained you for a while but I promised to show her around to everyone." Williams spoke up, excusing himself and Ji-hye from the conversation. He then took her around and introduced her to most of the other people hiding in the hardware store excluding Alfonse and Hamza.

That evening everyone, save two men on lookout duty, sat down around a large wooden display table for dinner. As promised Petrikovich served them cold Spam from a can on styrofoam plates complete with a garnish of airline peanuts. "What did I tell you? Spam from can. Is good no?" Petrikovich jovially exclaimed as he cut Ji-hye and Williams a slice. "Its delicious." laughed Williams. Petrikovich finished dividing the Spam among everyone at the table and sat down between Grigor and Sergei. They ate their meal and exchanged idle conversation with each other for several minutes. "So I was thinking you need to find your people and we need to eventually find somewhere else to stay. Perhaps there is a way we can both help each other out." Sergei mentioned. "Why do we need to find somewhere else to stay?" asked Dr. Klauss. "Yeah, we're dug in nicely here we could ride out the end of the world in this place." one of the male Korean passengers chimed in. "Because eventually all the food in the gas station across the street will run out. Then we will find ourselves having to go further and further away for supplies. Eventually the roachie coachies will catch wind of us and no amount of sharpened sticks and fertilizer bombs will save us when they come full force to smoke us out." Grigor replied. "To be honest that is going to be our problem no matter where we go. My unit has a secure base in Seongnam with several thousand military personnel protecting it but even they were concerned they couldn't stand alone. That's why I was sent out to Incheon, to link up with other survivors and build a network to coordinate our efforts to resist our conquerors and survive." Williams explained. "Then that is what you should continue to do and we will do it with you." Grigor suggested. "I agree. That's what we had planned to do but first we have to find the rest of my people." Ji-hye said. "Strength in numbers. They could have weapons too, real weapons." chimed in Yulia Konstantinov, one of the flight attendants. "We also need more hard liquor. Too much time to pass sober. I feel need for good burn of tequila in my throat." Petrikovich added. "At least he likes variety in his booze." Williams commented. "With the way he drinks he'd have to or I'd imagine he'd be really bored in a month." said Yulia. "Leonid, if you are going to be drinking then tomorrow you will be staying her to guard the fort." said Sergei. "Tomorrow we will help you find your people and bring them back here then we will need to link back up with the American's army friends in Seongnam. Most people here are not soldiers; they would not last in fight. So Alfonse and I will go with you. Alfonse is retired French Air Force, he should know how to handle a weapon." Sergei proposed. "It's probably not advisable for everyone to travel to Seongnam at once. There's heavy alien presence on the roads between here and there and the humans along the way aren't much better. It would be safer if we just sent me and maybe two others that way we can slip through the enemy lines undetected. We can hunker down here and they'll be dug in over there. Together we can establish a relay system to communicate with each other. It will be like the Pony Express." Williams proposed. "The what?" asked Petrikovich. "Sorry, that's an American reference. Basically we will have fast moving teams to relay information between the various camps we come across. If we are ever going to do more against the aliens than simply delay or inevitable demise we are going to need reliable communications more than anything. With the power grid completely down and those ships in orbit jamming all transmissions old fashioned snail mail is the best option." Williams explained. "Why does snail have to carry mail? Would it not be faster if you gave mail to horse, or tiger?" asked Petrikovich. "Shut it Leonid, I get reference." Sergei upbraided him. "Now there is problem, if we bring all of her people back here we will run out of food and supplies in a matter of a few days. That will not be long enough to send someone out to Seongnam and wait for him to come back." said Grigor. "You and Alfonse can go with Ji-hye to find her people. In the mean time I can go to Seongnam and link up with my unit and tell them about our situation here. It will have to be me though; I doubt they would listen seriously to anyone else that came in." Williams proposed. "When we get the manpower we can start sending people off in other directions to find other survivors in other camps. Slowly but surely we'll establish an ever-widening network and be able to really do something that makes a difference out there. I think that was the plan all along." Williams continued. "I applaud your ambition but Seongnam's a long way away by foot and there are hardly any working vehicles out there that haven't already been snatched up. It's a lot of time to wait on a long shot. Do you even know if your army friends in Seongnam are still alive? What if you get killed along the way? How would we even know?" Dr. Klauss objected. "We will send someone to protect him. It is worth risk for several thousand soldiers at our backs. Hamza is our best fighter so we send him. I will go with too to keep watch over Hamza." Grigor suggested. "That only leaves drunky and us civilians here." mentioned Yulia. "Strength in numbers. You have the numbers if anything happens. Just lay low until we get back with more police officers." Sergei told her. "So it is decided then?" Sergei asked everyone. Williams, Ji-hye, Grigor, Alfonse and a number of the civilians nodded or voiced their approval. Dr. Klauss and a few other civilians shook their heads or voiced their disapproval. Hamza said nothing nor did he make any gesture to indicate his desire. By a fair margin those in agreement outweighed those who disapproved of the plan. They did a show of hands to make sure. Once again Hamza refused to participate. Sergei wasn't running a democracy here but it helped to legitimize the decision that he had already made if he had the majority's approval. "Very well it is decided. We leave at dawn." Sergei announced. Everyone finished up their meals and went off to rest or hang out in various parts of the store for the night.


	28. Chapter 28: Forks in the Road

Chapter XXVIII: Forks in The Road

8 Oct 0425 KST

Gangseo District, Seoul South Korea

Ji-hye awoke suddenly to Sergei's boot gently kicking her in the small of her back. "Wakey wakey sleepyhead." Sergei's deep gruff voice called to her like an unwelcome alarm clock. "It's too early. Urrrrgh..." Ji-hye groaned. "Day is wasting. Up! Up!" Sergei nagged. Ji-hye opened her eyes. The sun wasn't even up. Waking up early was easy for Sergei and the Russians, their bodies were still used to it being 6 hours earlier to some degree. For them this was like mid-day. For Ji-hye however it was way too early. However Sergei would not let her be. He continued to prod her with his foot and urge her to get up. "I'm getting up okay!" Ji-hye griped as she rolled over and pushed herself up from the plush towel laid onto the cold floor that had been her bed that night. Groggy, thirsty and achy, Ji-hye rose to her feet. "I need something to drink, and where's the ladies room again?" Ji-hye asked. "English woman is in little girls' room. You can use men's' room if you like. Is over by lumber section." Sergei told her. "That's fine." Ji-hye grumbled as she started to walk away. "Must hurry though. No time to powder nose. Grigor made cold coffee. I will save you some." Sergei told Ji-hye as she went towards the restroom.

A few minutes later she joined Sergei, Grigor, Hamza, Dr. Klauss, Alfonse, Yulia and Williams at the breakfast table. There were some playing cards laid out in various spots on the table as some of the men had been up for a few hours already killing time. "You look like shit." Williams commented as she sat down beside him. Williams handed her a plastic cup filled with room temperature coffee. Ji-hye took a sip. She would need something to give her that jolt of energy to get her going today. She would need something. . . something else. Ji-hye spit out the coffee onto the floor. "Yuck. This isn't coffee. More like coffee flavored water." she complained. She had tasted lousy coffee in her time with the police force but this cup took the cake. Williams, Sergei and Grigor all laughed at her. Grigor filled himself up another cup from a red 3 liter cooler and drank it down like it was nothing. "What did you guys do? Crush some coffee grounds with a hammer on the bathroom floor and stir them into a glass of water?" Ji-hye cynically inquired. "It was on counter not floor." Grigor corrected her and laughed. "Can I just have some water? Normal water please." Ji-hye asked. Williams obliged her by reaching into a cardboard box under the table and retrieved her a 500 mL bottle of water from within. Ji-hye drank it down quickly then gasped in relief. It helped wash that awful taste down. "Ok, so Grigor, Hamza and Mr. Williams you should be getting going soon." said Sergei. "You know how to get back to Seongnam from here?" Sergei asked Williams. "Not really. I had a local with me when we came last time. I do know that need to avoid going into Seoul proper, was nothing but bad news the first time around. Can't imagine its gotten better since the buggers landed." Williams replied. "Find me a map. I'll show him. Basically just follow the 100, though I'm sure most of it's going to be collapsed. You just head south to Anyang and then head east. That should take you straight to Seongnam. That should avoid Seoul for the most part." Ji-hye said. "Ok. I won't remember that. Still better get that map." Williams joked. "We can look for one at that gas station across the street." Ji-hye said. "We've got a few more weapons in a jeep not far from here. With the roads how they are though we can't drive it up here so if any of you want to come with us we'll give you some of them. You're helping us out after all. It's only fair." Ji-hye offered. "I'll go. We need something to defend this place with all our fighters gone." Dr. Klauss volunteered. "We can start trip to Incheon using your jeep so we all go." Sergei added.

Williams, Sergei, Grigor, Hamza, Alfonse, Klauss and Ji-hye then left the hardware store leaving Yulia in charge for the time being. They stopped at the gas station across the street first before heading back to where Ji-hye had left the jeep. Williams and Ji-hye went inside while the others stood guard outside. The air was crisp and still in the moments before the dawn. Every little sound could be heard, the wind whistling, insects buzzing, the clanging of mechs on the opposite shore of the river. Sergei and Grigor had their pistols in case anything came while Alfonse and Dr. Klauss just stood around looking pretty. Hamza had a camping backpack full of an assortment of tools and other items. Seeing as he wasn't one to be trusted by the Russians he was relegated to the position of carrying supplies for now. Hamza was resourceful enough however to turn many a common object into a deadly weapon, so by his standards he was sufficiently armed, although an AK-47 would've been nice right now. Inside the gas station Williams and Ji-hye looked around for a map. They found a couple Seoul metro street maps hanging on a rack hidden behind some hats and fake jewelry behind the counter. "Looks like we're in luck." Ji-hye said in astonishment when she found them. "I bet they hadn't sold one of these for a long time. I'm surprised they even have them, you know with the internet and stuff, paper maps are obsolete." Williams commented. "The internet is obsolete now." Ji-hye lamented the pleasures of days gone by as she jimmied open the cash register to retrieve a yellow marker. It wasn't surprising that all the cash was gone. Probably the first thing people took when it got crazy. Ji-hye marked out the route for Williams on the map. The two of them went outside with Williams snagging a wrapped cookie for breakfast on the way out.

Ji-hye then retraced her steps and led the party back to where she had parked the jeep. Looks good, no one stole anything, thank God, Ji-hye thought with a sense of relief. It was a bonehead move on her part to have left the jeep and all their gear out here all night. It was almost guaranteed that if anyone was still alive in the area that they would loot it or steal the whole thing. The aliens however had made sure no one else was left alive in the area, a sad coincidence but lucky for Ji-hye. She unlocked the jeep and took out a spare shotgun and a pair of pistols and handed them to Dr. Klauss along with some of her extra ammunition. She had Tae-won's old rifle and her service pistol already so she was armed. Williams was given a pistol and a shotgun and the last pistol was given to Alfonse. She divided up the ammo, allocating a larger portion off the 9mm rounds and shotgun shells to Williams than for her team. They had further to go and she was likely to be able to find some more when she located the other survivors from the police station. "While you're waiting if you want to look for a way across the river that would be great. That's where we're going to send a team next once one of us gets back." Sergei told Dr. Klauss. "Depends on what's going on outside. We might send someone to take a look if it calms down enough over there." Klauss replied before he left with the weapons and returned to the hardware store. "Who knows, maybe we will have found more new friends by the time you find your old army friends." Sergei told Williams with a friendly slap on the back. Ji-hye looked over at Williams while Sergei and Alfonse got into the jeep. "Take care of yourself." she said sincerely. "I will." Williams replied. Ji-hye then walked up to Grigor and softly whispered to him. "Take care of him for me. He's been through a lot. He's shaky but he's doing better. Just keep an eye on him ok?" Ji-hye instructed Grigor. "Great, now I have to babysit two people." Grigor sarcastically complained. "It will be fine." Grigor promised. Ji-hye then took one last look over the three men and climbed into the driver's seat and closed the door. "We best keep off the main roads. Follow the highway but don't go near it. If there's one place they're bound to be looking for us it will be there." Hamza warned Williams and Grigor. "We'll we have to find the highway first." commented Williams. The three of them then set off on foot to find the starting point for their journey. The jeep started up behind them and drove away in a different direction as the starlight began to mingle with the first traces of sunlight still well below the horizon


	29. Chapter 29: Eagles and Crows

Chapter XXIX: Eagles and Crows

8 Oct 0705 KST

Bucheon, South Korea

Williams, Hamza and Grigor walked through a row of houses in a residential neighborhood within view of the freeway which they were to follow. The freeway to their west was destroyed in at least 3 locations and partially collapsed in a few others. It was cluttered with defunct cars and trucks which the mechs on patrol walked over or around with the greatest of ease. A small group of skitters and two mechs gathered on of the freeway and then headed south. Another mech was marching north from the south and crossed paths with the first patrol group. To the east of Williams' group was an inveritable forest of crumbling high rises and apartments. In one location the fuselage of a plane had broken in two with the front section lying on the street and the rear section lodged within an apartment tower. The three of them turned down a cross street and headed further away from the highway to move out of the view of the skitters on it. As they approached the high rises and apartments there were several dead bodies lying on the ground. Two of these bodies were being picked apart by a flock of ravens. As they approached a number of these birds fluttered away to reveal more of the gnawed upon corpses. Williams cringed as he watched the remaining birds peck and tear away human flesh. "I guess that's why they call it a murder of crows." Williams said, trying to make a pun to make light of what he saw. "Is no big deal. Crow will eat anything, trash, bugs, berries, people. Don't be so grossed out, your American bald eagle that you hold in high regard is carrion bird too." Grigor told him. "Your eagle feasts on roadkill or weak animals mauled by mighty Russian Bear." Grigor laughed. "That eagle pecked the shit out of that bear in the 90s." Williams retorted in jest. "No, you're wrong. Bear just went back to sleep. Bears do that." Grigor replied. "You weren't even born in 90s, maybe were baby at end of 90s, what do you know? Eagle gets stomach ache too easy." Grigor went on to say. Hamza pretended not to hear the nationalistic banter of the other two disguised as a tale of two animals as they went back and forth. Hamza kept watch up ahead while the other two lagged behind. "Don't get too far ahead of us." Grigor commanded Hamza. Hamza slowed down and waited for them at the corner of the next street heading south. He noticed an AK-47 in the hands of one of the bodies lying face down on the sidewalk on that next street. He quickly went over to the body, knelt down and retrieved the weapon. Grigor jogged around the corner and drew his pistol on Hamza. He waited for Hamza to make the first move. Cooperating with one's enemies was never an easy proposition. Hamza was just as dangerous to them as the skitters if he was given the right opportunity. Hamza removed the magazine from the rifle and checked the weapon out. "It's empty." he said. Hamza stood up and replaced the magazine then slung the rifle over his back. If he found some ammo along the way at least now he had a gun. Grigor put his pistol back in its holster and they continued on their way.

They passed into an area full of high rises, both residential and commercial, several of them were severely damaged or collapsed but as the proceeded further south they began to see a few that were still mostly intact. A gathering of crows watched the trio as the morning sun shone down through the buildings. "Those birds are just waiting for us to get killed." Williams remarked. The aliens must have been giving these crows such a grand feast over the past few days. In reality these birds had always gathered here, they were no more expecting an easy meal than any other day. "Ha, we will be disappointing them then." Grigor laughed. "We should get back towards the freeway. We've lost sight of it for several blocks now." Grigor advised. The group rounded a corner, first checking carefully in case there were skitters, mechs or zombified children with back worms waiting for them. The coast was clear, nothing but abandoned cars and more birds. The three of them then started walking back in the direction of the freeway. The ravens began cawing frequently as the trio proceeded. "Shut up you stupid birds!" whispered Grigor angrily, afraid that they would give their presence away to the skitters. From all around them the ravens descended down and swarmed Grigor. He drew his pistol and attempted to bat some of the birds away as they pecked, clawed and bit him viciously. Hamza and Williams were too shocked at first to do anything. This is surely not what either of them had expected. Grigor fired several shots into the flock to no avail. He was forced to cross his arms over his eyes to protect them from the ravenous ravens. The noise had drawn the attention of two skitters on the overpass. Williams fired a shotgun blast into the swarm of birds. Several birds were hit and fell to the ground. One of the birds unexpectedly exploded in a small fireball in midair, scaring away a portion of the flock temporarily only to have it return to scratch and chomp away at Grigor. Williams turned around and shot off the side of the head of one skitter rapidly closing in on them. The skitter slowed down and eventually collapsed before it reached them. The second skitter was not far behind. Williams reloaded while Hamza took out a hatchet and attempted to fend off the creature, all the while Grigor was being eaten alive by a hundred or more birds. Williams raised his shotgun and fired both barrels into the back of the skitter's head at nearly point blank range, effectively killing it. Hamza then reached into his backpack and traded the hatchet for a can of lubricant spray and a BBQ lighter. He held the lighter out a foot in front of the spray and turned it into a makeshift blowtorch to scare away the mass of birds, thereby freeing Grigor from their onslaught. "Into that restaurant over there!" Williams shouted and led them in a dash to an upscale seafood restaurant in a multi-story business complex. Hamza discarded the empty can of lubricant and retrieved another can from his bag before slinging the bag back onto his back. He helped Grigor to his feet and pushed him in the right direction towards Williams. Hamza sprayed bursts of flame all around himself as he retreated to keep the crows at bay. The crows that had been mortally wounded earlier began exploding on the ground like fragmentation grenades. The three of them made it inside the restaurant and closed the door behind them using several chairs to bar it shut. Grigor staggered around once he reached the relative safety of the indoors. He was badly cut up; chunks of his flesh were missing from his arms, face and hands. Tufts of his hair were gone, his clothes were torn in several places and where his clothing was broken open wounds from the beaks and claws of the ravens were found. The ravens however were not deterred by glass doors and windows. The birds battered themselves against the windows one by one, then in groups. Slowly cracks formed in the glass and it began to break. "Quickly! Upstairs!" shouted Williams as he ran for the stairs in the back of the luxurious restaurant. "They're fucking birds! They can fly to the higher floors you idiot!" Grigor snapped back at Williams. There was precious little time to formulate another plan. With each passing moment another bird inflicted more damage to the ever weakening glass panes separating the three of them from a gruesome death by ten thousand cuts "There! In the janitor's closet!" Hamza shouted pointing to a small open door underneath the stairwell. The three of them sprinted across the dining area and went into the cramped janitor's closet. There were no windows the birds could see through, no glass for them to break, just a solid wood door to keep the birds out. The tight little space smelled like bleach and cleaning chemicals and would obscure their scent. Williams tossed out the mop and bucket and a basket of cleaning supplies to make room for all three of them to stand up. Hamza grabbed the door and slammed it shut on them. The moment the door closed was the moment a raven suicide bombed itself into the glass, snapping its neck and then detonating, shattering all the glass weakened by the birds' attacks. As the birds flew en masse into the restaurant Williams, Hamza and Grigor stood quietly inside the janitor's closet and hoped and prayed they would not be discovered.


	30. Chapter 30: Breaking the Birdhouse

Chapter XXX: Breaking the Birdhouse

8 Oct 0922 KST

The restaurant filled with the cawing of rabid crows on the other side of the flimsy door of the janitor's closet. Grigor, Williams and Hamza stood perfectly still in the cramped space, pressing up against each other in places with little room to move. They were careful not to make a sound. Only an inch and half of wood stood between them and thousands of piercing beaks tearing into their flesh. Grigor winced as his open wounds stung with the sweat and dirt dripping over them and mingling with his blood. The potent scent of bleach and cleaning chemicals burned their noses and irritated their eyes. Sweat dripped down Williams' forehead and into his eyes. He closed his eyes to shield them and felt the fumes mingled with his sweat burn on the outside of his eyelids. The noise outside went from a frantic storm of thousands of birds squawking at once, with the multitude of wings flapping generating a low thunder of their own, to several dozen birds at once, maintaining a seemingly constant dialogue. The number of voices diminished and the fluttering of wings had nearly ceased but the ravens continued back and forth with each other as to let their human quarry know that they were always there. The three of them remained uncomfortably imprisoned in the janitor's closet for several hours. Every bout of silence gave a glimmer of hope to be broken with the next crow's caw. As the crows cawing became more infrequent Williams became emboldened to speak his mind. "We can't stay in here forever. What if I have to go to the bathroom?" whispered Williams in the softest voice he could manage. "Turn and face the drain over where the mop bucket was." Grigor told him. "What if I have to go number two?" Williams whispered. "Just hold it. Now shush." Grigor angrily whispered back. Several crows squawked as Grigor finished speaking, showing that they could hear his words. Williams groaned and held it in while their avian captors waited for them to reveal themselves outside. The passage of time seemed elongated within the small closet; Minutes felt like hours, hours felt like days. They had no real indicator of time outside of the small crack of light coming in through the bottom of the door. On an overcast day inside a shadowy restaurant the light coming in was very dim to begin with. Even as noon came and went the tiny ribbon of light at their feet appeared much the same as in mid-morning and early afternoon. The long wait gave Williams' depression ample time to return to the forefront of his mind. He was a little further from the traumatic experiences that had first brought it on but it was potent nonetheless. Again he felt that the place he was most deserving to be stationed was on the other side of the veil of death. He did not belong among the living, not when the souls of better men and women had gone on before him. He contemplated bursting through the door and sacrificing himself so the others could escape. He attempted to move but Hamza was firm in restraining him, not knowing the conflict raging in Williams' mind. Reason ultimately won out over emotion in time. If he was given over to bird food the whole point of the journey to Seongnam would be in vain. His fellow soldiers would not accept Hamza, a known terrorist, coming to them in his stead. That is assuming Hamza simply wouldn't desert the cause after he got away, and until his injuries healed Grigor was in no condition to stop him. Williams leaned up against the cold cinder block wall away from Hamza's body and lamented his existence and the necessity thereof. As the minutes and hours continued to slowly tick by the discomfort of the trio grew. Williams released some flatulence further befouling the air in the enclosed space. After a long period of silence it seemed timely to perhaps check on the situation outside. Perhaps the crows had given up; they weren't the only men or beasts in the neighborhood. Surely their hunger or their thirst would have been sufficient to draw them away by now.

"Think we should take a peek?" whispered Williams. "It's worth a try. I will look." Hamza replied. He was closest to where the door opened and would be the logical person to do so. Hamza slowly turned the door knob part ways and waited to see if it elicited a reaction from any birds that may be watching outside. Nothing but silence, Hamza thought after taking a pause then continued to turn the door knob all the way. He nudged the door open a crack and peered through the slim opening, less than an inch wide. They were not alone. Rows of birds were perched on the picture frames adorning the walls, and on the tables, and the chairs and the lighting fixtures no longer capable of giving their light. They were quiet, patient and aware that their prey had not yet escaped their talons. The birds moved their heads about, surveying the room as if they were given over to a higher intelligence than crows were known to possess. The long shadows of the room had expanded since they had fled into the restaurant and the light of the gray morning sky had changed to the vermillion-orange hues of evening. Hamza slowly shut the door and released the knob with care so the birds would not be clued in on their presence. Williams and Grigor eagerly waited on his report. They were anxious to leave; the levels of discomfort in the closet were getting to be too much. "They are still there. All of them. I have never seen such resolve from a simple creature. Truly Allah is testing our patience." Hamza whispered. The look of disappointment on Williams and Grigor's faces was lost in the darkness. It was clear now that they had to fight their way through the birds, they simply could not wait them out. They would have to make their move soon while there was still daylight. When night fell they would lose the ability to even see where their attackers were coming from. The birds may be given over to sleep but seeing their abnormal behavior thus far it wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibilities that they would be well alert, with superior night vision to that of the humans. "Let me see those bottles over there, hanging on the rack by your shoulder." Hamza asked Williams. Williams took down the various bottles of cleaning solutions and showed them to Hamza. Hamza lit a match to illuminate the labels of each chemical. Of course they were in Korean and none of them could read hangul. Hamza had to piece together the likely chemical constituents by the indicators on packaging showing what they were. Luckily at least the concentrated bleach still came in the familiar jug. "Let me see that one and the bleach." Hamza said. "If this is what I think it is and it is concentrated enough it should produce chlorine gas which will impair our feathered friends out there and maybe give us a chance to make a run for it. It will burn quite a bit for us too so cover your eyes and mouth and be quick about it. They are smaller than we are so we can hope that it affects them more than it does us." Hamza explained. "I'd rather have my cuts and eyes sting for a bit than be trapped in here by bird brains overnight." Grigor replied. "Same here. I'm about to shit myself." Williams added. "I didn't need to know that. You Americans are so filthy in your words." Hamza said. "Everyone get ready. I will mix and throw and we must be quick." Hamza told everyone. He poured what he thought was toilet bowl cleaner into the jug of bleach and waited for it to do its magic. When toxic fumes began issuing from the spout Hamza flung open the door and tossed the jug towards the wall where many of the birds had congregated. The birds stirred into action quickly as the three men bolted from their hiding place. The gas cloud rising into the air disoriented and even choked out several of the birds. Many birds flew into each other and into the wall. Some landed on and pecked at the fleeing humans but not enough to overwhelm them. Williams batted a bird off his shoulder and another from his neck. He swung his shotgun like a baseball bat slamming three birds out of their way as they sprinted for the door. Hamza used his bag to batter his way through the fluttering mass of birds. Grigor's wounds felt like they were on fire yet he pushed on through the pain. Birds nipped at them as the gas cloud expanded throughout the restaurant and began to dissipate as it wafted upwards into the building at large. The three men burst out the broken windows as the toxic gas cloud filled with ravenous ravens drifted out behind them. A mech on highway overpass to the west sighted them and opened fire. The mech rounds chipped the roadway and shattered car windshields and side panels. Some of the mech fire even struck birds causing them to explode, thus further obscuring the escape of the three men. Williams and Hamza safely made it into an alleyway while Grigor limped behind. Four birds landed on Grigor's back and began tearing away his clothes and digging into his flesh. Grigor cried out in pain but kept going. A skitter ran behind Grigor into the cloud of gas and dust which seemed not to affect it. The skitter prepared to pounce upon Grigor as he stumbled forward. This allowed Williams to unload his shotgun into the skitter. The shotgun blasts hit the collar of the skitters armor and tore off one of the skitters arms before hitting it in the face twice, bringing the monster down. Part of one of the initial shotgun blasts also wounded a bird on Grigor's back and shaved a little more of Grigor's already peeled away skin off. Pain was nothing more than a signal to Grigor that he was still alive at this point. He got back up and ran, leaking blood behind him until he made it into the alley. Williams reloaded his shotgun while Grigor made his way towards them. He fired into the confused cloud of birds while Hamza smacked off the remaining birds from Grigor's back using his hands and bag. Williams covered the rear while Hamza and Grigor ran ahead. Williams stomped on the head of one of the downed birds, knowing what would happen and planning on using it to their advantage. Williams then sprinted away before the bird filled with gas and exploded, starting a chain reaction with the other downed birds there that sealed off the alleyway from their pursuers. After a mad dash to the south eventually the group was safe. They continued onward until they found a subway station and went inside to escape the watchful eyes of the alien patrols along the freeway and the man eating crows that populated the open air of the city above.

The subway station was dark and deserted. Hamza lit a road flare to light the way ahead. There were no aliens here, no birds, no obvious threats. It seemed like a safe enough place to bed down for the night. Grigor needed time to mend his wounds. He couldn't go on dripping a trail of blood all over the place. Williams first found the men's room in the subway station but none of them wanted to spend the night in a foul public restroom. Upon a closer examination of their surroundings they discovered faint light inside one of the abandoned subway trains. The three of them cautiously approached one of the passenger cars and got on board. Inside there was a little girl and her older brother seated on the floor around a battery powered lantern. They looked over at the three men and got up, trembling in fear. "We're not going to hurt you. We need a place to stay for the night." Williams said. The little girl got up and hid behind her brother holding tightly onto his shirt. She said something in Korean to her brother who then said something back to her. "She doesn't understand English." replied the boy. His English wasn't particularly strong either and it took him a while to say that back to Williams. "Where are your parents?" asked Williams, speaking slow enough for the boy to understand him. "The geomi killed them." replied the boy. Williams knew they were talking about the skitters, everyone had their own name for them. "Do you mind if we stay here with you tonight?" asked Williams. "You can stay." the boy answered. The children were scared; the older brother couldn't be older than 12 or 13. Having others around to protect them could be a good thing. "You must be quiet. When you hear the robots coming we must turn off the light and hide under the seats." the boy explained. "I understand. You won't even notice we're here." Williams replied. The boy and his sister sat back down while Hamza and Grigor went to the rear of the subway car. Williams followed them, looking back at the terrified children once before he sat down on the floor between the seats near the rear of the subway car near Grigor and Hamza. What a terrible time to be growing up in, Williams thought as he leaned back against the side of the seat. They had hardly covered any ground today but they survived. Tomorrow they would resume course for Seongnam, with any luck they would arrive there before nightfall


	31. Chapter 31: The Hunted

Chapter XXXI: The Hunted

8 Oct 1234 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Officer An Kyung-seok had kept the survivors of the police station safe until now. They had ran and hid for two days now, evading the alien patrols, trying to find somewhere to hunker down long term but so far they continued to be driven out. Armed legions of harnessed humans assembled in the areas in the east of Incheon heading towards Seoul while mech patrols increased in frequency in central Incheon and more so in the west, towards the airport, isolated on its island. To the south and along the dockyards and heavy manufacturing areas of Incheon Dong Zhao's forces maintained control under the close supervision of their alien allies. The manufacturing facilities of the city had been largely converted to produce more mechs, beamers and alien equipment further bolstering the invaders numbers. Power sources were restored to these facilities by the aliens and their armies of human slaves. Soon the alien war machine in the city would be completely self-sufficient. The only enemy air cover above Incheon were the jumbo beamer gunships that came and went from the airport and the smaller beamer drones that circled over the island. The island was now illuminated by the glow of alien structures and appeared more alive than the ghostly shell that was mainland Incheon. The region was apparently firmly in the enemy's hands and it seemed for the moment Officer An had nowhere left to go. They were trapped in a small cell phone store on a narrow street by a group of five harnessed youths and a new model of mech. This type of mech was thicker in its construction as opposed to the light, nimble form of the standard mechs. However the new mech was the same basic shape and design, being that it was a single headless torso with two arms and two legs. It was still the same whitish silver color metal that plated its exterior with a faint blue glow coming from within. The upper portion was broader and more flattened out, forming well defined shoulders. The center of the upper portion was domed on the top and bottom with its wing-like protrusions being proportionally smaller than on the basic mechs. The arms were both fingered and positioned beneath the outer fringes of the main body on the inside of the extended shoulders, giving the mech somewhat of the appearance of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its weaponry was contained in two flexible turrets located on either side of the upper dome along with the primary energy weapon/rocket launcher on the front of the lower dome. Overall the tradeoff with the enhanced armament on this model of mech was that it was slower and less agile than the swift standard mechs. Even if this was a standard mech the survivors would be badly outgunned. Officer An had a single pistol with only four bullets remaining and the other survivors had whatever items they gathered in their flight to protect themselves. Bats, golf clubs, screwdrivers, kitchen knives and chains were no match for combat robots. The mech stood at one entrance to the narrow street while it fired a rocket to seal off the street heading the other direction. The harnessed youth surrounded the store and prepared to move in to capture the people inside. One of the harnessed teens fired a burst from his rifle through the glass of the cell phone store, frightening those inside and forcing them to seek cover on the ground. Officer An hid behind the sales desk at the rear of the store with several others. He could not fire blindly at a foe behind cover. Every shot he made had to count. Other survivors remained on the ground. The children were behind displays and overturned tables on the sides and rear of the store while the adults were closer to the front. One of the harnessed boys ran into the store while two others fired quick bursts of suppressive fire to keep the people inside pinned down. An old man swung a pipe wrench into the boy's shin. The harnessed boy fell forward and he was tackled by the old man and two nearby women that attempted to restrain him. A man on the ground grabbed the boy's gun from him before the boy got up and flung one of the women on his back into the far wall. The woman hit the wall with a load crash, cracking through the drywall and knocking her unconscious. The boy kicked off the old man and reached to pull the other woman clinging to his thigh off of him when he was shot in the side of the head with his own gun. As his skull leaked out its contents from the gaping wound above his ear the boy continued fighting. The animated corpse picked up the woman and choked her to death while other survivors came up from behind him with baseball bats and knives. The youths covering the boy opened fire and gunned down three of the boy's would be assailants. The rest of them hit the ground cowering. The boy tossed the woman aside, no longer bleeding from his head wound. The aliens had adapted the harness to quickly seal off the blood flow to otherwise fatal wounds to maximize the utility of the host body. In this case both the carotid artery and the jugular vein had closed off minimizing the blood flow to the boy's head and keeping his body alive. However as the boy stumbled forward it became clear the injury had compromised his vision. The man on the ground fired two more rounds into the boy's gut but he kept coming, his arms outstretched like a true zombie as he blindly reached for the nearest person he could find. The armed man crawled out of the way of the boy only to draw fire from the harnessed kids outside. He returned fire allowing a teenage girl from behind the table the boy had walked into to stand up and stab the harness repeatedly with a phillips head screwdriver. She gouged the parasite repeatedly clinking off its armored carapace and sliding between the segmented plates into the soft flesh of the creature. She did enough damage to kill the creature, thus allowing its host to perish as well. Two more kids ran into the building with cover fire from two girls in their early teens posted outside. One of the harnessed kids, a 19 yr. old boy was shot repeatedly by the armed survivor and killed. He didn't make the mistake this time of assuming one hit would equal one kill. The other harnessed person, a younger boy was seized upon by a throng of other survivors. They forced the boy to discharge his pistol into his own foot. A man jamming a knife between the harness and the spine of the boy was shot and killed by the girls outside. The boy flung two of the others holding him while Officer An shot him in the throat, hitting the harness through the exit wound. The armed man on the ground emptied his clip trying to pin down the two girls outside. The weapons of the other two harnessed kids were taken by other survivors who ran behind tables to join their children before the two girls fired a fresh burst of gunfire into the store. One of the girls stopped to reload while the other fired another round into the store to keep the survivors in place.

Outside on the adjoining street a pair of skitters led a group of six more harnessed kids towards the mech guarding the entrance to the cornered off street. Two shotgun blasts rang out from the north knocking over one of the skitters. A jeep approached the aliens from the north. After reloading Sergei leaned out the passenger side window and fired a couple more shotgun blasts at the aliens, hitting a harnessed teen in the chest and bouncing off one of the mech's armored legs. The harnessed kids returned fire prompting the jeep to turn down a side street. The mech went off to pursue the new attackers leaving the skitter and the harnessed kids to finish the job with the people holed up in the store. Three of the harnessed kids approached the store and signaled to the two girls that they were about to storm the building. The girls opened fire; one of them was shot twice in the chest when she exposed herself. The two of the three new harnessed humans stormed in while the other one took the place of the mortally wounded girl. Officer An shot one of the attackers in the knee cap and the man with the other pistol shot the other intruder twice in the head. They had to break the habit of going for headshots, thought the man after the blind, deaf man-puppet turned towards him and started spraying bullets. The man's daughter was hit in the thigh by one of the stray bullets. The man crawled over to his daughter's aid and comforted her after pulling her out of the line of fire. The harnessed boy with the wounded knee was struck with a golf club in the groin and the stomach several times. The blows didn't phase him much, but allowed Officer An to fire his last shot into his jaw. The mindless zombie of a boy swung his rifle around to feel the area in front of him until the skitter outside was drawn to the store window. Once the skitter arrived the boy seemed to regain vision via the skitter's line of sight and jumped over the table and grabbed the man's daughter. The girl's father unloaded on the harnessed puppet, opening several holes in his abdomen which succeeded in ending his advance. The defenders were all out of ammo and there still was one boy inside closing in on a group of children in the back of the store. The two kids outside then prepared to storm the room as the defenders were backed into a corner and vulnerable.

Meanwhile Ji-hye parked the jeep in an alleyway and she and her two compatriots exited the vehicle and took position hiding behind a dumpster on the corner with the main street. As the sound of the mech's thundering footfalls drew closer Sergei took two grenades and ran into a two story housing unit across the street from the dumpster. "Save your ammo." Ji-hye advised Alfonse. She remembered her rifle was loaded with the refurbished ammunition intended for these mechanical monstrosities. With any luck she would be able to kill them with their own weapons. The mech turned the corner and Ji-hye opened fire. The bullets did the trick; they penetrated into the mechs armor and damaged the internals of the infernal machination. She drained her magazine and sought cover back behind the dumpster. All the hits she landed on the machine didn't do enough damage to bring it down. It was riddled with holes and sparked and flashed in places but remained functional. The shoulder turrets opened fire tearing through the dumpster while Ji-hye reloaded. One of the heavy weapon blasts seared through the dumpster and continued on through Alfonse's chest. Ji-hye looked back at him as she ran for safety around the corner into the alley. Alfonse stared blankly back at her with a steaming hole through his chest. He fell to his knees and then forward onto his face. His body twisted and separated at the chest when he hit the ground. They did not expect the steel dumpster to be insufficient to protect them. Ji-hye had one more chance to bring the robot down; once she revealed herself she would soon be dead. From the upstairs bedroom Sergei threw a grenade down onto the advancing mech. It exploded near one of the gun turrets =, blasting it off and leaving a large hole next to the dome on the mech's torso. The mech returned fire with its other turret, smashing through the brick and glass of the housing unit as Sergei dove for cover. This distraction gave Ji-hye the opportunity to open fire. She fired repeatedly at the frontal rocket launcher of the mech causing it to explode and crack apart the underside of the mech's torso. The mech started to stagger and hunch over. Ji-hye fled before the mech fired back towards her shearing away the bricks at the corner of the alleyway and the street. Sergei crawled over the pile of brick and rubble to where the window had once been and tossed his remaining grenade into the open wound of the mech slumped over on the ground beneath him. The grenade dropped down inside the mech and detonated, completely destroying it from within. Sergei then returned downstairs and met Ji-hye at the jeep, glancing back at what remained of Alfonse's body now buried beneath the mech.

As the last two harnessed kids stormed into the cell phone store Ji-hye drove the jeep around the corner and rammed the skitter, knocking it backwards onto its back. Sergei got out and finished off the skitter with three well placed rounds from his pistol. Ji-hye turned her fire on the harnessed kids inside the store and mowed them all down. When the dust had settled Officer An and the other survivors got up from their hiding places to look upon their saviors. "Detective Chae, you're alive!" shouted Officer An in disbelief. "Is this everyone?" asked Ji-hye surveying the less than two dozen survivors, only one of which was a uniformed officer. "Yes. They hit us hard when they took the station." replied An. Ji-hye looked sad that so many didn't make it while Sergei looked disappointed. He expected this group to have guns, weapons, equipment that they could use. Now it appeared as they were just as hopeless as the crew of Flight 1437 was. Sergei started gathering up the harnessed kids' guns along with what ammo they had left and loading them in the back of the jeep. Ji-hye was looking over the survivors and helping out those who were more seriously wounded. Fortunately none of them that survived the attack were critically injured. They mostly had bruises and cuts, a sore back and a headache for the woman tossed into the wall, gunshot wounds to the arms, shoulders and legs. Everything they should be able to take care of with a basic first aid kit, some peroxide and needle nose pliers. "Those who are too hurt to walk get in the van. I'll drive them. Everyone else follow on foot. We have a safe haven north of here. The enemy presence is much less than you have been dealing with here." Ji-hye told them. Ji-hye and Officer An helped three of the wounded persons into the jeep, including the one man's daughter who was shot in the leg during the battle. There was not enough space for everyone that had a crippling injury so some of them had to be carried or helped along. The jeep departed at a crawling pace and Officer An and the survivors followed on foot. Sergei took up the rear in case of an alien attack from behind.

The group continued on, through sporadic bouts of rain and a few skirmishes with small numbers of skitters and harnessed humans. They stopped and gathered supplies at a pharmacy along the way until they were driven away by a passing group of skitters. Eventually the group had to stop and seek shelter in a Buddhist temple away from the primary alien patrol routes. With all the wounded they had in tow and the deficiency in their armament they wound have to bunk down here for the night. In the morning some of the more minor injuries would be healed and they would have more able bodies at their disposal to protect the others through the inevitable clashes with the aliens on the way out of Incheon.


	32. Chapter 32: Fear of the Dark

Chapter XXXII: Fear of The Dark

8 Oct 2001 KST

Bucheon, South Korea

Williams came back from a quick trip to the main part of the station above ground while Grigor was sitting across from Hamza inside the disabled train below. "How many times are you going to have to go tonight?" asked Grigor. "You kept me in that damned birdcage for like half the day today what do you expect? I got a lot saved up." Williams laughed sarcastically. "I'm good now, and look, I brought us something." Williams continued walking over to Grigor and Hamza and setting down a pair of working flashlights a can of pineapple and a small can of bean sprouts and a few plastic spoons. "Big strong man like you afraid of the dark?" asked Grigor mockingly. "No more than the next guy, but I'd like to see what I'm doing down here tonight." Williams replied. "I know what I'm doing. Sleeping." Grigor commented then coughed viciously. "You ok?" asked Williams. "A bit of dust in the lungs that's all." Grigor answered then let out a single strong cough and cleared his throat. Grigor then took out a pair of handcuffs and handcuffed Hamza's right hand to the leg of one of the subway train's benches then took away Hamza's bag of tricks. "Give me your gun too." Grigor demanded. "Are you afraid I might kill you in your sleep?" Hamza asked while handing over the unloaded weapon. "Because I might." Hamza continued in a blatant threat. There was no hint of sarcasm or mockery in his voice. Hamza was serious as far as anyone could tell. Both Grigor and Williams were Hamza's enemies as much as the aliens were, but a human enemy could be reasoned with and manipulated. For the time being Hamza was the prisoner and Grigor the warden, whom clearly had the upper hand. The threat didn't phase Grigor however; to him Hamza was a viper with no venom in his fangs. So long as he was kept on a tight leash his usefulness outweighed the danger. If that ever changed Grigor was prepared to but a bullet between Hamza's eyes. "A little precaution never hurt." Grigor answered. Grigor got up with Hamza's gear and sat down between subway benches a few rows away and laid back using Hamza's backpack as a pillow.

Meanwhile Williams walked over to the two children. The boy was sitting by the lantern while the girl was curled up asleep underneath a bench. He knelt down and handed the older boy a pair of wrapped snack cakes he found up above. "Here's something for you." Williams said. The boy placed one on top of the seat his sister was sleeping under and opened the other one and began to eat it. The kid devoured the snack cake like it was the first morsel of food that he had all day. "Easy now. There are plenty of those in the vending machine upstairs. I busted it open for you if you want more." Williams told the boy. "The geomis are up there. They will get us. They always get kids." the boy responded. The kid's fear wasn't unfounded though it was a little extreme. Williams thought about asking them to come with them, they couldn't just sit in an abandoned subway car until they starved to death. He would ask them in the morning, after a night without incident it would prove him and his companions more trustworthy to the frightened children. There was no telling what monsters they had to deal with since the bomb dropped. The world was full of monsters now, both of this world and beyond. "Alright. I'll bring you more in the morning then." said Williams. "Say, where does this tunnel lead?" Williams sat down and asked the boy. "To Seoul. That's where the geomis take people, the ones with the serpents on their backs. You can't go there. They will get you." the boy replied. "What about the other direction. "The geomis are there too. You can't go there. You have to stay here and hope the geomis don't find you." the boy told Williams. Geomis, geomis everywhere, that's all this kid thinks of. Again Williams couldn't blame him, though when this is all over this kid's going to have a serious case of agoraphobia. "Someday the geomis are going to be gone. We're working on something to start getting things turned around here. It might take some time but they will be gone, and when they're gone it will be safe to go places again." Williams said trying to reassure the boy. "It won't work." the boy replied curtly. "It will work. I promise." Williams said softly. "No. It won't. Nothing will work. They're going to get you. They will get everyone." the boy stated. What a ray of sunshine, Williams thought. "Just wait and see." Williams told the boy. He feigned a smile and got up to check on Grigor who had just burst into a fit of coughing. "Hey, Grigor." Williams whispered. He got no response. Williams shined one of the flashlights onto Grigor, he was sound asleep. He was snoring and wheezing slightly, occasionally he would let out a cough or hiccup. "Guess it's my watch tonight." Williams muttered. He glanced back to Hamza who was staring down at the floor seemingly lost in thought. He then sat down on the opposite side of the train car from Grigor in between two benches and got comfortable for the night.

Several hours passed into the depth of the night. Williams had tried making conversation with the little boy to ease his mind to no avail. Eventually he turned off his light and let the night pass in silence. Inside the subway car it was pitch black. Williams briefly turned on the flashlight and looked back at Hamza then over towards the kids. The boy remained awake while his sister slept soundly. Williams felt pity for the child, his life was laid to waste and he was completely consumed by that fact. He had seen people that had been given over to the same futility during his travels post-invasion. They were now corpses, food for the birds and made that way by their own hand. Four days in and things had gotten so bad for some that death had become preferable to life. Williams himself wrestled with the same demons, at times he longed to take the quick route out of this world. If it hadn't been for Ji-hye's resolve and his newfound sense of purpose we would have certainly invited the reaper with open arms. He was now crucial in preserving the lives of many others, something he had failed to do so many times, but something he had a chance to redeem himself in now. Nothing he did could bring the people he lost back, but he could yet succeed by others where he had once failed by them. His actions, if properly executed could lead to a real positive turn in the course of human events; at least that's what he told himself. As long as he kept this sense of importance his death would come at the hand of another, not his own. Williams all too well could relate to the feelings of despair the child was enduring, though earlier he had tried fruitlessly to remedy them. There had to be a purpose for the boy as well, Williams reasoned. He looked down at how peacefully his little sister slept; there was still some of the innocence of youth that had survived so much bloodshed. It had to be his sister that kept the boy alive. Hamza appeared to be sleeping lightly; he woke with every creak, every crack, and every little noise that pierced the dismal silence. Williams shut off his flashlight again and waited. An indefinite amount of time passed until the groaning siren of a mech and the distant beam of a searchlight appeared in the west. Williams got down and hid under a seat. The mech's footsteps grew closer, louder then started to fade in the other direction. Grigor began muttering and writhing around as if he was wrestling with someone unseen. Dammit! Williams feared Grigor's sleep-fighting would be the death of them. Fortunately another sound drowned out Grigor's nocturnal minds battles. It was the sound of thousands of footsteps marching in unison, human footsteps. Outside the subway car following the tracks behind the mech towards Seoul were an unspeakable number of humans bound with the alien spinal parasite. They flowed through the tunnel in ranks of four and five like an endless river. These boys and girls carried no weapons, only their bare hands. They continued marching like zombies past the subway train for a significant amount of time until a contingent of skitters closed out the rear of the formation. Grigor now had fallen onto his stomach, his growling and mutterings now mushed into a faint snore. One of the skitters climbed the side of the subway car and peeked inside though saw nothing in the blackness that piqued its interest to investigate further. Once the aliens had passed completely and the night was still again Williams crawled in the dark over towards the sound of Grigor and sat him back up. The snoring lessened and Williams leaned Grigor back against the wall of the subway car. He felt incredibly warm to the touch, as if he had a high fever. All the scratches he received today were a likely culprit. They weren't exactly squeaky clean down here; some of his wounds could have likely got infected. If so they were minor and nothing to be overly worried about. Williams returned to his side of the subway car. He was afraid to turn on his light to look around out of fear that one of the skitters might have stayed behind and the light would certainly have drawn its attention. "Stop making all that noise?" whispered Hamza from the shadows. It was pointless to argue, Williams saying it wasn't him would only make more noise. The sound of tapping feet moved across the roof of the subway car. There was a skitter there, and thanks a lot Hamza, you just got its attention. Williams crawled over to Grigor, pulled out a washcloth from his pocket that he had been using as a sweat rag and put it over Grigor's mouth, silencing his occasional cough and mutterings. In the still silence they heard every movement as the creature above them moved down the side of the subway car. It tapped on the window four times then descended down the side of the car onto the tracks. Williams could hear it moving around the train to the other side. It climbed up onto the doors which had been locked shut. Fortunately the creature didn't attempt to break it open. Instead it illuminated a sphere in its palm and shined it into one of the windows. Williams and Grigor were pinned under the seat out of the direct line of sight of the skitter. Hamza too had obscured himself from view. Williams thought that the despondent child sitting in the middle of the train car would still be there plain as day but he was wrong. Both the boy and his little sister were gone, where they had hidden themselves neither Williams nor the skitter had any clue. Once the skitter had peeked through several windows down the length of the train car it extinguished its light and could be heard scampering away to join the rest of the aliens on the march to Seoul. Williams exhaled a quiet sigh of relief and repositioned Grigor, who through it all remained fast asleep. He then crawled back to where he was and resumed the watch.


	33. Chapter 33: 100 Hours

Chapter XXXIII: 100 Hours

Oct 9 0139 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

It was a calm clear night over Seoul exactly 100 hours after the first shot was fired in the invasion and the world was changed forever. The streets glistened in the moonlight. The rain that had come through earlier in the afternoon had given them a reflective sheen. The air was cool and crisp with the brisk taste of autumn. For the first time in months there wasn't a single alien ship in the skies above Seoul, no eerie otherworldly glow looming above them, only the familiar light of the moon. The once frequent patrols of skitters and mechs had diminished in this area, only once this entire night did a single mech march through the streets in the vicinity of the hotel Fontaine, Hyuna, Min-jung and Do-yeon had hunkered down in. The sporadic episodes of intense gunfire across the district had all but faded away. The war here was over, the fighting had clearly moved on to another location. Fontaine came back into the room from another one of his frequent trips to the roof. So far he had seen nothing to indicate their rescue was underway, yet he held onto hope that in the days and weeks ahead someone would come to bring them back to what remained of civilization, wherever such civilization had relocated itself. Min-jung was sitting in a chair in the corner with a shotgun next to her while Do-yeon was curled up on the floor asleep. Hyuna was lying in bed reading a book while waiting for her body to settle into sleep. "Want to come see something?" Jake asked after entering the room. "Sure." Hyuna replied. She set the book down, rolled over to the edge of the bed and got up. Jake looked over at Min-jung. "What about you and Do-yeon?" asked Fontaine. "No, I'm good. I've got to keep an eye on Do-yeon. Best not to wake him." replied Min-jung. Even if their rescue was imminent it wasn't something she had to see. Besides, Jake and Hyuna could use a little time alone. "Ok." Fontaine replied. He and Hyuna then left and made their way back onto the roof.

8 Oct 1939 MSK

St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

The ominous hues of alien light and earthly flame shone against the darkness over Saint Petersburg. South of the Neva River and its tributaries the aliens had firmly established their dominance. Foreign structures had begun to spring up in areas all over this part of the city. Dim blue lights twinkled from the alien constructs. Beamers docked and departed with slender towers nestled between the ruins of the city's historic architecture. Several domed structures were spaced out throughout the occupied region of the city. Legions of harnessed youth tore down the city bit by bit and repurposed its parts for alien use at these domed structures. Fenced in storage yards held great quantities of repurposed structural material in preparation for a major construction project once the human resistance had been pacified. The dockyards, the naval base and the ships berthed therein were strangled by biomechanical tentacles coming out of the shallow waters of the bay. The tentacles attached to additional living structures merged with the terrestrial buildings along the waterfront. The fires of the city's industry had been reignited manufacturing fresh mechs and beamers instead of the industrial products that they had once churned out.

North of the Neva River a large gathering of human survivors had been bolstered by the remnants of the Russian Army that had been driven from Moscow along with those from the towns and cities in between. An early season frost gripped the city and its human population braced for a cold night. Trash fires and gas lamps lit up the various camps in the human sector of the city. Mortar fire boomed as the remnants of the population fought back squads of skitters and mechs determined to harvest or slay the last of them. The men and women of St. Petersburg were a hardy folk. Just as former generations had held the city against Nazi invaders for nearly 3 years this current generation was resolute to preserve their home against these new invaders from beyond the stars. The soldiers brought with them the rusted hulks of old Soviet war machines to aid in the struggle. This heavy equipment helped to slow the creeping tide of alien forces. However the antiquated tanks and mobile artillery pieces were no match for the superior mobility of the mechs and their cannons that ripped them apart as if they were paper toys. The children slept lightly under guard in their camps, at any moment they would be awoken and forced to flee to a new location. This is how the people of St. Petersburg had survived, striking at the enemy, confounding their plans then retreating to a new area before a major offensive could be directed towards them. The disparate groups within the city and the immediate environs outside extensively scouted out the enemy's position and movements regularly and were able to react to them effectively given the low-tech approach they were forced to take. They maintained contact with each other but like everyone else worldwide they had virtually no knowledge of events that transpired more than a few kilometers beyond their visible horizon. The aliens refused to obliterate them with an aerial bombardment due to the investment they had put into the city turning it into a manufacturing and command hub. The collateral damage was considered to be a greater risk than the losses taken in slowly whittling away at the human defenders. Meanwhile to the north and northwest another alien force was rolling through the Scandinavian countries and would be at their back doorstep before the first snowfall of the season. Once the frigid Russian winter had settled in they would be fighting the elements as well as the aliens. If they managed to survive until the spring thaw eventually dwindling food supplies would force them out of their entrenched position with nowhere left to go. Unbeknownst to the valiant defenders of St. Petersburg they were living and fighting on borrowed time.

8 Oct 1939 EEST

Aleppo, Syria

Smoldering fires dotted the city as twilight settled over the dusty land. Heavy gunfire and explosions from intense fighting formed a symphony of destruction throughout the city. Flayed skitters and the heads of both humans and aliens were displayed on stakes in various locations around the outskirts of the city. The various human factions fought each other as well as the aliens. The Free Syrian Army and the former government forces clashed in the streets once the common threat of the skitters had been eliminated, though they had at times cooperated when their non-human adversary had the upper hand. The more radical groups were far more indiscriminate and slaughtered both human and alien alike without concession or concern. Several beamers dive bombed the city with precision strikes. Rocket fire blasted away the right side of one of the beamers which caused it to crash into an already damaged hotel tower triggering a collapse of the structure. Mechs and skitters were caught in the crossfire between warring factions as they tried to conquer them all. To the inhabitants little had changed throughout Syria since the invasion. The region was still a warzone, the tremendous loss of human life had become routine. The fight against the aliens was just a continuation of the human tragedy they had struggled with for years. As bad as it was here it was believed to be worse to the east. There were rumours that sanctuary from the violence could be found in Jerusalem but few would attempt the journey and survive. The alien presence in Lebanon and Jordan was quite heavy and discouraged many from making dangerous trip on little more than pipe dream. A number of people in the region, many of which had fled from Iraq, Turkey, and other parts of Syria along with foreign fighters from the nations on Arabian Peninsula were no stranger to fighting a war against a superior foe. Whether it was Saddam Hussein or the Americans in Iraq, the Syrian Army and Air Force in the civil war or an alien invasion they were no stranger to being the underdogs in a fight. There were fighters in their number that had combat experience as far back as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The downside was that their best fighters were also those persons most dangerous to the general population at large. They fought dirty and were not opposed to sacrificing their own people in large numbers to achieve their ends. With such pre-existing hostility between the disparate factions there was little chance of mounting a united front against the alien forces.

A number of the Christian population of the city had been rounded up by one of the more extreme Islamist factions and tied to wooden crosses in the orchards and fields outside the city to be used as alien bait. Unfamiliar with the religious and ethnic strife of the region, the skitters take the bait and move in to capture the Christians being offered up to them. A cigar shaped airship accompanied the skitters to the orchards and began to collect their prey. From their hiding places within nearby houses, buildings, fences and from behind rocks and groves a large number of militants spring their trap. A multitude of rockets and missiles are launched at the alien craft while machine gun and rifle fire mows down the herd of skitters in the middle of gathering up their captives. The rockets slam into the side of the alien ship, flaking off panels of its armored plating. One of the missiles snaps off one of the flexible tendrils from the underside of the craft as it was being raised back up. The metallic tendril fell flat onto the ground and crushed several skitters along with their bound victims. Mechs came from the city to the aid of the skitters and opened fire on the militants. A pair of mechs collapsed, riddled with holes, after absorbing a large amount of high caliber weapons fire. The barrage of rockets manage to tear a few holes in the alien craft prompting it to attempt to ascend and flee the area. Another volley of missiles is launched towards the alien ship and at the mechs on the ground. The sides of the alien ship disintegrated away as it abandoned the human harvest at hand. A pair of missiles slipped through the holes in its armored hull and detonated inside the craft, triggering a secondary explosion that caused the alien craft to go down. The cigar shaped vessel turned upon its side and rolled as it crashed to the ground. The fighters emerged from hiding and charged towards the downed alien craft intent on butchering the crew inside. As they made their charge a squadron of beamers soared overhead. One of the beamers dropped a pulsing blue sphere on top of the scene of the fight. The sphere detonated in front of the crashed alien ship, utterly obliterating it and consuming all the attackers in an ever expanding sphere of blue flame. The explosion spread into the city and further into the hinterlands extending out to a two mile radius consuming everything within it. Here the resistance had been so determined and the alien losses scarcely justified the potential benefit that total extermination was fast becoming a more acceptable alternative for the peoples of what had once been known as the Fertile Crescent. Over five thousand years of recorded wars could stand to be concluded with the mother of all battles in the near future.

8 Oct 1939 EAT

Tribal Village, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan

Around four dozen armed militia members rode into a small village situated on semi-arid grassland in the southeast of the country. The militiamen came mostly riding horses along with a single jeep and a rusted old pickup truck with a 14.5mm machine gun mounted in the bed. The residents of the village gathered outside as the leader of the militia called them out while brandishing an AK-47. The villagers had little in the means of weaponry to defend themselves. Many of them were starving and diseased and in no condition to fight. Two men came out of the jeep and seized the young boys in the village. One of the boys' fathers was shot dead by a militiaman on horseback when he attempted to resist. The boys' hands were bound and they were tied together. The rope that bound them together was handed to one of the militiamen on horseback. Another militiaman on horseback demanded the villagers relinquish their daughters to be given over as child brides to some of the fighters in the group. The leader of the militia took a long drink from his canteen, spilling water down his face and onto his faux military style jacket as the parched, thirsty villagers looked on in envy. As the villagers wept for the loss of their children the shadow of a lone jumbo beamer gunship appeared in the distance against the backdrop of the setting sun. A precise shot from the beamer struck the pickup truck, turning it into a burning pile of charred metal. Several skitters jumped down from the beamer as it passed overhead, taking the militiamen by surprise. The skitters tore apart the militia members and quickly made short work of the entire group. Most of the militia fighters didn't have time to react by the time the skitters were upon them. A few of the skitters were killed by gunfire as the militiamen finally trained their weapons on the fast moving creatures. The beamer turned around and strafed several more of the militiamen. The captive boys were released by the aliens as the fight drew to a close and they ran back to their weeping parents. The last four militiamen, including the leader were pinned to the ground in front of the villagers and brutally slaughtered in full view of them. The leader was last to be killed by a skitter reaching in through his back and removing his still beating heart that was displayed to the crowd before being callously discarded. The beamer landed behind the remaining skitters and a 12 year old Ethiopian girl and another skitter emerged from the ship to cheers and jubilation from the villagers. In this war torn country among other places suffering with endemic strife the aliens were seen as liberators rather than conquerors. The girl held up a stainless steel pitcher of clean water and offered it to the villagers. "We have liberated you from your oppressors!" the girl announced. "We now bid you to come with us. You will be fed, clothed, and well taken care of. You will suffer no more at the hands of men like these!" the girl extended the aliens' offer to the villagers. The villagers in turn graciously accepted what they saw as a magnanimous offer and willingly went with the girl into the alien ship.

8 Oct 1839 CEST

Berlin, Germany

For the first time since the wall fell Russian soldiers could be seen walking the streets of Berlin. Along with some of the surviving Ukrainian forces and others in Eastern Europe they had helped retake a portion of the city from the aliens with the help of the local resistance. The Russians and Ukrainians brought with them weapons and the Germans provided the manpower. Together they drove out alien forces that had previously believed they were in total control of the city and carved out a human refuge for the people that were being relentlessly hunted and enslaved by the skitters. The European resistance had managed to carry out several attacks on a gigantic structure being built in the center of the city as well as a number of raids on manufacturing facilities that were being converted for alien use. To the aliens this was a minor setback, they had main significant gains in northeastern Europe behind them and once they had pacified the Balkan region they would begin to drawn the noose around the resurgence in Germany. All of these happenings in distant lands were unbeknownst to the fighters in Berlin. For the moment now their spirits were high, although their gains were minor many of them now felt they had a fighting chance.

8 Oct 1739 BST

London, United Kingdom

London stood deserted in the still of the evening. The once iconic skyline was in ruins; London Bridge had indeed fallen down, in fact all of the bridges connecting the city had been destroyed. The London Eye now rested at the bottom of the Thames. Big Ben still stood but in the shadow of a titanic alien tripod being erected. Brand new alien towers had arisen where skyscrapers once stood. Beamers flew unopposed over the city as they came and went from patrols across the channel. The surviving population of southern England had been forced to evacuate into Scotland where there were still thriving bands of humanity. The Chunnel had been sealed early on during the invasion and all attempts to flee across the channel to France had been thwarted by aerial patrols. Through the streets of London light mech patrols and a small contingent of skitters kept watch over armies of harnessed children, teens and young adults that were hard at work replacing the human architecture with that of their alien masters. Human resistance in Scotland had just begun to coalesce and at this point was being ignored by the aliens. They felt secure that the British Isles were in their hands, being isolated from the trouble spots around the world by water all around. The arrogance of the occupiers gave the survivors here a chance to someday reclaim their island if they played their cards right.

8 Oct 1239 EDT

New York City, New York, United States

The city that never sleeps had been laid to rest. Lady Liberty lay sunken in the harbor; the Empire State Building was a pile of rubble amidst a smoking ruin. The skyline made famous in so many movies and TV shows had been replaced by an enormous tripod structure that was now nearing completion. The bridges and tunnels, long crumbling before the invasion had now completely collapsed. The once crowded city had been emptied. Columns of harnessed humans were the only humans in any of the five boroughs or Long Island. The concentration of military and government assets in this part of the country had made it a major target in the opening salvo of the aliens' attack. The initial bombardment had devastated the eastern seaboard of the United States in the first few hours of the invasion. Everything was utterly destroyed from the outskirts of Providence, RI in the north to the Washington D.C. suburbs in the south. Significant depopulation in the second phase of the attack had left the areas surrounding the devastation including Boston, Albany, Pittsburgh, and Richmond nearly deserted. Those who had survived clung to those they knew and fled outward away from the cities where the alien occupation had taken root in earnest. The survivors in Jersey, Pennsylvania and western Maryland had all but given up hope. Talk of fledgling resistance movements forming in western Massachusetts and in the Adirondacks upstate spread through the scattered populations north of the heavy bombardment zone after an early victory at Concord secured the transport of weapons by the Massachusetts National Guard from Hanscom AFB to the relocation centers west of Worcester. Despite the changing fortunes to the north the aliens still considered the northeast US completely under their control. This was evident in New York City by the sparse population of mechs and skitters overseeing huge divisions of harnessed youths. The heavy beamers had almost entirely been replaced by drones operated out of signal towers in remote locations. A few brigades remained to hunt down the remaining human groups that had eluded capture. Here the aliens left another incomplete victory as the bulk of their remaining forces were dispatched into the interior of the continent to quell violence in the more intransigent areas still resisting the occupation.

8 Oct 1139 CDT

Wilderness Area, northwest of Gulfport, Mississippi, United States

The sun shone high overhead in this quiet, isolated corner of the world near the Louisiana/Mississippi state line. Life since the invasion had changed little for the mere handful of families that lived here. For people that had few amenities to begin with what seemed like the end of the world in other regions was nothing more than a prolonged power outage here. These people lived miles apart from each other, hunted for and grew much of their own food. Some of these families had at least one person living with them that were old enough to remember a time before they had air conditioning, television and the internet in these parts and could cope with life without them. Being surrounded by miles of forests and bayou on all sides the people that lived here had stockpiled necessities as frequent trips to town weren't always feasible. These families changed over from electric lighting to camping lanterns at night, many of them had diesel electric or solar generators on their property to allow them to continue to use some of their appliances as they had before. Remote swampland had little value to the aliens so it was no surprise that the people here hadn't even seen an alien in the flesh. Sure they saw the lights in the sky and had heard the news reports since the ships first entered the atmosphere but the fact that a full scale invasion was going on seemed almost surreal. They had heard the stories from people passing through that found themselves lodging with them for a few days at a time. A wounded soldier told the family that cared for him about the destruction of Fort Benning and the last major engagement of the Alabama and Mississippi National Guard with the aliens at the Battle of Mobile Bay where extraterrestrial amphibious and aerial forces had overwhelmed the American forces. It was believed that the alien force from Mobile had divided and marched towards Atlanta to the northeast and New Orleans to the west. Another family had fled down the Mississippi from East St. Louis and told of the alien occupation of Memphis and the persistent fighting in the locales around there. The closest the fighting had come to the folk here was a minor skirmish in Gulfport. In spite of the large number of military that had drawn fire during the opening bombardment and the increased alien activity in recent days the south had fared better than other parts of the country. A survivalist mentality was more common among the rural residents in the region and civilian ownership of firearms was widespread, allowing a fighting force to be assembled from non-military personnel more quickly than in other areas. Many military veterans also had volunteered to lead town watch organizations in an attempt to defend their homes and families. So far this resistance had yet to gather enough steam to do any more than slow down the alien advance. The lack of communication between small towns and communities along with heavy alien presence in the cities prevented a sizeable force from mustering and causing any real harm to the invaders. What they seemed to do well thus far was to survive, and many of them seemed content simply to wait it out and hope for victory or peace in other regions. While the people here had survived so far unscathed the very real possibility was that these same people would be called into action sooner or later. They had lived through the initial onslaught, but they had only lived to fight another day.

8 Oct 1039 MDT

El Paso, Texas, United States

At the edge of the crater that was Fort Bliss the city of El Paso continued to resist the alien invasion. A large force of soldiers, Texas State Police, border patrol agents, armed civilians and Mexican army and law enforcement personnel had joined together to drive the skitters out of El Paso an Juarez. An unlikely alliance with the Mexican drug cartels provided even more guns and manpower. Throughout the streets of the smoldering town skitter patrols were being ambushed. An AH-64 Apache peppered a column of mechs moving in to reinforce the alien position with Hellfire missiles. The missiles destroyed several of the mechs but not before one of them returned fire and grounded the helicopter. Heavy machine guns positioned on rooftops fired on beamers making strafing runs over the city. The beamers banked and rolled to avoid the gunfire, taking a few hits on their approach before opening fire on the assembled ground forces arrayed against them. As explosions rock the city amidst a seesaw battle for control of the area it was clear that at least around here the war was far from being decided.

8 Oct 0939

Los Angeles, California, United States

Wildfires rage throughout the LA metropolitan area consuming all manner of flammable structures as they spread. Behind the flames lay the burnt out corpse of the city that had once been arguably the cultural capital of the western world. The Hollywood sign now read "Holod" with the "L" partially spray-painted over in an attempt to spell "Hood" before the artist was scared away or killed. While the initial bombardment had devastated San Diego and the military installations therein the fires of Los Angeles were stoked weeks earlier. A series of protests spawning widespread riots across the city grew quickly out of control. The police and National Guard were called in to quell the situation and were unsuccessful in doing so by the time the aliens had landed. The alien forces arrayed themselves outside the city, covering all the escape routes. It didn't take much for the population to turn on each other and figuratively eat each other alive. The aliens didn't have to do much but stand back and watch while the people selfishly stomped on each other to survive. Those who did not give in to the temptation to riot and turn on their fellow humans like animals gave way to fear and attempted to flee the city. Between the riots, wildfires and coordinated bombing campaign the human population of the LA metro was driven straight into the aliens waiting arms. A few fortunate ones managed to escape the city to find themselves wandering the deserts further inland. Ironically enough many citizens of Southern California found themselves sneaking over the border wall into Tijuana further to the south in hopes of fleeing to safer regions in Mexico. Here in southern California the alien victory was complete. The closest resistance groups were in Phoenix and southern Utah near the Nevada border. The survivors of Los Angeles continued to flee and showed no signs of returning so long as their city continued to burn.

9 Oct 0139 JST

US 7th Fleet, Pacific Ocean, approx. 200km off the coast of Yokosuka, Japan

A swarm of beamers covered the horizon to the east as the carriers of the 7th Fleet launched their entire complement of F-18 fighters to intercept. The sheer numbers of beamers arrayed against them were unfathomable. There had to have been tens of thousands of them on the low end of the estimate. Even though the design of the carrier had protected the fighters that weren't on the flight deck at the time of the first strike from the worst of the effects of the EMP, it did them no good to have so few fighters airborne in relation to their foe. Even if every aircraft in the entire American arsenal had been deployed in this one location they would likely be outnumbered by the immense alien swarm. The American fighters opened fire with missiles and guns as they closed within range. The missiles were unable to lock on and just as with ground based anti-aircraft missiles the guidance systems were useless against alien technology. Nevertheless the skill of the pilots compensated for this as they were forced to target the enemy using their line of sight. Several of the missiles made contact with the beamers as the aliens returned fire. The dense cloud of beamers somewhat nullified their superior maneuverability and forced them to sustain more hits than would otherwise be the case. The far more numerous alien craft shrugged off their losses and bulldozed their way through the sparse net of fighters attempting to hold them back. Out from the depths five beamers came rocketing from beneath the sea to fire on the undersides of unsuspecting American aircraft. Missiles and anti-aircraft batteries from the fleet opened fire as the beamers drew closer. Before the ships could bear their full might against the aliens a yellowish white sphere was fired from one of the beamers and detonated over the ocean near the USS Ronald Reagan. The initial shockwave from the blast cracked the carrier in two with the resultant fireball consuming the ship entirely. The single bomb neutralized most of the surface ships in the fleet leaving those on the fringes outnumbered by the alien swarm. Several of the large beamer-gunships at the rear of the swarm flew low to the ocean's surface. These beamers opened up a bottom hatch and dropped cybernetic squid like creatures into the ocean to deal with the fast attack submarines that had survived the nuclear strike. The bodies of the creatures were about three meters long with tentacles that extended an additional four meters behind them. The creatures were covered in scales similar to those of the skitters and wore a mechanical vest over the rear section of their bodies prior to the emergence of ten long tentacles. Two of the ten tentacles were covered in shiny metallic segmented biomechanical armor. The bulbous eyes of the creatures were on the sides of their heads about half a meter from the front of their bodies. The creatures had gills on the underside of their bodies and no discernable mouth. These creatures dove down and affixed themselves onto the submarine hulls while the boats launched tomahawk cruise missiles in hopes of striking down some of the beamers. The creatures used their armored tentacles to cut into the subs' hulls causing a rupture before they detached and fled away. Above the surface the remaining fighter planes were brought down one by one by the beamer swarm. Two of the planes, realizing the hopelessness of the situation escaped the battle and fled at full speed into the east. Behind them the beamers continued to mop up the remainder of the American armada. The 7th fleet was now vanquished. Unbeknownst to the crews of the vessels of the 7th Fleet they still had one hope left. Miles to the northeast the USS Nevada continued to steam on in hopes of finding a safe harbor in Japan.

9 Oct 0139 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

Jake and Hyuna returned to the rooftop where he had a telescope set up and pointed at the moon. "Take a look." Jake told Hyuna. She leaned over and peered through the telescope while Jake kept watch over the city around them. She saw five gigantic spherical craft in close lunar orbit. A mist of small triangular specks flew towards the spheres and merged with them. "Each one of those specks you see is one of those huge triangle things that we had over the city before all this shit began." Jake explained. "They're leaving." he told her. Hyuna watched as one of the spheres began to move away, slowly at first then rapidly disappeared from view. "I counted six of the big boys earlier. How many do we have now?" Jake asked. "Four, wait I mean three." Hyuna answered. She couldn't believe it. It was all about to be over. They were leaving, the aliens were actually leaving. For what reason she didn't know, perhaps they got what they came for, maybe someone somewhere else had bested them and forced them to sue for peace. The reasons were not important; they would all be explained in time when the world returned to normal. What was important is that finally the fear of getting through another day would be gone and they could all return back to some semblance of a normal life. She had hoped that now Jake would be part of that new life, they had weathered this storm together, now they could appreciate the calm that came after together, at least as best friends if nothing more. Hyuna thought of all the things that could be after the war was over. First she would have to find her family and her friends, hopefully they all had survived. She thought of even introducing Jake to her family when they found them, something that she had never even considered before. She thought of perhaps following Jake back to America when he left. Perhaps he could convince him to stay, or to return when his term of enlistment was over. When the world was rebuilt she would have to finish her studies of course, though she might have to start them again somewhere else. Her school may not still be standing. Even though it was way too premature and she knew it she couldn't help but plan out all these things in her mind. She stood up from the telescope and gave Jake a hug. He hugged her back. What they had seen was good news; this news was cause for celebration indeed. Maybe the whole terrible ordeal was over, maybe it wasn't. While he couldn't let his guard down and expect the skitters to be gone come morning he wouldn't let that spoil the moment. They deserved a bit of optimism. When daybreak came they would return to doing what they had been doing, staying put and waiting for a rescue to come. If the threat from the aliens was over there would still be the threat posed by other humans. As all of them had seen not everyone would follow the rules and in the current state of things there was no one to enforce the rules. It was still a dog eat dog world out there and it would take some time before civilization was restored. Now was not the time to think of those things however. He and Hyuna broke their embrace and turned to watch the sky. They each placed one arm around the back of the other and watched the moon. The black dots on the moon disappeared one by one until there was only one left. The last one lingered a while longer than the others but in time it too had left. No longer was there a blight staining the glow of the moon. Now was the time to enjoy this moment they had together.

While Jake and Hyuna were reveling in the possibility that the conflict had indeed concluded something more sinister was afoot. In the sky just below the position of the North Star Polaris in the distance a single triangular craft spawned three disk shaped craft from its underside, each one roughly 350 meters in diameter. The three disks took off in different directions, one to the west, one to the south and one to the east. The triangle then rapidly ascended out of the atmosphere and went to rendezvous with the astronomically huge spheres as they were packing up and leaving the Earth behind.


	34. Chapter 34: One Choice

Chapter XXXIV: One Choice

9 Oct 0710 KST

Bucheon, South Korea

Grigor walked briskly through smoke filled streets at dawn. Rows of abandoned towers stood to his right and his left with thick power lines draped across the alleyways between them. The lettering on the signs and billboards was not the seemingly alien Hangul but instead was the Cyrillic alphabet of his native Russian. The smoke that rose up to his knees obscured his view of the pavement upon which he walked. It was calm, yet unnerving. A bird flew out of the sky and perched onto a power line behind him. The bird cawed, prompting Grigor to quickly spin back around and shoot it off its perch. Grigor sheathed his weapon and backed away. The bird did not explode after several seconds; it was just a normal bird. He turned back around and continued on. He didn't know why he was walking in this direction only that it felt right. His mind did not question the fact that neither Hamza nor Williams were present, nor did he stop to consider how he got from the floor of a subway train to these desolate streets. The buildings all looked identical, every few blocks it was as if they seemed to repeat themselves over and over. Still Grigor kept walking until he saw a darkened patch in the smoke ahead of him. The black smoke rose up into a pillar that split in two. The twin pillars took shape and formed a pair of hell spawned creatures composed of a shadowy mist. They were pitch black in color with no firm detail to their form except for a pair of burning eyes. The creatures darted to the sides then came at Grigor from both directions. Grigor instinctively emptied his weapon at the monsters but the bullets passed right through them as if through a fog. Slender elongated arms appeared on the shadowmen which grew long dagger like fingers from them. Just before the creatures reached Grigor a roar in the distance dissipated their form and they blew away like dust in the wind. Grigor turned to see a mighty black bear standing on its hind legs in the distance. The bear got back down on all fours and ran towards Grigor while he stood there paralyzed in fear. He could not move no matter how much he tried, it was as if the smoke below him was cementing himself in place. When the bear reached him Grigor fell down onto his rump and looked upwards at the majestic animal whose majesty turned into ferocity when it grabbed Grigor from under the arms and held him up. The bear roared right in Grigor's face. The animal's jaw could easily clamp down on Grigor's head with one bite. Terrified, Grigor in a futile effort tried to take a swing at the beast, hoping that he could connect with a knockout blow. Then his eyes were opened.

Williams awoke to see light beaming in to the subway tunnel from above. In a fright he realized he had fallen asleep on watch and quickly sprung to his feet and surveyed the area. There were no aliens, check. Hamza, Grigor and the kids were still alive, check; their supplies weren't stolen, check. Looked like everything was in order. They were lucky last night. "You think you can uncuff me so we can get going already?" Hamza derisively asked Williams. He looked over at Hamza, still cuffed to the seat leg and then at Grigor. Grigor was still sleeping soundly; this was odd seeing as he was typically one of the ones that would be up hours before everyone else. Williams knelt down and shook Grigor to try and wake him up. He was still breathing, that was always a positive sign but he did not wake up. Grigor just coughed and angrily growled something in Russian. Williams felt his forehead; Grigor was burning up with fever. They would have to stop by a drugstore on the way and get him something. Meanwhile they were burning daylight and had to move. Williams stood Grigor up and shook him on his feet. Grigor punched Williams in the gut as he came out of a deep sleep. "Ugh!" Williams grunted. "Oh shit, was you. I was having bad dream, some big black bear was shaking me. I think it was about to eat my face." Grigor said in what would have to pass as an apology. "Sorry, ugh. We have to get up." Williams groaned. Grigor reached into his pocket and took out the keys to release Hamza. His body ached as he moved, he felt terribly cold and dizzy. "I'm feeling like shit today." Grigor complained as he stooped over and let Hamza out of his bonds. Grigor stood up and stumbled back a little. "Drink some water, it might help." advised Williams. Grigor took the last water bottle out of Hamza's backpack and opened it up. "I'll go see if I can find some more." offered Williams. Williams then left and returned several minutes later with two water bottles and an armload of cookies. He set the cookies down in front of where the two kids were sitting along with one of the water bottles. "See. I told you I would bring you some more." Williams said. The little girl said something cheerfully in Korean. "She says thank you." said the boy. "You're welcome." Williams replied. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Williams offered. The little girl started to bug her brother to translate what Williams had just said. She seemed eager and excited, almost as if she knew the question and wanted to leave with them. The boy did not give heed to his sister's requests. "No. We can't go. The geomis are out there and you can't protect us." the boy replied. "He is right. We have to leave them behind. We cannot protect small children against what is out there." Hamza interjected before Williams had time to protest the boy's decision. Williams stood up, looked at Hamza, completely lacking empathy in the face of pragmatism. He didn't want to leave them behind but it looked like he had to. As a final gesture of goodwill however Williams took the can of pineapple and the can of bean sprouts and gave them to the children. Williams got up and started to leave, he was certainly leaving these children to a slow and terrible death. They couldn't hide from the aliens forever. Eventually they would find them if they hadn't perished of starvation of thirst. What a world this had become where innocence could not be preserved. These children deserved a childhood, a shot at life, at love, at happiness, instead what they got was an empty subway car surrounded by monsters who wanted to kill or enslave them. Williams froze in his tracks. If he couldn't take them with him he would do everything he could to give them a fighting chance. "You two go on. I'll catch up in a few." Williams told Grigor and Hamza. "Hurry. We will be waiting." Grigor replied. Grigor and Hamza left and Williams returned to the children. He took the last water bottle and gave it to the little girl then removed his pistol and made sure it was fully loaded. He knelt down and offered the gun to the little boy. "I want you to have this. Now you can go to the surface to get food and water without being afraid." Williams told the boy. The boy reached out and slowly took the gun. "This is the safety; leave it on until you're ready to use it. Now if you see a geomi just point this at its head and pull the trigger right here. I've found if you go for the spot just above the jaw that seems to work best." Williams said while instructing the boy on how to use the gun. He took a handful of bullets out of his pocket and set them on the ground then went through the process on how to load the gun. "Remember don't point this at anything you don't intend on shooting ok? It's dangerous. It's not a toy but it might just help protect you from the geomis." Williams said after explaining everything he could thing of about gun safety and proper gun use. He stood up and looked down at the kids. The boy held the gun towards the ground with a sad look in his eyes while the little girl smiled up at Williams from behind her brother. Williams' eyes started to well up, he could almost cry. "It won't stop them. You can't stop them. The geomis will win." the boy whispered low enough that Williams could not hear. "You two take care of yourselves. I'll be back when we liberate this city from the Geomis. That's a promise." Williams pledged. He waved goodbye and the little girl waved back while the boy stared at the ground while stroking the gun with his left hand. The boy seemed distant, more so than usual even. It hurt Williams to know that this boy was so completely consumed by despair that he couldn't be pulled back, at least not yet. He was traumatized, Williams couldn't help that but he had bought them more time, maybe even enough for him to return with an army at his back to save them. Let this be the one time I pull through, the one time that people relying on me would live to thank him. Hell, they didn't need to thank him, just seeing them alive would be thanks enough. Williams gathered his composure and then went up to the surface to rejoin Grigor and Hamza.

Outside the subway station Grigor and Hamza found a row of bicycles chained to a fence. Hamza took out a small pair of bolt cutters from his backpack and snapped the lock on three of the bikes. "We can cover more ground with these." Hamza stated. "Good idea. We still have to be on the lookout for crawly critters. These aren't that fast." Grigor said while uneasily mounting a shiny blue mountain bike. Hamza mounted a green and black bike with a delivery boy's basket in the front of it, which left Williams with a hot pink ladies bike adorned with decals of flowers, stars, rainbows and Hello Kitty. Williams came out from the subway to find his gift waiting for him. "Why do I have to get the girl's bike?" asked Williams. "Because it's funny." Grigor replied. "You snooze, you lose. Now let's get moving." he continued. The three of them then rode off to find their route to the south again.

Within the next hour, after the three of them were long gone, two shots echoed throughout the subway station. Two shots, and nothing more.


	35. Chapter 35: Infected

Chapter XXXV: Infected

9 Oct 0833 KST

Bucheon, South Korea

Grigor, Williams and Hamza stopped outside a partially burnt down supermarket not far from the subway station. Grigor had been complaining of stinging pain from some of his cuts and stiffness in his joints since they left. The pain had forced them to stop a few times already and they had barely gotten going so it was a priority to get his wounds cleaned and bandaged up before they got worse. Although it was somewhat demolished this supermarket was the first place they found and Grigor, not desiring to be in his current level of pain, gave the order to dismount their bikes and investigate. The top two floors of the multi-leveled store were mostly incinerated aside from the southwest corner. The rest of the store however seemed completely intact. Hamza and Williams hid their bikes underneath one of four disabled fire trucks that were parked along the two sides of the building facing the street. Grigor meanwhile pulled up his pants legs and examined some of the deep gashes on his legs. Three of the wounds were yellowed, festering and swollen; many others were red and sensitive to the touch. It looked worse than what he had expected, he might have been unwashed out in the world awhile but this looked like he had been sleeping in a dumpster on top of a bed of rotting refuse. His legs weren't even the worst of it, the birds tore up his back and shoulders the most and got a fair amount of pecks nearly everywhere. Though he couldn't see it, one of the claw marks underneath his right eye had puffed up and was a bit discolored. Williams and Hamza met back with Grigor and took his bike to stash with theirs. Grigor met them at the rear of the fire truck before they proceeded into the store. "The fire engines were just left here. Looks like this happened before the world went dark." commented Williams. Apparently not all of the destruction in the city could be blamed on the aliens, not to downplay their atrocities or anything, mused Williams. "Let's just hope the pharmacy aisle wasn't in the part of the store that burned down." Grigor said.

They went into the store and startled a skitter that was walking down one of the aisles inside. "Oh shit!" whispered Williams as the skitter turned to face them. They went back outside and slammed the door shut. Hamza, being unarmed ran for the fire truck that their bicycles were hidden under while Williams held his shotgun ready and walked backwards to cover Grigor who wasn't moving as fast as he could have due to the pain in his muscles and joints. The skitter smashed through one of the large windows on the side of the store. Williams fired upon the skitter once it touched the ground, knocking it onto its back wounded while another skitter raced to the edge of a burnt out open section of the building on the third floor. The second skitter launched itself from the building and over the fire truck in a single leap to face Hamza as he was pulling his bike out. Williams and Grigor could be no assistance however. A third skitter barged out the front door of the grocery store along with a twelve year old harnessed girl. Williams opened fire on the skitter which managed to dodge the initial shotgun blast and pounce on him, knocking him to the ground. As the skitter raised its clawed hand in preparation to shear off Williams' face, Grigor fired four rounds from his pistol into the skitters, back, neck and rear base of the skull, effectively killing it. "Good thing those bastards aren't wearing armor as much as they used to." Grigor laughed as Williams pushed the dead skitter off of him and stood back up.

Meanwhile, Hamza took a fireman's axe out of an open compartment on the side of the fire truck. It was constructed of a solid piece of steel where the axe handle and the blade were one which was a good thing when he used the handle to stop a fatal swipe from the skitter coming down on him. The skitter then hefted Hamza via the axe and slammed him against the side of the fire truck. The skitter proceeded to rake Hamza across the abdomen with its other arm while he was pinned. Just then Williams sprinted up behind the skitter and clubbed it in the back of the head with his shotgun, having foolishly forgotten to reload before coming to the rescue. The skitter turned and swatted Williams with a twist and a backhand swipe that sent him flying four feet away onto his back. This attack loosened the grip of the skitter and allowed Hamza to free his axe and bury it in the skitter's spine. Hamza withdrew the axe and chopped down forcefully a second time before the skitter could react. This time the axe head penetrated far enough into the creature's exoskeleton to do some real damage. The skitter slumped forward, weakly moving its arms though its legs had gone limp while Hamza struggled to remove the embedded axe. Williams got up and reloaded his shotgun then walked up to the skitter and shot it point blank in the face to finish it off. Williams then assisted Hamza in removing his axe while a gunshot from Grigor dealt the final blow to the other wounded skitter on the street. "Are you alright?" Williams asked Hamza while looking at his stomach. His clothes were ripped in three places with some minor cuts and one deep gash just above his belly button slowly bleeding out. "It's but a flesh wound. I can patch it up with what we are likely to find inside the store, Allah willing." Hamza replied. The two of them then went back around the fire truck to meet up with Grigor. "Nice of you two to leave me behind." Grigor scorned them while reloading his weapon. "Good thing there weren't more of them huh?" Grigor continued. All the while the pre-teen girl just stood there like an emotionless zombie. She hadn't tried to attack them like other parasite manipulated humans had done nor did she run away. "Hamza, I need to borrow your axe." Williams said. Hamza handed Williams the axe, looking puzzled at first then coming to a realization when Williams walked up to the girl. The girl stared straight ahead as if she didn't even notice Williams was there. "I'm going to try and take that thing off your back. Be very still." Williams told the girl. She was plenty still to begin with but did continue to sway ever so slightly side to side. Williams lined up the axe and touched its cutting edge to the place where the parasite met the girl's skin. It was hard to truly discern where it ended and the child began as it had hardened and spread out at its base. Williams made three practice strokes then with the fourth he came down with all his might onto the alien creature. The axe head sparked as if it made contact with a metal surface when impacting the parasite. The axe head dug in past the hardened outer shell into the meat of the creature and the brute force peeled away the harness from the child for about a foot down the length of the girls back. In a matter of seconds after the harness became partially unbound from its host the girl collapsed and started convulsing and gasping for air. Williams knelt down and felt the girls pulse quicken and then stop altogether. She was dead. Another failure to his credit. He removed the axe from the parasite and discovered deep spikes on the underside of the creature that had been lodged and fused with the girl's spinal cord and brain. The red, slimy holes where the spikes had dug in on the girl remained though no blood was escaping through them. The spikes, that's what killed her, or her body could have already been dead from when the spikes were first inserted and this thing could have just been using her like a puppet, a hollow shell of a person. Williams looked down and sighed with regret. "You tried to save her, my friend. You tried. What more can be asked of a man." Grigor said to comfort him. Hamza took the axe back and the three of them went back inside the store.

Fortunately all the aliens had been flushed out of the store the first time they went in so this time it was a breeze to do what they needed to do. They remained on guard as they went down every aisle to make sure it was clear before proceeding. They kept quiet just in case one of the buggers had remained behind when its buddies were getting their butts kicked. Fortunately they encountered no further trouble during their search. To their surprise much of the canned food and dry goods in this store still remained. Despite their hunger Williams left all this food on the shelves. This store wasn't that far from where those two kids are staying, once the older one finally got the courage to come out this place would be a treasure trove for them Williams reasoned. The fresh meats in the room temperature freezer had now turned brown or yellow and rotten. The stench of rotten fish drove the three men away from that side of the store. Mold grew rampant on what had been the hot deli items and hardened baked goods filled the bakery. Some of the bread would still be good for another week at least so Hamza took a couple loaves for the road. The fresh fruits and vegetables were of mixed quality, those with shorter shelf lives and the organic varieties had become overgrown with mold and withered with no one to cull the bad eggs out of the bunch. Speaking of eggs, rotten eggs and sour milk were the second great stench to befoul the air in the grocery store. "Think those bugs were drawn in here by the smell?" asked Grigor. "Maybe, to the Geomis this could be quite aromatic." Williams replied. He had even taken to calling them Geomis now, another sign he remained hopeful for those children. Maybe he had rubbed off as much on them as they did on him, it would do them good. "Food is great and all but we need antiseptic and bandages." Hamza reminded the other two as Williams selected and bagged up several pomegranates. "Let's try the second floor." Grigor suggested. Sure enough after they went upstairs and found the health products aisle they found what they needed. Hamza took a bottle of rubbing alcohol and peroxide off the shelf and stuffed both of them into his bag. "Get naked." Hamza told Grigor. "Don't you be telling me what to do bitch." Grigor snapped back. "Ouch, you seriously don't know how to sweet talk a dude. At least buy the man dinner first. A little cuddling wouldn't hurt either." Williams joked. "Is not funny!" Grigor retorted as he began taking off his shirt and pants. He left his socks and underwear on as the birds didn't manage to get him there. Williams snatched up several rolls of gauze and medical tape. Williams gave some of the rolls to Hamza who traded him two bottles of rubbing alcohol and a clean cloth. "Take care of him first; I can tend to my own wounds." Hamza instructed him. Williams soaked the cloth with the rubbing alcohol and proceeded to clean the multitude of festering wounds populating Grigor's body. "Our fine feathery friends really tore you up there." Williams remarked. Grigor winced with the sting of the alcohol into his wounds and gritted his teeth as Williams tried to be as gentle as possible in his efforts to clean them out. While he was disinfecting the cuts Grigor's sight flashed red a few times. In one of the flashes at the peak of his pain he heard a voice not of his own among his thoughts. It was so distant that he could not make out a single word but the emotion attached to the voice seemed to be one of concern, warning him of immediate danger. He strangely felt that he was being harmed by Williams and had to run away. It was the pain talking; sure it hurt now but it was for the better in the long run. Grigor ignored it and allowed him to continue treating his wounds. Hamza disinfected his own injuries and wrapped a band of padded gauze around his min section to stop the bleeding. He then helped Williams finish up. Patching up all the nasty cuts, scratches and punctures on Grigor took a considerable amount of time but eventually they finished the task. The excessive bandages covering his exposed skin made Grigor's wounds appear even more brutal than they were. Grigor put his clothes back on while Williams and Hamza gathered up some over the counter painkillers and medications that may prove to be useful. When Grigor but his shirt back on his sight flashed red again and he saw a charging bear coming at him but only for a split second then it was gone. He was back in the calm of the supermarket. Grigor made no mention of this because it would only make him look insane. Now that he was dressed they went downstairs, collected a few cans of Korean gatorade and a liter of water and went outside. Grigor took a few tylenol tablets for his fever and aches and tailed at the rear of the group. His cuts did not hurt as much as before though they were still very sore and sensitive. When he reached the place where they had stashed their bikes Hamza wiped off his axe, wrapped the head in plastic bags he took from the store and placed it in his backpack and zipped it up. The axe handle was left sticking out of a small gap left opened on the right side of the back. They each mounted their bikes and rode off towards Anyang, the halfway point of their journey.

9 Oct 1613 KST

Manan District, Anyang, South Korea

The road to Anyang was longer than it appeared on the map. Alien movements on the major highways forced Williams and his companions to take a circuitous route through the side streets and neighborhoods. They could not escape all danger however. On more than a few occasions there were skirmishes with skitters and those confounded exploding birds. The worst such engagement occurred when they passed close to a demolished cloverleaf intersection on the eastern fringes of Siheung. A pair of mechs and half a dozen skitters pursued them until they could set up a few IED's to bring down a weakened tile and flooring warehouse nearby, thereby trapping the mechs temporarily and leading the skitters to believe Williams and his companions died in the collapse.

That incident prompted them to go further off-road, into the hills and dirt paths through a speckling of deserted industrial sites. There were still human bandits in these parts who attempted to ambush the group as well. Some of them were fought off by Williams and his protectors. The largest group of these highwaymen were bribed by a sack of mandarin oranges and a handful of bullets after being convinced they would waste more bullets killing the travelers as well as lose the lives of a few of their own than they would gain from the three travelers meager possessions. It turned out these bandits were rational people that were open to a peaceful solution. They were also not so cold hearted to shoot the three in the back when they departed into the foothills near Anyang. In the end these were just people trying to stay alive, not vicious criminals or warlords as many other formerly good people had become in the days after the bonds of the social order collapsed in the blink of an eye. That encounter gave Williams hope that there was still enough good left in humanity that we could pull ourselves back from the brink and maybe even band together strong enough to outlast the alien conquerors.

In the patches of wild land in the hills and mountains to the south of the Seoul metro the aliens once again were the primary threat to the group. The tunnels through the mountains surrounding Anyang were either collapsed or under heavy guard by skitters and mechs so the group had to walk their bikes over the mountains along the smoothest slope. A lone skitter or two on patrol could be dealt with but an alien guard post could not. Several roving patrols seemed to always find a way to hit them when they were most unprepared. The group escaped with their skins intact each time and avenged themselves on more than one occasion by ambushing and exterminating unfortunate bands of skitters that they had snuck up on. After fending off the multiple foes throughout their journey they now found themselves extremely low on bullets when they finally crossed into Anyang. Hamza's bag of lethal surprises was also feeling a bit light. Still, Hamza had an axe and Grigor had a knife if it really got down to it.

The running, bicycling and fighting had taken a serious toll on Grigor. He had vomited several times and consumed the lion's share of the group's liquid rations to keep from passing out. He had plenty of moments where his sight had just blacked out or when inexplicable thoughts diverted his attention, sometimes even in the critical moments of a firefight. There was one time during a fight with some human thieves, a pair of brothers to be exact, that Grigor nearly pulled the trigger on Williams knowing full well who it was that he would be shooting. Worse still, he felt at the time that Williams was the enemy and had to be killed, not Hamza, whose loyalties were questionable, but Williams, the centerpiece of their entire mission. Grigor still would not speak to his comrades concerning these things; it would only cause more problems. It would all go away when his fever broke, he believed. By the time they got to Anyang Grigor was pale as a ghost. He was so thirsty he could drink the stagnant rainwater he saw collected in a rusted 55 gallon drum. Williams restrained him and helped him wait it out until they could pilfer a store for refreshment. Grigor guzzled water and soft drinks with reckless abandon until he vomited out a great mass onto the floor in front of the beverage cooler, forming a broad puddle around him. "Take it easy man, you've got to make sure it stays down or it won't do you any good." Williams said. Williams offered Grigor a few more acetaminophen tablets after he had finished evacuating the contents of his digestive system. Grigor took the pills with two bottles of a fruity Japanese soft drink and was about to down a large jug of water when Williams told him to wait. Reluctantly Grigor waited a minute or so and then guzzled down the water. He upchucked a little but most of what he consumed stayed down this time. "This medicine you give me is not working. My fever has not diminished at all. Legs are hurting badly again too." Grigor stated with an unscientific self-analysis of his condition. While constantly popping more than the recommended dose of over the counter painkillers only slightly dulled the pain Grigor was in they did not seem to affect his fever or sense of disorientation at all. He had to take the pills far too frequently in order to stay mobile; nearly every time they had a breather he either popped a couple more or chewed them up in spite of the bad taste when they ran out of water. "We need to find him some stronger stuff. If we see a pharmacy or hospital make sure and grab some vicodin or something. He's getting to where assloads of tylenol aren't doing the trick anymore." Williams told Hamza while Hamza was selecting a few items off the shelf to place in his bag. "Men of the West are so weak, instead of relying on the unwavering might of Allah for your strength you fall back on vaunted chemical compounds that do as much harm to the body and spirit as they do good." Hamza derided the two of them. "The West you say? Russia was the great bear of the East, how dare you call us Western." Grigor groggily snapped back. "You were until your godless Soviet experiment was broken by the Mujahideen in Afghanistan." Hamza retorted while checking the ingredients of canned meat products to make sure they did not contain pork. "Ha! You insects did not break us. As much as I hate to admit, it was the equally godless Americans that caused the Soviet empire to fail." Grigor boasted. "You say that like you thought Communism was a good thing." Williams cynically remarked. "It was good and bad at same time. My father was Party official so we did not wait on the lines. After Soviet Union collapsed was when we first felt the cold sting of hunger. Like you should be one to talk anyways, America is more Communist now than Russia is." Grigor replied. "Was, you mean. Both of your countries and their Western way of life have been deservingly brought low by these demons from the stars. Communism and capitalism both are dead ideas, it's all anarchy now." Hamza corrected Grigor. "I told you Russia is not Western, we are not like prissy Frenchmen or Englishmen who have never heard of a toothbrush." Grigor retorted. "Hey, that's not fair, I dated a British girl in my freshman year of high school and she had great teeth. Good kisser too." Williams commented. "You engage in the same vain heretical nonsense that so consumes the West. You have fallen into the same degeneracies that have rotten the spirit of those antiquated conquerors and overlords that have made them neutered and corrupt in the recently deceased age." Hamza said sharply. "Enough of this shit! We can kill each other over our worldviews later. Let's do what we came to do first." Williams scolded them harshly driving their focus back to the mission at hand. "Very well." Hamza replied in an arrogant tone. "He may need his wounds cleaned out again. If he is not being a pussy and truly is in such pain that we have to stop every thirty minutes then perhaps these are just simple bites we're dealing with." Hamza said. "What you mean? No I am not being pussy either." Grigor responded. "Some species with their bites and stings, notably jellyfish, man o' wars and some spiders, inject a type of venom that amplifies the pain felt by a human recipient that would often times paralyze a lesser creature. Since we know birds usually don't explode what's to say these ones haven't been modified to secrete a neurotoxin that amplifies the sensation of pain?" Hamza explained. "Would stand to reason that is the case. How do you know all this stuff?" inquired Williams. "I was pursuing an advanced degree in molecular biology before I joined the fight to overthrow Assad. This kind of stuff is remedial compared to that." Hamza replied. Williams looked a bit astonished when Hamza told him that. "We're not all the desperate youth trying to escape the horrible oppressive conditions of poverty that your media portrayed us as, nor are we mindless killers. Many of my sworn brothers were quite well off and educated men. It's not about economics like you would think. Some of us truly feel called to take up the sword in defense of Allah and drive the Zionist, the infidel, his heresies and his puppet rulers from our land. It is not for personal gain but for honor, a concept which your Western mind has lost." Hamza said with an air of self-importance and ridicule. Not wishing to be drawn into another heated debate that could come to blows quickly Williams opted not to take the bait presented by Hamza's remarks. All of that was a thing of the past now, why couldn't Hamza see that and just let it go. Hamza's jihad should be with the aliens now not with Williams or Grigor. "Heh." Grigor scoffed. "We've wasted enough time, now let's go find somewhere we can redo Grigor's bandages. Can't do it here with all the vomit and rotten milk everywhere." Williams said. He then helped Grigor across the wet pools of puke without slipping and they left the small shop and proceeded on into Anyang.

They passed through a row of houses and small shops as they went back out onto the road. Anyang wasn't like Seoul with its skyscrapers and densely packed structures of glass and concrete that in former times would contain a mass of humanity rivaling and even exceeding that which Williams had known from his trips into NYC in days gone by, though nowadays those tight streets and highways were mostly empty leaving behind only an endless sea of crumbling grey structures. Seoul was somewhere that had that NYC vibe, a place you go to work or to hit up the nightlife. Anyang had more of the feel of a place you would like to live, a place one could feel comfortable settling down and raising children. There was breathing room here and trees, which were a concept seemingly foreign in Seoul. The mountains and nearby forests provided a backdrop of majestic scenery all around the valley. The city was completely empty it seemed. While there were noticeable alien garrisons at all the entrances and exits to the city there wasn't as much as a single mech walking the streets of Anyang. Nor were there any obvious signs of human survivors. The only living thing any of them saw was a stray cat sleeping in the shade of a car's shadow. The sound of the wind blowing and the serene feel they got from the area had a calming effect on the three weary travelers. After a few more blocks of houses and a turn and slight incline in the road Grigor demanded they stop. They then went into a high school unaware they were being watched by several teenage girls from one of the upstairs classrooms. They went into the school nurse's office and Grigor undressed and laid down on the exam table. Using first the supplies inside the nurse's office before their own Williams removed the bandages, cleaned out Grigor's wounds and reapplied fresh bandages. Grigor's skin had started to develop a chalky complexion, like that of a manicured cadaver almost, likely as a result of intense nausea and dehydration. He couldn't keep much down long enough for it to be absorbed into his bloodstream. Then after a quick trip to the cafeteria and janitors station to scavenge what they could the trio departed the school, all the while the girls observing them did not make their presence known.

They mounted their bikes and continued onwards, at first Grigor felt fine but as they started going down a hill past a row of trees into a neighborhood of houses and shops with a library on the corner Grigor felt a sharp pain on both sides of his stomach that nearly crippled him in his tracks. He grunted and winced in agony to make it down the slope while the others had pedaled off ahead of him and were expanding the gap between them. His vision flashed red again and he swerved sharply, almost hitting a tree before he recovered. Grigor knew he would have to stop. Once he reached the bottom of the hill Grigor stopped the bike and put his feet down off his bike. "I don't feel too good guys." Grigor complained. Williams and Hamza stopped ahead of him and looked back, expecting him to have to throw up and then be ready to go again. His face had lost much of its color in a matter of minutes and indeed Grigor did throw up heaving out more than just his meager breakfast and lunch. A spattering of blood and gobs of a viscous black fluid came out along with his vomit and pooled onto the ground. "That's not helping." Grigor mumbled and tried to walk the bike forward. Flashes of red filled his vision. He felt dizzy and saw the world become inverted and he collapsed off the bike and onto the ground. Williams ran over to Grigor and flipped him over onto his back while Hamza slowly followed behind him. Grigor's body writhed and contracted suddenly, his muscles were all tensing up to their maximum, compacting and shrinking Grigor's form. Grigor's body was now an ashy grey color with patches of yellow, jaundiced skin. His veins were a cold blue clearly visible through his skin almost to the extent of his entire circulatory system. His chest rose and fell erratically, puffing up more in one deep breath than he exhaled in several repeated short puffs. Williams took Grigor's shirt off. His skin was cool to the touch. "What now? Do we do CPR?" he frantically asked aloud. "I wouldn't. He's diseased." warned Hamza. "I can't just let him die!" shouted Williams.

Meanwhile Grigor had no idea what was going on; he was completely unaware that he was on his back on the rough concrete while Williams desperately sought to save him. Grigor opened his eyes and saw what could only be described as demons, terrible creatures with dark fluid eyes, razor sharp teeth in an elongated mouth, long claws, wreathed in an aura of flame bathing in an otherworldly glow from some distant unseen source. The two beings morphed and twisted their shadowy bodies into different shapes, contorting into ghastly configurations as they moved. The eyes, the mouth, the claws and the flame remained constant, moving with the ever shifting form. This wasn't a nightmare anymore, nor was it a psychotic episode that he would recover from; this was very real to him. The flashes in Grigor's mind now were fully formed images on his retina. He saw the terrors in the flesh just as they had appeared in his mind's eye. One of the creatures combined its claws and tore open his chest and began to gorge on his entrails. Grigor screamed in agony and threw a strong punch at the monster, nailing it right in the side of the head. The creature's Cheshire cat smile rotated across its face clockwise from the force of the impact as the shape of its head turned into a "C" shape, though it never changed its emotion.

Grigor threw a strong right hook out of nowhere and clocked Williams' in the side of the jaw. Williams lurched back and pulled away before being punched straight in the nose by a follow up jab. "What the fuck dude!" Williams shouted as he fell backwards and tried to scoot away. Williams wiped the blood from his nose and stood up. Grigor reached for his pistol but Hamza stomped down on his wrist to stop him. Grigor attempted to bite Hamza's ankle but Hamza was too fast for him and instead kicked him in the teeth then kicked away the pistol from Grigor's reach. Williams faltered, off balanced from the hard knocks to his head. He had no idea Grigor could throw a sucker punch with that kind of strength.

Grigor barely felt the impact of the talon like foot knocking against his jaw. It was like being under anesthesia, where you could sense the pressure but not the pain. Grigor rose to his feet, the cityscape around him melted into shades of red, black and charcoal grey. More and more his mind turned away from conscious directed thought into uncontrolled animalistic impulses. He charged one of the demons, which now appeared more solid in front of him and pinned it against a wall.

Williams was slammed against the side of a building by Grigor who sprang up into a mad charge at him. Hamza knelt over and took Grigor's pistol on the ground. He shot Grigor in the ribs just before he tackled Williams. The wound spurted blood mingled with a viscous black fluid but Grigor didn't seem to even notice it. He bashed Williams against the wall several times until Williams was able to break his hold and turn the tables on Grigor. Williams slipped under Grigor's arms and placed Grigor in a choke hold with his left forearm up against his neck and his right hand holding back Grigor's arm that was attempting to free himself. Once Grigor lost consciousness he could be bound up and dragged along until they found someone who could treat him and maybe restore him to a sound mental state. This however would not be. Grigor bit down hard on Williams' forearm digging in past the sleeve of his jacket into his flesh. Williams winced and fought to push Grigor's head back but instead he was shoved away. Grigor growled at him and leaned back to make another charge. At this moment a gunshot went off, followed by another, and another. Hamza shot Grigor in the head below the ear, then again in the shoulder, and a third time directly in the side of the cranium. Grigor fell backwards and gasped one last deep breath before consciousness left his body. "Why did you do that?!" Williams shouted at Hamza. "He is a rabid dog. Dogs must be put down." Hamza coldly replied without a hint of remorse. "Get away from him. Now!" Hamza shouted and ran for cover down the street. Williams did not know why but he listened to Hamza and ran away in the opposite direction and went into a small alley between two houses, tripping over a couple of trash cans in the process. Grigor's body puffed up and held for several seconds after he died then it exploded in a resounding blast, shattering store windows and breaking auto glass all around him. Burning bits of flesh spewed out of the fireball like a fountain and stuck to the ground and walls.

Williams raised his shirt sleeve and looked at where he had been bitten. There were teeth marks and a slight piercing of the skin. It didn't look that bad, there was barely any blood but it hurt like someone had driven acid drenched railroad spikes straight through his arm. Williams remember what Hamza had said about the venom, how it could make something hurt worse than it should. He was talking about the birds though, not Grigor. How could the ability to produce venomous bites be transferred like that, it didn't seem plausible. Maybe he was just being a sissy about it, or he was letting his emotional pain translate into physical pain. He rolled over and sat down properly. He then looked back up to find Hamza staring at him holding a broken tree branch and a cut length of rope. "We must act quickly." he said in a voice filled with urgency. "What?" was all Williams could say before Hamza got behind him and applied the rope and branch to his arm between the elbow and the bite mark like a tourniquet. Williams pushed Hamza off him and stood up, the tourniquet loosening in the process. "Do you want to end up like him?! We have to stop the infection before it spreads!" Hamza shouted. Grigor lasted about a day before he went berserk. There was no guarantee that would be enough time to get to Seongnam and rendezvous with Williams' people before he went off like a time bomb, especially with all the difficulties they had in getting this far. "Wait a second! We don't even know that is how it spreads!" Williams protested. "Do you want to find out? Because I don't." Hamza said in a threatening tone, drawing his pistol on Williams as he stood up. "I will kill you. You know that. Now either the arm goes or you do." Hamza said stone cold serious in his threat. Williams thought it over, either way he could die. "There's no time to waste! Either give up the arm now or I shoot!" Hamza repeated the threat. "Better to enter life maimed than for the whole body to be consumed by hell fire." Williams looked down and whispered. He then offered up his arm to Hamza. Hamza quickly reapplied the tourniquet and tightened it down until Williams arm went numb and gained a bluish tint from the circulation being cut off. "Put it right here and hold still." Hamza directed Williams to place his arm inside an open window. He then moved a trash can under William's upper arm and had him kneel down slightly to keep it steady. He took out a hammer and nails and drove two nails into Williams' hand thus affixing it to the windowsill. "That was unnecessary." screamed Williams. "It's going to be worse than that if I don't." Hamza said. He handed Williams a roll of gauze to bite down on. He then put back the hammer and took out the axe. Williams' eyes grew large as he knew what was about to happen. Williams looked away as Hamza swung down with all of his might onto Williams arm, breaking through the skin and cracking the ulna bone of Williams' arm. Hamza retrieved the axe and dealt another strong blow, this time rending both the radius and ulna in twain, severing the skeletal linkage from the elbow to the forearm. Williams bit down hard on the gauze while pulling away in vain. The tourniquet did not completely dull the pain, from Williams' perspective it didn't even come close. Hamza repeatedly hacked at Williams' arm until it was fully severed. Williams then fell back onto his face once the arm holding him up had been removed. Spurts of blood drained out of the severed arm and from Williams' stump which Hamza quickly soaked in lighter fluid and set on fire to cauterize the wound. Once the lighter fluid was consumed and Williams' stump was charred Hamza doused the fire with water before the flames could spread, then again with rubbing alcohol to sterilize the area. He took another roll of gauze and tightly wrapped the wound and made sure the tourniquet was still tight after the fire had singed the rope a bit. "Leave that on for a while. We can't have you bleeding out." Hamza said as he cleaned and put away his implements. "I'll cook you some roast beef in a can. You'll need to replenish your iron levels." Hamza told Williams as he helped him up and carried him back onto the road. The two of them abandoned the bikes and proceeded on foot a short distance to the library.

Inside Hamza sat Williams down at a table and gathered up several paperback books and tore out the pages to make a kindling fire in an empty paint bucket that he found outside. They were sappy romance novels based on the images of hunky men on the covers, not the type of thing Williams would want to read anyways, assuming he could even read Hangul in the first place. With several of the newer books Hamza could see that the modern Korean image of male beauty was quite different than what either he or Williams would consider the standard of manliness. Hamza would use the word "gay" if asked to describe some of these images, though Williams, being a little more politically correct that your average jihadi would, in Hamza's mind, most likely refrain from saying that though the sentiment would be the same. Hamza fashioned a wire hanger into a tool to hold the can of roast beef over the fire and wrapped the handle of it in cloth so he could hold it without getting burned. "Would you like me to bring you a book, or a magazine perhaps, something with pictures of women posing as whores maybe?" Hamza asked. "I've got a girl back home. I don't need no girly magazines to get me through. I can save it all up for her then she'll be bragging to her friends big time about how good it was." Williams replied. "So you're still holding onto that. Admirable I suppose." Hamza said. He took off the top of the roast beef can and placed it in the tool he made and began to warm it up. "You would say that we hate you because of your freedom." Hamza spoke up after several minutes of silence. "We hate you because of how you have abused that freedom. Freedom is the mind in the human condition, it is neither good nor evil though it can be used for both. You have to freedom to obey the precepts of Allah, to do his will and behave in a moral fashion or the freedom to give yourselves over to your beastly nature and behave like base animals. You in the West have given yourselves over to the latter. You celebrate licentiousness and perversion; you revel in the doing of evil deeds while decrying good as evil." Hamza explained. "You are a Christian correct?" Hamza asked. "Yeah, a Baptist, my mama took me to church ever since I was little." Williams replied, not sure what this had to do with Hamza was talking about. "I would think we would find much common ground on moral issues, though you have blasphemed Allah with your polytheistic notions of three gods where there is only one god. The problem with you Westerners is that if you claim a faith you do not follow it. You treat your false gods like a hobby so you cannot understand those who take the one true god seriously enough to die for his glory. Because you cannot understand us you could never defeat us. That is how we drove out your armies after you leveled our cities and occupied our lands. You fight for a state that exists in perpetual sin; a flimsy concept subject to change entirely every four years, there is nothing solid you can hold on to. That is how even though it may take decades we will triumph. Certainly even through your tainted perspective you can see how rotten Western society is and why we would not have it infect our lands, and some would not even suffer it to exist in the same sphere as we do." Hamza explained. "Yeah, we have a lot of fucked up stuff that goes on in America and the West, but we don't try to change it with violence, at least most of us don't. If you know anything about our faith it is one that believes in peaceful conversion, that by becoming exemplars of good we can inspire others to change. Your martyrs delivered violence against evil men and conquered, our martyrs withstood violence from even men and did not raise a fist, yet they conquered the same." Williams rebutted. "Your patience is your downfall; the wrath of Allah cannot be stayed forever. As you can see ultimately freedom is an illusion, Allah's will is always done and his judgements are swift and righteous, whether they come from human action, the forces of nature, or a terror from the skies." Hamza responded as he took the can of heated roast beef and brought it to Williams. He took a fork from the school cafeteria out of his bag and handed it to Williams then went back to the fire to heat up another can. "Let me know if you are still hungry. You will need your strength to go on." Hamza said. For the first time it seemed the two of them had started to form an understanding of each other. Whilst each of them did not agree with the positions of the other and still felt enmity between them, a chance of these two coexisting in the new world began to take shape. Hamza would need Williams if he hoped to see the end of this great judgement, one man alone could not outlast what was out there. Williams in turn needed Hamza if he was going to reach the military personnel in Seongnam, with one arm he couldn't handle a shotgun well and Hamza maybe had 2 or 3 rounds left in that pistol if they traded. The first skitter they came across could be the end of them. With Grigor gone so was the leash that held Hamza at bay. Christian and Muslim would have to find that common ground to stand on lest they do the aliens work for them. Hamza even had hinted at the possibility earlier, and if he could see the light then it should be a breeze for Williams, who did not harbor such deep seeded resentment at his core. For the moment now it was a love-hate relationship; they needed each other to survive yet would be sleeping lightly lest the other one slit his throat in the night. Halfway to Seongnam with the daylight running out they had no time to settle differences. Once Williams had finished eating the two of them promptly resumed their journey


	36. Chapter 36: Tribute

Chapter XXXVI: Tribute

9 Oct 0610 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Ji-hye was the first to wake up this time as Sergei had the midwatch overnight and had just laid back down a couple hours ago. Damn Russians threw off her sleep schedule yesterday and it would be a bitch getting back into routine, Ji-hye thought. It wasn't likely that there would be a need for a routine anytime soon however. A 17 year old boy stood watch by one of the temple windows with one of the salvaged Korean army rifles the harnessed kids had been using. It was still dark out so the brightness of a mech searchlight passing by them, lighting up one window after another in sequence in the temple, was made more apparent. This also meant that an enemy patrol was passing by right now, and should leave them somewhat of a window to escape after it had passed. Ji-hye waited a few minutes until near silence returned and started quietly waking everyone up. Once the party was roused from their slumber they armed themselves the best they could. Since the rifle ammunition was designed to pierce standard mech armor the rifles were given to the most competent shooters out of the group. Ji-hye kept Tae-won's old rifle, Sergei and Officer An also were armed with K2 rifles. The 17 year old boy and his father who both claimed to have experience hunting were also given rifles but the ammunition allotted to them was that which was taken off the bodies of the harnessed kids and as such it was not mech-piercing. There were several other rifles but they did not have enough bullets for anyone else. Those people were told to hang back and play it safe until more bullets could be located. Ji-hye, Sergei and Kyung-seok each gave their pistols to another member of the group as the ammo for those was more plentiful. With the pistols they had taken from their enemies the group had a total of 13 shooters and 19 other persons. As such they needed to avoid a fight as much as possible. Improvised melee weapons wouldn't help much against an enemy that was faster, stronger and more resilient than they were. "Everyone stay together, keep quiet and try not to draw any attention to yourselves. I will lead the way." Ji-hye instructed everyone.

Ji-hye led them out onto the streets and into the maze of giant high rises in a largely residential part of Incheon. Alien activity was heavy near the industrial and commercial quarters of the city so she hoped that by going through what had been densely populated areas with little to nothing of military value in them that they would be less likely to encounter opposition. There weren't as many mechs but skitters abounded, crawling into and out of the shattered windows and doors of the towering apartment complexes like ants. Ji-hye kept the jeep ahead of the group just close enough that Kyung-seok could keep eye contact with it and scouted ahead, many times doubling back when the concentration of skitters became too great. They eventually came to a wooded park which offered them cover from the occasional aerial patrols that came around. The drawback was that there was no way to get the jeep through it and after trying to go off road a couple times the group eventually decided to head around the edge of the park instead. As they were leaving the park a gunshot was fired at the front passenger side tire of the jeep from a concealed position in the trees. The shot punctured the tire causing it to blowout and forcing Ji-hye to stop. She got out and quickly sought shelter behind the driver's side of the jeep while everyone else hid behind trees, trash barrels and a park billboard. "Show yourself! We mean you no harm!" Ji-hye shouted out. Her demands were answered by another bullet shattering the passenger side window of the jeep. "What do you want?" Ji-hye cried out. Again, the answer was simply a gunshot, this time from the other direction that struck the door of the jeep less than a foot away from Ji-hye. "Oh great there's more than one of them." Ji-hye silently grumbled. "If you're going to shoot me then shoot me! Otherwise I'm leaving!" Ji-hye called out. The gunman on her side of the jeep fired two more shots into the jeep, one of which punctured a hole in the gas tank causing the jeep's fuel reserves to leak out. So much for a quick getaway, she thought. Still nothing, not a word from her assailants. Their silence made her think that these were harnessed individuals shooting at them, however their tactics made her think otherwise. The behavior of the shooters did not match what she and the others had seen before when dealing with alien infested humans. The aliens would usually attack them head on and if they took a shot they shot to kill, none of this beating around the bush, an alien sniper would have struck her dead with the first round. This led her to believe she was dealing with a human foe. They haven't made any demands, nor had they moved from their hiding places, so what could they want? She kept silent and waited, no further shots were fired. She slowly looked around, scanning the treetops to see if she could find out where the last shot came from. As her eyes drifted to a particular tall tree a fourth gunshot shattered the driver's side window of the jeep. They apparently didn't want her looking at them either. A red flare was fired into the air from somewhere in the woods. This drew attention, but not the kind the gunmen were seeking. A passing beamer detected the flare and precision bombed the location it came from. The blast burnt away a large patch of foliage and knocked over several trees at its center. Most importantly the man hiding in the trees was flung out of his hiding place and onto the ground. Ji-hye sprinted for the man before he even touched the ground. Two shots were fired from behind her, one striking the dirt several feet behind her and the second hitting the ground mere inches from her left foot. The silent threats did not deter her; she tackled the man on the ground and tossed his weapon away from him. Ji-hye wrestled with him, her skill compensating for his strength. One of the civilians, a brawny man in his late 40s saw that Ji-hye was being overpowered and left the safety of his hiding place to come to her aid. A gunshot fired ahead of the man scared him but did not stop him. The man beat the sniper in the chest and back of the head with a golf club until he submitted to Ji-hye and was handcuffed. Ji-hye's backup paid for his action by being shot in the hip. The man cried out and hunched down, almost to his knees. If the sniper wanted to he could have killed this man, or her, Ji-hye wondered. Why were they keeping them alive? "What do you want from us?" Ji-hye asked the fallen sniper as she stood behind him, using his body as a shield. The man did not answer. She repeated her question more forcefully than last time, still no answer. She struck the man in the back with her knee and demanded he tell her what they were doing. Once again the man was silent. Before she could answer a fourth time the man was shot in the chest and died. Ji-hye looked up to see where the shot came from to find an aged woman holding a bolt action hunting rifle. Behind the woman stood a chubby baby-faced man in his late teens wearing a bright yellow shirt and ripped skinny jeans and a haggard woman abound the same age as the shooter dressed in a soiled, torn, summer dress. The man carried two revolvers that were still holstered to a loose fitting belt while the haggard woman carried a spear fashioned from a kitchen knife heavily duct taped to a mop handle. "A pity you were too stupid to live." the woman said. "I see we have enough tributes for a month." she continued. "Don't you try anything silly now; my youngest son will shoot you. He was the smarter of the bunch." the woman warned Ji-hye who was contemplating an attack. Assuming there were no more of them hiding in the trees Ji-hye's group outnumbered these people by a large margin, though there were guaranteed losses if they chose to fight. Among those losses would be Ji-hye herself, a fact she was very well aware of. "I don't think that would be a very smart move of his behalf. We have you outnumbered and outgunned. If he takes a shot the rest of you would be dead before you can blink." Ji-hye shouted. The volume of her voice could draw some alien attention which could actually be beneficial for a change. She surveyed the area with her eyes while keeping her head still, facing the older woman while trying to formulate a plan in her mind. If every one of her people was on the same page as she was then her assailants would only have the chance to fire two shots and they only had two possible targets they could hit, her and the middle aged man standing beside her. She still held the dead sniper's body in front of her, while it offered no leverage it could still absorb bullets or at worst turn a kill shot into a wounding shot. This meant that the old woman would likely try and shoot the man next to her leaving her vulnerable on her right side to the other shooter concealed in the trees. "You're assuming we are only what you can see." the old woman laughed. "Don't try to shrug it off like a joke. Your boys already gave away their positions. They wanted us to know where they were so we wouldn't move." Ji-hye shouted back. "That's what you think." the old woman arrogantly replied. "Then go on, give us a warning shot. Show us what we're dealing with if you want this negotiation to continue, because I'm about ready to drop the hammer and make E.T. kibble out of all of you." Ji-hye said calling the old woman's bluff. She continued to strategize while speaking. The rest of her group had their weapons aimed at each of their attackers that were in the open along with a few of them focusing in on the general area where the sniper in the trees had fired from. She had her weapon close at hand and the dead snipers rifle was behind the foot of the man standing next to her. If he wasn't immediately killed then he could return fire as well. "Nothing they do can save you or your friend missy! They wouldn't let one of their own die, you're good people and good people don't sacrifice their friends." the old lady responded calling out Ji-hye in return. "That's where you are wrong lady! I'm no more important to these people than a housecat. You shoot me, that's just one less mouth to feed." Ji-hye shouted back. "What the hell aliens? Where are you?" Ji-hye whispered under her breath as she quickly looked down then back up at the old woman. Normally one of them sneezed and they would be swarming on them, now she's screaming at the top of her lungs and not a spider in sight. "I call bullshit on that! If that was the case then why haven't they shot us already?" the old lady asked. "No one has to die here today. All you have to do is come with us; we'll give you hot food and a bed. We have a whole housing complex to ourselves. Just leave your weapons on the ground and walk towards us with your hands in the air." the old lady demanded in a soft voice. "You're not thinking clearly about this are you? Did it ever occur to you that they might want you to shoot us first, force you to give away your positions?" Ji-hye replied. The offer of hot food and a warm bed had to have been a lie. The aliens dominated this city; every apartment building they had seen was turned into a spider's nest. If these people had such obvious and expansive living arrangements then they most certainly were collaborating with the enemy. Perhaps that is what she meant by tribute. She was ransoming her own security with the lives of innocent hostages, either to the aliens themselves, Dong Zhao or some other self-important asshole that thought just because the modern world came to an end it suddenly made them king of what was left. That's what they were, not monsters but some desperate family that brokered a deal with the devil to save their own skin. Well most of them were not monsters; the old woman herself had just murdered her oldest son without batting an eye, not much maternal instinct there. "Just run." the man next to Ji-hye whispered. She didn't have time to argue with him, he seemed to have his mind made up. "That's all they are waiting for, so just shoot me like you did your own son!" Ji-hye mocked the old woman, deliberately attempting to tug at the heartstrings to provoke her. "We'll see about that." The old lady replied and fired her weapon at Ji-hye. Ji-hye jerked the dead sniper's body upwards at the sound of the blast while ducking down and starting to run back to cover behind the nearest tree. The old woman's bullet struck the sniper in the eye penetrating through the skull completely but not without having its trajectory altered even so slightly but enough to miss hitting Ji-hye. The bullet grazed the tip of her ear and took a few thin strands of hair with it before it struck the dirt. At the same time a volley of gunfire resounded throughout the park and peppered the chubby boy with bullet holes before he could reach for his weapons and struck the old woman's younger sister in both the front and back of the torso as she turned to flee, falling forward on her face. The old woman herself was hit it the left shoulder, right knee and left shin which brought her to the ground before she could take another shot. The large man next to Ji-hye covered her with his body as she ran away taking a hit to the right side of the chest from the sniper in the trees. The bullet pierced the man's lungs making it harder to breathe as he continued to shield Ji-hye while reaching for the rifle on the ground. Kyung-seok fired a 3 round burst towards the trees where the shot came from, shearing and snapping away tree branches but not hitting the sniper. A couple of the civilians also fired several shots from their pistols in the general area but did not hit anything. A second shot from the sniper hit the large man in the lower back forcing him to fall onto his side and roll around as he took up the rifle on the ground and returned fire. Not surprisingly due to the pain the large man was in the shot simply hit a tree trunk nowhere near where the sniper was located. Ji-hye sprayed bullets behind her as she jumped behind a large boulder. Her shots, the heavy mech rounds ripped through the base of several trees causing one to collapse on top of the branches of the tree where the sniper was reloading. The sniper was pushed from his hiding place and fell through the leaves to land on his feet out in the open. He exchanged shots with the large man, dying on the ground, hitting him in the chest again and taking return fire to the side of the throat. Another shot fired by Sergei struck the sniper in the side, through the ribs and killed him. Ji-hye ran to her protector's side while Sergei and Officer An pounced on the old woman before she could get up. They took her rifle away from her and tied her hands behind her back. Ji-hye meanwhile knelt down and exchanged a long look of silence with the stranger that traded his life for hers as the life left his body. Ji-hye clutched his hand as the man took his last breath. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she laid him down and shut his eyes. One of the civilians, a female college student dressed in her school uniform, knelt down next to Ji-hye. "Is his family with you?" Ji-hye asked. "He didn't have a family. He came to us alone, single, no kids." she told Ji-hye, recalling when that man had arrived at the police station the night the sky fell. His life was his own, Ji-hye thought, he had neither duties nor obligations to anyone and he laid it down for a complete stranger. His noble sacrifice would be held in honor and remembered so long as she went on living. "Will you help me bury him?" asked Ji-hye. While Ji-hye and a few of the unarmed civilians took the man's body and buried it in the small crater left by the beamer attack, covering it with tree branches and leaves the rest of them gathered in on the old woman. "You'll never get away with this." the old woman threatened. My husband and daughter, they will find you and kill you all." she screeched. "They don't need to find us. We will find them, and you will take us to them." Kyung-seok replied.

9 Oct 1246 KST

The survivors with the old woman as a prisoner crossed the park on foot and headed northwest. The jeep was abandoned on the opposite edge of the park for the time being, they didn't have the time to patch the fuel leak nor did they have a spare tire. It has been stolen off the jeep back when Williams and company first arrived in Incheon. Due to her injuries and uncooperative nature the old woman forced two of the men to carry her rather than walk. She led them through the park, across the lot of a concert venue and into another large wooded park before returning to the dense urban landscape they were familiar with again. These streets were not devoid of alien activity, the old familiar sounds of mechs and the skittering of skitters presaged patrol groups which were unusually large but few in number. These groups were also purely alien in composition; they carried with them no human minions of any sort, worker or fighter, slave or volitional collaborator. "Do you think she's even leading us to the right place?" Officer An quietly asked Ji-hye as they walked several yards behind the old woman and her escorts. "I think so. She needs 'tributes' and still thinks she's going to have us in the end." Ji-hye assured Kyung-seok. "We have other tributes; you're not that special sister. You are right, I will have you in the end." the old woman spoke up after overhearing the last bit of the conversation. "All the more reason to bust this outfit." Kyung-seok commented. Ji-hye and Kyung-seok still were police officers, and though law and order crumbled less than five days ago their sense of justice was as ardent as ever. These people were guilty of kidnapping, human trafficking, extortion, assault and murder. Might as well throw in resisting arrest charges at them too, that is, if this was the old world. There would be no trial here; justice would come swift and deadly. There were untold numbers of people being held by this family of outlaws. Furthermore they could not allow these people to continue abducting others. She understood the severity of their situation but even in the darkest of times there is still right and wrong. There are some depths people should never sink to lest they lose their humanity altogether. Their sense of justice was both their driving force and their weakness at the same time however. Despite the obvious guilt of the accused Ji-hye had a hard time convincing herself they were doing the right thing. She knew the harm of allowing these people to continue operating as they did, though in her heart she felt that simply going in and killing them would be wrong. The old mother here had shown them her wickedness, it wouldn't be too difficult to pull the trigger on her, but the others, there were at least two of them that Ji-hye was aware of waiting for them when they arrived. She couldn't know if they willingly went along with this or even knew the treachery this woman was engaged in or were forced into it. "How much further is it?" Kyung-seok asked after they entered into a third smaller park after they cleared several city blocks. "We're almost there." the woman said with a grin. There were no more alien patrols once they had crossed the park into the residential area beyond. Those weren't patrols they had seen earlier, Ji-hye pondered, those were prison guards. That explained why there were no humans with them, they couldn't have their new prisoners seeing their fate now could they? Kyung-seok and Ji-hye fell back away from the old woman so she could not hear them discuss strategy with Sergei and the others. "We know there are at least two more of them at this apartment complex, maybe more." Kyung-seok told Sergei. "Don't forget the aliens might make an appearance, they like to do that you know." Sergei mentioned. "Indeed. We're going to need to split up when we get there, at least two shooters per team. If the shooter goes down one of the others takes his weapon and goes on. Free the hostages first then deal with the shooters when you find them." Ji-hye proposed as a strategy. They had numbers on their side for a change, might as well exploit that fact. "I'll form teams." Sergei said then went and casually grouped the people in the back of the formation together. Ji-hye, Kyung-seok, the men carrying the prisoner and two others would stay together and approach the complex from the front.

The apartment complex was an irregular geometric configuration of moderately tall buildings surrounded by trees with entrances on the north, south and east of the complex. Sergei quietly motioned for three teams to go around, two to the east that would proceed to the northern entrance and attempt to sneak in through any open spots in the back of the complex on the east side, and one to the west to sneak in through the western entrance. Sergei then led a fourth group that branched off to a group of buildings to the west after they had entered the southern entrance. They each quietly made their departure so the old woman would not notice them leaving, though if she happened to turn around she would notice the diminished numbers, but by the time they were in the complex she could be faulted in believing they were merely hiding. Ji-hye and her group then followed the old lady's directions to the interior of a rectangular formation of five buildings, three large and two small ones. "Here we are." the old lady told them. Officer An dashed off to the left and hid behind a row of cars. The college aged woman, armed with a pistol and another unarmed man ran to cover in a grouping of trees at the center of the enclosed parking lot between the buildings. "So which one are they in? Ji-hye asked. "The far one on the north side but you better let me go on alone or you'll be shot on sight." the old woman replied. "Nice try." Ji-hye remarked. She dismissed one of the two men holding the woman and sent him off with Officer An to slip into the adjacent building to the west of the one the woman indicated. The other man held the woman in front of him and forced her to walk ahead of him. The woman did so but with great difficulty because of her wounds. Ji-hye slowly walked a distance behind them, scanning the windows and doors all around with her rifle aimed and ready.

Meanwhile Sergei and his team ambushed and killed a man armed with a shotgun in one of the other buildings on the west side of the complex. Inside the room the man was guarding they found cases upon cases of canned fruit juice, pallets of rice and boxes full of cans of beef stew. "So this is what they sold their souls to the alien devil for? Hmmph." Sergei commented. They then proceeded room to room finding most of the rooms empty until they reached the fifth floor. Sergei kicked in the first locked door they found in these apartments and scared a group of teenage boys playing chess and reading magazines half to death. Sergei and the other shooter with him pointed their guns at them as they entered the room. "What the hell is this?" asked one of the frightened boys. "We're getting you out of here." Sergei told them. "Why? We're safe here." another boy asked. "These people are trading you off one by one in exchange for sanctuary." Sergei explained. "That's bullshit!" cried out another of the boys. "Is it? Why do you think the aliens have left you alone when there are at least sixteen walkers and space crabs making rounds within a kilometer of this place?" Sergei rhetorically asked. His companion repeated what he had said in Korean in case any of the boys didn't speak English or couldn't filter out his accent. "You're just some asshole with a gun. These people took us in and fed us. Screw you!" one of the boys said. "Fine. Stay here if you want, the rest of you can come with us." Sergei said. Four boys left immediately and a little over half the boys left with Sergei after thinking it over a few minutes leaving the remaining ones behind to suffer their fate. A few rooms down the hall Sergei's team discovered the boy's female counterparts. "Holy shit!" one of the girls screamed as she recoiled in horror when armed men entered the room. "What happened to Sun-hee?" asked another of the frightened teenage girls. "Yeah she's been gone since last night." another girl chimed in. "Sun-hee was sacrificed to the space spiders. I'm sorry." Sergei lied as he bowed his head in shame. Really it was more of a half-truth than a lie, as he didn't really know but it was a good possibility that is what happened to her. "We're here to get you out of here." Sergei told them. The girls were much more willing to be rescued than the boys in part due to the recent departure of their friend and Sergei's apparent acting ability. Sergei then cleared the apartment building, rescuing all the willing people he discovered and went on to the next one.

The other groups also infiltrated different buildings typically finding most of them to be empty. There was a brief firefight with several older men at the north entrance and a skitter attack that killed two civilians inside a building near the west entrance. Other than that the groups encountered zero resistance. The building where the skitters were found contained a tank filled with the alien parasites behind a locked and barricaded door. This was where the kids that were taken from other buildings were implanted with these things before they left. There were no people or supplies in this building or the five buildings immediately adjacent to it. The people who discovered it wanted to shoot apart the tank but did not have the bullets to spare. Instead they siphoned gasoline from non-functional vehicles in the parking lot and used it to set the room containing the harness tank on fire.

Jeong Seok-won and his son Seok-min, the only other civilians to carry loaded military rifles slipped in through a damaged section in the back of one of the buildings on the east side of the complex, very close to where the old lady had led Ji-hye's party. There they began freeing the hostages, each time having to convince the people that their comfort was an illusion and that they had to leave. They were not as successful as the other groups and only managed to lead a third of the would be "tributes" out of their plush confinement. It seemed that they hadn't touched this building to deliver their daily tributes; there were few kids and young adults there. It was mostly older women and men that had not been conscripted into guards for other areas of the complex. Meanwhile Ji-hye had met the old woman's husband in front of the north building after being in a standoff with shooters in the buildings to her right and left for some time. The husband had called off the snipers as he walked out into the parking lot. "You're not doing yourself any good by hiding behind my wife. Our daughter has a rocket launcher pointed right at you." the husband said as he nonchalantly approached Ji-hye apparently unarmed. "Now how about you let her go and we talk like civilized people." the husband said. "We're just here to free the people you've kidnapped. Let them go and we'll leave your wife here and be on our way." Ji-hye said though she had no intention of keeping that promise. Maybe she could just shoot them in the spine where they couldn't walk anymore, they would still be alive but they wouldn't be able to kidnap anyone anymore. Their daughter could be their last tribute, the sick bastards. "They're not our prisoners, they're our guests." laughed the husband heartily. "Then what's this tribute your wife told us about?" Ji-hye inquired. "The price of freedom. It's for the greater good, you understand that?" the husband happily replied. "I understand that you're selfish pricks that value no one's lives but your own." Ji-hye snapped back. The husband laughed. "Oh you are precious! Just look the way your face gets when you get angry. It's adorable!" the husband laughed. The old woman tried to get away but the man held on to her tight. "Easy now dear, we'll get you away from these loonies." the husband assured her. The sound of gunfire from elsewhere in the complex and smoke rising from the west disrupted their seemingly cordial encounter. "Now look what you did. I'm through with you now." the husband said. He turned his back on Ji-hye and walked back towards the apartment building on the north side waving his right hand in a circle above his head as he walked away. Before the snipers could take out Ji-hye and the man holding the old woman gunfire erupted from the building on the left as Kyung-seok shot the pair of snipers within that building, peeking out one of the windows to give Ji-hye the A-Okay hand sign. At the same time Seok-min shot the sniper in the right building straight up the butt from behind which made the sniper fall over the open balcony and down six stories to his death on the pavement. Ji-hye bolted to the right and the man holding the old woman threw her to the ground and sprinted to the south as a rocket was fired from the north building that consumed the old woman in its detonation. The man escaped with some minor burns on his back and Ji-hye emerged from behind several parked cars unscathed. She quickly shot the husband in the ankle before he went back inside and ran to catch up with him before his daughter could reload. Seok-min ran to the balcony and sprayed bullets into the north building to hold back the daughter from launching another rocket out into the parking lot. Ji-hye caught up with the husband and kicked him in the stomach and struck him in the chin with the butt of her rifle before he landed a right hook to the side of her face. The punch knocked her on her back. Ji-hye retaliated by shooting the husband in the crotch and then jabbing the gun into the wound. He hunched over and fell to his hands and knees as Ji-hye pulled herself back to her feet. She contemplated killing the man but her good nature would not allow her to do it. Instead she kicked him hard in the face and turned him over facing her. She shot him twice in both knees and once in the hip, completely destroying one of his legs and crippling the other. "Consider yourself tribute." Ji-hye coldly declared. The daughter ran down the stairs from her apartment into the commons where she faced Ji-hye, both with guns drawn. The daughter laid down her pistol at her feet and raised her hands over her head. "Ji-yoon, what are you doing?! Shoot her!" her father shouted at her from the ground. "No." Ji-yoon answered softly. "I can't be a part of this anymore!" she declared sternly. "I can't believe I'm hearing this! I should have let your mother offer you up as tribute!" her father shouted in rage while desperately trying to get up to no avail. His legs were bloodied and useless; he could barely move them. "But you didn't. You let other people be taken. We deceived them and let them die in our stead! I wanted to tell them but mother would have killed me. I was a coward for following you!" Ji-yoon shouted. She then turned to Ji-hye. "You may kill me if you must. I deserve it. If I must die then I do so renouncing this evil I have been a party to." Ji-yoon told her. She held her head down and exhaled deeply, awaiting the piercing bullets that would come. "I'm ready." Ji-yoon said after several minutes and no shots were fired. At the same time Sergei came up with a large contingent of teenage boys and girls behind him. Seok-won and Seok-min also came out into the parking lot with their liberated guests as did Kyung-seok. "What are you waiting for? Shoot her." Sergei said. Ji-hye just stood there with her rifle pointed at Ji-yoon. Sergei drew his weapon and pointed it at Ji-yoon. "No! No one's shooting anyone else!" Ji-hye commanded. "Really?" Sergei replied, sounding a little disappointed. "She's not like them." said Ji-hye. "Take her weapon and tie her up, she'll be our prisoner until we know what to do with her." Ji-hye instructed the group. Officer An went in and bound Ji-yoon's wrists while another man took her gun off the floor. Sergei and his team entered into the building and freed whoever was inside. The rest of them waited in the commons for the remaining teams to join them and watched the husband struggle to sit up. "You're idiots you know that? You can't survive this trying to be good people. You will die, or will change. Mark my words, you will find yourself someday having sunk to far greater depths than I and you will look back on this day." the husband said, in a slow, deep cadence, struggling to contain his pain and properly form each and every word. "You judge me now. You will see your judgement come back around onto yourselves tenfold! I slept fine but how will you sleep at night? Sacrifices must be made. A life for a life that is a fair trade. Heh, heh, but what you will pay in those days..." the husband continued, pausing to cough several times. "A life can be adjusted for inflation but the price of a human soul, that is more than you can bear. You will abandon your outdated morality or you will be destroyed by it." the husband snarled. "You will be destroyed by it." he harshly reaffirmed. "Can someone please shut that guy up!" complained Kyung-seok. Just as the last team entered the parking lot, Sergei's team came back downstairs with a small group of would be tributes, 12 teenage girls in total this time. "Lookie what I found!" Sergei exclaimed as he came down the stairs with a rocket launcher and a golf bag full of projectiles for it. "I will call it Big Poppa!" Sergei announced. "Well let's get Big Poppa and all these people on the road. It won't be too long til the aliens realize the operation's been shut down here and swarm the place." Ji-hye said. Her group, now considerable enlarged in numbers filed out of the apartment complex and resumed course back to where the rest of Flight 1437 was hiding. They would have to find a new fortress to house all these people now, that little hardware store wouldn't suffice. They now had the manpower to expand their operation, the next step was to gather the resources and hope that Williams' team located the military. With a little bit of luck they could establish a network around half of the Seoul metro now. "She will betray you, you know. She is so much like her mother." Ji-yoon's father warned Ji-hye after Ji-yoon passed by, being led off by Kyung-seok. Maybe she had made the wrong decision; maybe she would live to regret sparing Ji-yoon's life. Maybe the old man understood the new world better than all of them. Regardless of the consequences Ji-hye did what she knew was right. Right and wrong did not die just because no one is around to enforce their existence. This was an immutable fact to her, something she would never fall back on, even at the cost of her own life. Truth and justice were not something to be sacrificed on the altar of expediency. The devil deserves no tribute.


	37. Chapter 37:SwordsfortheChildren'sCrusade

Chapter XXXVII: Swords for the Children's Crusade

9 Oct 1628

Incheon, South Korea

Ji-hye, Kyung-seok and Sergei led their newly acquired throng of survivors northwards on their way out of Incheon. Ji-hye and Sergei took point on opposite sides of the street, carefully moving forward and clearing the corners at every cross street they came to. Ji-hye noticed that the way Sergei handled himself implied he had been in situations like this before. She hadn't paid much attention to it before but both when moving through occupied territory and during a firefight Sergei operated like he had significant military or police training. Behind them the civilians and rescued children moved quietly along in two groups keeping close to the buildings as they proceeded. Kyung-seok walked Ji-yoon behind one of the main groups of civilians with Seok-won and Seok-min covering the rear. Before they got out of the bubble of safety around the apartment complex the group stopped by a large sporting goods store. It was unlikely now that they numbered in the hundreds that they would be able to sneak past the enemy undetected. They would inevitably have to fight and being severely low on bullets and lackluster in the totality of their armaments they were certain to sustain heavy losses in an engagement. With the police stations and nearly all the city's heavy industry in the hands of the aliens and their human allies this sporting goods store was the best chance to arm their newly acquired army.

Ji-hye and Sergei went in first and made sure the building was clear before allowing the rest of the group in to help themselves to whatever they could find. Ji-hye and Sergei then stood guard near the main entrance and kept alert for any activity in the street. Ji-hye handed Kyung-seok a ring of several keys from out of her pocket. "One of these should open the gun lockers if they have any here." Ji-hye said. "Good thing one of use remembered to bring those." Kyung-seok remarked as he took the keys and led Ji-yoon with him to go and unlock the secure cabinets where the sporting guns and bullets were kept. Just like the Soviet days of his father, Sergei thought, the Koreans were so afraid of their own people rising up in rebellion that they had to keep dinky little hunting rifles under lock and key by the police force. His assumption that it was rebellion the former ROK government feared was tainted through the lens of growing up during the collapse of the Soviet Union and experiencing the civil unrest that followed. "Things are looking up for us now wouldn't you say? We've got ourselves an army." Ji-hye quietly told Sergei as the rest of their group entered into the store. "An army of schoolgirls." laughed Sergei. "Hey, there were some schoolboys too." replied Ji-hye. "Those were boys? Sorry, I couldn't tell." Sergei lightheartedly replied. "You do bring up a good point though, we found a lot of kids at that place but where were their parents? It wasn't like the attack happened in the middle of the school day, it happened at night. You think we would have found more adults than the five or six that came with us." Ji-hye commented. "If you had checked the dumpsters you would have known." Sergei replied. "Ewww. Sorry I asked." Ji-hye said. With the majority of the new additions to the team being school aged teenagers it also meant that many of them came with their own backpacks or luggage. This was quite helpful to stock up on things when they found them; even if some of them couldn't fight they still served a purpose to the unit as a whole. "I was wondering, were you ever been in the military back in Russia?" Ji-hye asked Sergei. "No." replied Sergei. His response was short and to the point. To Ji-hye it seemed almost like he was hiding something. "Oh, ever done any police work then? Just wondering 'cause you seem pretty calm in a fight." Ji-hye inquired. "No. I'm just a pilot. Well, just a co-pilot for now." Sergei replied plainly. Ji-hye's eyes caught several of the kids' backpacks being loaded with box after box of .223 Remington rounds from the hunting department in the back of the store. "The rounds for the hunting rifles will also work with the K2. Since the NATO rounds are capped with that robo-buster metal we should probably save them for the robots. We each keep a spare magazine on hand in case but for standard use we should stick to the .223's" Ji-hye suggested. Sergei removed the magazine for his rifle and checked how many shots he had left. "I've got about four rounds left and a few more in my bag." Sergei said while removing the bullets from the magazine. "I'll go get you some more." Ji-hye said then walked towards the hunting section while Sergei remained on guard.

Elsewhere in the store Officer An and his prisoner stood guard over the back entrance to the store where another group of kids were taking more bullets out of the back storeroom and loading them into their backpacks. In the camping and outdoors sections the civilians and school kids stocked up on portable stoves, water purification tablets, flashlights, batteries, torch fuel and even long term storable food. Surprisingly this store had been practically untouched since the invasion, which seemed odd due to the fact that it contained many items that would be quite beneficial to people in their situation. It could be that this area was within the range of the neutron bombs that fell the first night or that the survivors had thought this would all be over quickly and they wouldn't need to hunker down long term before they were evacuated to Incheon International. A few places the store had been pilfered through, most of the backpacks and almost all of the crossbows were gone, along with a couple styles of fishing rods. Someone might have thought they would get some fishing done on the island. Whatever the reason, finding the store close fully stocked was a saving grace to this group who had been plagued by a lack of supplies ever since that first dreadful night. Those without guns found an assortment of blunt instruments, machetes and hatchets to arm themselves with. One girl pulled down a modern hunting bow off the top shelf and a full quiver of arrows, each with brightly colored fletching on the ends. The bow was top notch, one of the more expensive models this store carried. It was one of the last ones like it and she had to stand on a display table in order to reach it. "Hey, look what Hyo-ri found!" called out one of the girl's friends. "That is so cool." remarked one of the boys. Hyo-ri blushed and flipped her ponytail over the front of her right shoulder then drew back on the bowstring and let go. "Hyo-ri trying to be a badass, that's real believable." laughed one of the girls who knew Hyo-ri from school. Hyo-ri shrugged off the derisive comment and accepted the adoration from the others whom seemed somewhat impressed. She hopped off the table and headed towards the door where everyone that had already got what they wanted had begun to gather. Some of the other teenagers, predominantly boys who were taken by her, then followed Hyo-ri's lead and took bows for themselves, though they got the lower end models that were present in abundance.

Ji-hye had gathered up as many bullets as she could carry before they had stripped the store bare. The last few guns were being handed out by a fat man dressed in flannel and jeans standing by the gun case. All in all the sporting goods store brought in a good haul. They had several hunting rifles and a few shotguns along with enough ammunition to last a few weeks, or at least not be worried about it for a couple days. All the adults and even a few of the teenagers were now armed with firearms. "I think that's the last of them detective." remarked the man when he saw Ji-hye observing him. The man reached for his own rifle leaning against the side of the gun case when a small shimmering metallic ant about the size of a child's fist fell from above and landed on the man's forearm. The man carelessly brushed it off and started to walk away from the gun case. The insect landed on the ground and scurried back to the man, crawled up the back of his boot and went under his pants leg where it burrowed into his skin near his calf muscle. "Ouch! Holy shit!" the man exclaimed and lifted his leg and smacked his calf where the insect had gnawed its way under his skin. Ji-hye, now almost back at the door, took notice of the man's painful yelp and turned around to see another pair of silvery bugs land on each of the man's shoulders. The man swatted one off but the other one chewed through his shirt and burrowed into his shoulder and crawled inside the man's chest through the wound. The man screamed and attempted to stomp down on the bug on the ground. Thinking he had squashed it, he left his foot in place. However the insect gnawed through his boot and entered into his foot. As the man thrashed about in pain from the insects digging tunnels through his innards Ji-hye looked to the roof of the store and saw where the bugs had come from. One of the larger insects, that were close to the size of a small dog, the same ones she remembered from that night at the hospital was fluttering vestigial wings much like those of a grasshopper and releasing the smaller bugs one or two at a time from beneath the wings. She scanned the ceiling in horror and discovered at least four of the larger bugs. The man collapsed as more bugs landed on him and continued to devour his flesh. The rest of the people inside the store panicked and ran for the exits. More bugs dropped down and landed on several of them. In fright one man fired his shotgun up at one of the larger bugs on the ceiling. The blast killed the bug but at the same time destroyed a ceiling tile which was holding back a multitude of the smaller insects that came raining down on their unsuspecting victims below. One of the nearby large insects fell down with the collapsing ceiling tiles and landed on the fat man. The large insect bit the large man, now as good as dead, which made the smaller ones inside him exit his body and move on towards new victims. Kyung-seok and Ji-yoon escaped out the back door along with those nearby while Ji-hye and Sergei oversaw the evacuation of everyone gathered near the front. There were close to twenty people they could not save from the heart of the swarm. The numerous small bugs completely covered and devoured one person and then moved on to the next. There were thousands upon thousands of them spreading outwards from where they landed like the ripples in a pond whose still surface was broken by a stone hurled from afar. Ji-hye took a handheld propane canister out of one of the passing pre-teen's backpacks and tossed it towards the advancing horde of silvery ants and shot it causing it to burst into flame, thus incinerating a great number of the bugs, though hardly enough to impede their advance. Ji-hye then ran outside once the bulk of the group had escaped. Those who remained within the swarm or at the fringes of its advance could not be helped. She tossed a tear gas canister as she left, but it did nothing to the insects and only made those dying to their voracious appetite suffer more. Back where the insect attack had all began the fat man's body burst open to release a fresh swarm of the smaller insects along with a pair of the larger bugs. Sergei was the last one out of the store and made his exit by firing a rocket from his new friend "Big Poppa" into the largest mass of bugs he could see delivering both a thinning of the insect herd and a mercy killing for those being eaten alive in the store.

The group coming out the front door ran away in a full sprint as some of the bugs trickled out of the building behind them. A few shots were hopelessly fired from those at the rear to try and disperse the bugs to no avail. Some of them were pushed over and fell down onto the pavement in the panicked rout. Others stopped and helped those who had stumbled back to their feet, but at least one was abandoned and left to the insects. They joined with the group that had escaped out the back door and sprinted as fast as they could. They found themselves outside the collaborator's bubble soon when four skitters jumped down from the rooftops, two of which crushed adult civilian fighters as they landed. The other two clawed at three of the older teenager boys dealing grievous damage before they were swarmed upon by other students using melee weapons against them. One of the skitters clotheslined a fleeing man then before it could stomp down on that man's chest for the killing blow it was hit in the neck with an arrow. The arrow pierced through the skitter's tough exoskeleton into its most tender nerves and arteries. The creature staggered back and started to regain its composure when it was hit by a second arrow that penetrated even deeper and brought it down. Standing at a distance was Hyo-ri, still holding the bow in front of her with a steely gaze fixed upon her foe. "Damn girl, you really know how to use that thing!" remarked one of her admirers as he ran past her. Hyo-ri then ran ahead and retrieved her arrows from the skitter they were embedded in. The creature was still alive but in a weakened state and tried to resist her removing the arrows to no avail. As the arrows were removed they tore a wider gash in the skitter's flesh causing its blood to gush freely out of the wound when they were gone, rapidly draining the fallen skitter of life. The last skitter was bayoneted in the face from a man with an AK-47. The skitter's last act of defiance was to rake the man across his own face and knock him back several feet. Severely disfigured and blinded in the left eye but still alive the man was helped back up by a teenage boy who retrieved his gun for him. A mech rocket fired over the heads of the fleeing group caused the humans to disperse into the surrounding buildings. Though probably not what the aliens had intended, the detonation of the mech rocket at the head of the pursuing legion of insects halted their advance. The remaining insects then turned around and dispersed themselves amidst the nearby structures. The mech did not stand long before Ji-hye and Sergei switched back over to anti-mech rounds and lit it up from both sides. The standard mechs were nowhere near as hard to take down as the deluxe model though they still took a lot of holes before they stopped moving and hit the ground with a loud clang. The group then reformed and ran full speed to the end of the street where they had at last come to the realization they were no longer being pursued. They then proceeded in a more cautious manner fending off another attack by a band of skitters early on before they started to make it into the clear. They went a mile or two further until they reached a fire station next to a water treatment facility. It was only now after a long rout that they felt safe enough to catch their breath and take inventory of their losses.

Sergei, Ji-hye and Kyung-seok made sure the fire station was completely safe before bringing anyone in. This time they thoroughly checked the ceiling, walls, lockers, cabinets and any other potentially hollow area or hidden nook or cubbyhole that killer insects could be hiding in. Outside Seok-won guarded Ji-yoon to make sure she didn't escape or try anything. The group had taken hefty losses in order to claim their prize from the sporting goods store, though they were still numerically a considerable force to be reckoned with. They were 232 in total, 27 of which had sustained injures of which 9 were severe. Furthermore most of their losses to the bugs had been their adult fighters leaving them with fewer military grade rifles and an army where 214 of its members were between the ages of 14-16. Kyung-seok, Seok-won, Ji-hye, Sergei, two other men and three women were the only able bodied adults left in the group. This fact was not lost on the company's leadership as they combed through the fire station. "Those damned bugs prefer beef to veal you see. Now we really are left with an army of babies." complained Sergei. "They aren't exactly babies Serge, they can still fight." Ji-hye replied as she checked under the counter in the firehouse kitchen. "They are undisciplined brats; they will get each other killed I tell you." Sergei continued. Ji-hye got up and shined her flashlight in Sergei's face. "Well they're the best option we have right now." Ji-hye said before they went downstairs into the basement. "Check and see if that generator over there still works." Ji-hye said directing Sergei over to an emergency diesel-electric generator by the main breaker box for the fire station. Sergei fudged around with it a bit and it successfully fired up and the dim bulbs in the basement lit up. "Oh that is nice." Sergei remarked, sounding quite pleased with himself.

After the firehouse was deemed safe to enter they began to start letting the rest of the people inside. At the door Ji-hye checked each of their number for insect bites for she had remembered what had happened to Carter with just a single bite to the hand. So far everyone appeared clean; if the bugs got someone they had finished the job. The wounds she found were skitter claw marks and scrapes from falling on the concrete during the escape, that was until she found one man with an obvious swollen bite mark on the side of his neck. "I need to have a word with you over there." Ji-hye told the man, taking him aside while Kyung-seok took over inspecting the remaining people. "What is it?" the man asked after Ji-hye had led him around the corner to the edge of the water treatment plant. "Were you bit?" Ji-hye cut right to the chase and asked. "Umm, I don't remember. I had some of those little bugs on me and I was freaking out like everyone else." the man answered uneasily. Ji-hye could tell that he was lying. He knew that he had been bitten and the size of the bite mark indicated it was from one of the larger insects. "Alright now listen, I've seen these things before and I know what they can do. They bite you and that injects you with their larvae. Then those little critters eat out your insides and within an hour they crack you open like an egg and move on to devour whoever else is around. Now I've seen that bite on your neck and know what will happen to you, sooner rather than later." Ji-hye explained. The man rubbed his neck where the bite mark was as if he was pretending that he didn't know about it but Ji-hye could see through it. "It was one of the small bugs though, does that still mean..." the man asked in fearful protestation. "Yes." Ji-hye replied knowing full well it was a large insect that had bit him. "Unfortunately there's nothing we can do once you're bitten. Now you have two options. You can walk and let whatever happens happen in due time, or you can stay here, outside away from the others with a guard posted on you so that whenever you look like you're about to pop he will light you on fire in order to stop the bugs. We can try and accommodate you to the best of our ability but we have to protect everyone else as well." Ji-hye explained. "You will abandon your outdated morality or be destroyed by it." the man from the apartments voice echoed in Ji-hye's mind. No, not yet, Ji-hye told herself, strengthening her mental resolve. "It's up to you." Ji-hye told the man, who was getting extremely emotional at what he had just heard. "Do you have any family here? Anyone close to you?" Ji-hye asked. "My son." the man replied. "Do you want to put your son in danger when those things come crawling out of you? We can't promise we will be able to stop them all in time before they can get to someone else." Ji-hye asked the man. He stood there sobbing for several minutes, trying to rationally find a way to bargain himself out of his fate. He went through a range of emotions from sadness to anger, to regret before standing up straight and giving his answer to Ji-hye. "I will walk. I won't put my son, or anyone else's son or daughter in harm's way." the man said. "Do you want to say goodbye to your son?" asked Ji-hye. "No. I don't want him to see me like this. He should remember his father well. If he asks, tell him his father went down fighting for him, and tell him I love him, and know he will grow up to become a better man than I." the man said, breaking into tears. "I will." Ji-hye said sincerely. The man took his rifle and handed it to Ji-hye. "The living have more need of it than the dead. Give it to my son, so a part of me can still be there to protect him." he said. The man stood silent for several minutes then turned and slowly walked away as the sun sank towards the western horizon. Sergei came around the corner, glanced over at the exiled man and approached Ji-hye. "The rest of them are all clean." Sergei told her. "Good." Ji-hye said. "I wouldn't want to have to do this again." she continued. "A pity. He was one of our better fighters." Sergei said as Ji-hye started to walk with him back into the fire station. "Do you think I was right to send him away?" asked Ji-hye. "Of course. If he started spitting out bugs who knows how many of those kids they would eat before we are able to contain them." Sergei replied. "That's what I told myself too. Doesn't make it any easier." Ji-hye said. "It's not supposed to be easy. If it was easy you would know you're doing it wrong." Sergei assured her. The two of them went back inside the fire station where Ji-hye presented the rifle to the man's 15 year old son and explained what had happened just as his father had directed her. The man's son became visibly heartbroken then resolute then hugged Ji-hye with tears in his eyes. Ji-hye hugged the boy and tried to console him, overcome with sorrow that in some way this was still her fault.


	38. Chapter 38: Air to Air

Chapter XXXVIII: Air to Air

09 Oct 0437 JST

Pacific Ocean, Just off the coast of Tokyo, Japan

Two American F-18 fighter jets neared closer towards the Japanese coastline as they continued to flee westward from the crushing defeat of the 7th Fleet. With the lack of GPS and worldwide alien interference still screwing with their onboard systems it had not been a straight shot to get here. After eluding a few beamers that had given brief chase to them following the battle the pilots had found themselves lost in over the ocean in the dead of night. While most of their systems were liable to fail or go on the fritz at random intervals the pilots' radios still worked at close range. "Joker Five systems check, can you hear me?" asked Lt. Nathaniel "Cobra" Warren confirming they still had communications with each other. "I read you loud and clear Joker Seven." answered Lt.(JG) Tiffany "Foxy" Fox. "Good, good. How are you doing on fuel Foxy?" asked Lt. Warren. "If this thing is to be trusted I'm down to about a quarter of my reserves." replied Lt. Fox. "What about you Cobra?" she asked. "A little less than that. We've got to find land soon, even if it means we have to punch out. We can't do it out over the ocean; no one's going to pick us up but those squidders." Warren replied. "Would be a shame to lose these planes though. I don't think they make 'em like this anymore." Fox commented. "I don't think they make them at all anymore." Warren added, stating the obvious. "I think I see something; look to your starboard side, 4 o' clock." said Fox after they had flown on a few more minutes. In the distance the dark reflective surface of the water changed to a thin strand of a dark opaque surface beneath the moonlight. Tiny flecks of blue light could be seen near the ground and slightly above it in the air. "I see it too. Land ho!" cheered Warren. The sight of land on the horizon was like an answer to their prayers, even if there were barely visible signs of enemy presence there at least now they knew they were heading in the right direction. The fighters banked gradually and turned towards the land as the outline of what Tokyo had become started to come into focus. Several dozen dimly lit alien towers were mixed in with the colossal skyscrapers of the Tokyo skyline, still largely intact following the initial worldwide bombardment. From these towers beamers, drones and small alien craft docked and departed. Above the city the pilots saw ribbons of twinkling lights forming the outline of a large disc shaped craft approximately 650-700 meters in diameter. "Whoa, Tokyo is looking like monster central here." Warren remarked, taken back by the apparent size of the occupation force there. "As if that's supposed to be something new." chuckled Fox. "Cut the crap Foxy." said Warren in a slightly more serious tone. "I guess we know why we lost contact with the GW before she went into the Straits of Tsushima." commented Fox as she stared down the ominous alien mothership parked over Tokyo. "It's a safe bet to assume the GW has been lost. We can still hold out hope though. Now what do you say we take these birds further north before going ashore." said Warren. "Aye aye Cobra." Fox replied. The two planes banked and turned north, moving parallel to the coast in order to keep the shoreline within sight on their port side. "You don't suppose they've spotted us, do you?" asked a concerned Lt. Fox. "I'm certain they have. They've probably spotted us long before we saw them. Heck, I'd bet they've probably been monitoring us since the moment we took off." answered Warren alluding to the fact he believed the aliens could be monitoring the movements of every single human being on Earth from orbit, something he and the other pilots onboard the Reagan had discussed at length before. "They see us; we've just got to make sure that they don't pay attention to us." said Warren.

The two pilots maintained radio silence for several minutes after the shape of the alien mothership had disappeared into the night behind them. Even though danger was just over the horizon the scene around the planes was serene. It was almost too quiet, despite the roar of the Hornets' engines behind them and the sounds of the sea far below them. The pilots' focus gave them a false sense of calm as they tried to harness their fear. In time their fear was actualized in the form of a steady blue light in the distance above and behind them. "Check your six. Do you see that?" Lt. Fox spoke up nervously breaking radio silence. "I see it." replied Warren. The light was descending and growing larger as it approached them. The planes turned slightly towards the coast as the alien fighter closed in on them. "Stay calm Foxy. We can't outrun them and we can't outmaneuver them so don't bother trying. What we can do is out think them." Warren told Lt. Fox. "Good thing is there's only one of them and two of us." Warren laughed trying to defuse the tension. The speed at which the beamer closed in on the two planes made it seem as the supersonic fighters were standing still. It was but a blue dot in the sky a couple minutes ago and now it was nearly upon them. "Remember our AMRAAM's are useless unless we can get right up on them so stick to guns if you can." Warren cautioned Fox as even a fully functional missile was incapable of getting a lock on one of the alien craft; they always seemed to shrug them off with the greatest of ease. If a hit could be scored on the beamers it didn't take much to bring them down so the best strategy had been, as counterintuitive to their training as it might have been, was for the pilots to get in close with the beamers and spray ordinance over as wide an area as possible in order to get that one chance hit by sheer luck and determination. As the beamer came at them fast the two pilots broke formation and attempted evasive maneuvers. The beamer bolted past the two fighters without firing a single shot from behind. It turned on a dime horizontally 4 kilometers in front of Lt. Fox and charged back at her at the same speed as it was traveling in the other direction less than a second before. She was not prepared for this at all, the G forces from that maneuver that would have turned a human pilot's body to mush and should have sheared the wings off the alien craft but for some reason didn't. The alien craft opened fire on the startled Lt. Fox who dove steeply out of the way of the bluish white plasma bolts. "I told you these things can be hella maneuverable when they want to be." said Warren as his plane came at the beamer from the side and opened fire. Not a single round hit but it turned the beamer towards him instead of Lt. Fox. Warren did a barrel roll out of the way of alien plasma fire and the beamer streaked by him and did another hairpin turn towards where Warren was going. Out from below Fox fired one of her AMRAAM missiles and hit the beamer just as it lined up with Warren. The beamer exploded into several pieces that showered into the ocean. "What did I tell you about missiles?!" was the thanks she got from Warren. "It worked though! I just aimed for you and assumed the bug-eyed bastard would be on your tail." Fox protested. "That's nice to know." sarcastically remarked Warren. She had taken a big gamble, if she had been wrong she could have hit her own wingman, but in the end it paid off and right now that was all that mattered. As the two planes were leveling off and regrouping another beamer broke through the surface of the ocean out from the deep directly below Lt. Fox's plane and fired two shots. The white hot plasma sheared away the tail of her plane, destroyed both her engines and caused her to go into a horizontal spin as she rapidly plummeted towards the earth. She managed to punch out before her plane exploded; the heat and the shockwave from the explosion wafted upwards into her chute and pulled her higher into the air. As she dropped down towards the ocean's surface she could see the land a mile away, maybe two or three at most. She tried to direct her descent towards the land for she knew there would be no rescue at sea. Below her however the aliens had different plans. The beamer, one of the larger ones was waiting below her hovering with its nose pointed towards the sky. It opened its front hatch and a darker blue light which appeared in a more "solid" form than the soft blue glow of its external propulsion system and running lights shone out ahead of it. The beam slowed Lt. Fox's descent and slowly pulled her in. Lt. Warren looped around and came at the beamer at an angle. There was no way he was letting them take his wingman and friend. He opened fire with guns which the alien fighter twisted to evade yet remained in place. He accelerated pushing the throttle to the max as if he intended to ram the alien craft then launched a missile at extreme close range. He banked hard right to avoid the resultant explosion as the missile collided with the alien craft and pulled up. As he circled back around he saw the wrecked alien gunship crash into the water along with the bits and pieces blasted away from it. He also saw Lt. Fox drifting down towards the ocean surface as well. There wasn't much he could do for her from inside his plane. She wasn't that far from land that swimming to shore would be out of the question either. "Swim Foxy, swim." whispered Warren as he made one last pass around the area as Lt. Fox splashed down. He then resumed his course north to northwest, heading over land himself to look for a place to touch down. He intended on returning to this area when he had landed safely to search the shoreline for his friend. For right now however she was on her own.


	39. Chapter 39: Seongnam Burns

Chapter IXL: Seongnam Burns

9 Oct 2258 KST

Near Seongnam, South Korea

Williams and Hamza hike over the mountains making their final push towards Seongnam late into the night. Williams walked ahead with a flashlight lashed around his stub with twine and surgical tape while Hamza was several meters behind him. They expected the direct routes to Seongnam to be fortified with enemy garrisons just as the main routes into Anyang were so they had to take the scenic route up and through the mountains. Despite the devastation the alien attack had wrought upon the human population here in hills around Seoul the local wildlife seemed unaffected by events a few short miles away. Williams and Hamza stumbled upon several deer, squirrels, raccoon dogs and many, many bats. Thankfully none of the indigenous fauna to the mountain acted rabid or exploded. Williams and Hamza had more than their fill of bio-bombs for the week. The light of the moon and stars were obscured by unexpectedly thick cloud cover once they had gone roughly halfway over the mountains between them and their destination. Before the sun set the skies had been clear in all directions. The distant glow from Anyang that would have normally been present when the human world was alive and well remained extinguished, deepening the night. The depth of the darkness was pierced only by the beams of Williams' flashlight and Hamza's kerosene lantern. As they started down the next hill a flock of bats fluttered by Williams and startled him. The bats did not linger and quickly left the pair to continue along their way. The trees rustled with the sounds of the bats coming to life in preparation for their midnight hunt. Nocturnal rodents sought refuge from their predators within the knots and fallen branches. A gentle breeze blew through the trees, releasing the first leaves of autumn which crackled and crunched beneath their boots. The night was anything but silent. As they continued down the slope before reaching their next ascent Williams felt something brush his neck. The soothing sounds of nature were shattered by a gunshot followed by a powerful whoosh of air and a warm spray upon the back of Williams' head and neck. At this moment Williams felt time slow down and nearly stop. His first thought was that Hamza had shot him in the back of the head, but why? Why would he do this when they were so close. He felt no pain from the apparent wound only the sensation of warmth. Maybe a head shot wasn't a bad way to go, it truly was painless it seemed. Any second now he expected his thoughts would cease and his consciousness would be ripped from his body. He counted down as the seconds elongated themselves to his perception. When he reached ten he turned around and saw the body of a skitter, shot cleanly through the side of the head, crumpling to the ground right behind him. He reached back onto the back of his own skull and felt it was still intact. He pulled his hand in front of his face and saw it was the darkened blood of a skitter that he had felt. Then he looked back at Hamza, with a faint wisp of smoke still rising up from his rifle. "Like I said, Allah will judge both the faithful and the unbeliever alike. My judgement will come if we reach Seongnam without your heart still beating." Hamza coldly stated. "How the fuck did that thing get there?!" Williams exclaimed. "They are nimble creatures for their size." Hamza remarked. "You need to stay alert if you desire to keep your head affixed to your neck my unholy brother." Hamza reprimanded Williams.

They continued on without further incident. As they ascended the last peak before looking out upon Seongnam the night seemed to withdraw a little. There was a constant orange glow in the eastern sky; it flickered and varied in intensity but remained luminous. Williams' pulse quickened with anticipation, could his fellow soldiers have gotten the lights back on in Seongnam so quickly? Perhaps they took it back a century or two and set up gas burning lamps or even trash fires to light up the night. Seongnam could truly be the human paradise he had hoped for. As they neared the top a foul stench wafted in on a west wind. "What could they have been burning that would reek so terribly?" Williams wondered. Once they had ascended the hill Williams discovered the source of the illumination and his hopeful optimism changed to horror. The city was ablaze. Great columns of flame rose into the skies over the factured skyline like torches casting their light onto the black velvety curtains of smoke above. Ash and twinkling embers rained down from the winds swirling about from the force of convection as the city devoured itself in flame. From north to south as far as he could see the flames formed a blazing curtain around this former dwelling of man. Hamza joined the stunned Williams on the mountaintop and he too gazed upon the scene with slightly less disbelief. "Truly Allah has judged us all this day." he whispered. The intensity of the fire showed no signs of relenting and there was enough material in the affected area to keep the inferno going throughout the night. Hamza's keen eye spotted however on the northwest edge of the blaze there was a deep furrow cut into the earth which diverted a nearby stream around that quarter of the city. On the other side of the stream nearby trees had been clear cut giving a buffer between the fire and the woodland area towards the hills. Someone had expected this and took preparations, which meant that someone could have survived it. Williams was still too shocked and disappointed to have noticed this however. All this effort, all the loss, it was now seemingly for nothing. Everything he had hoped for was gone, his salvation consumed by fire. Depression again began to wrap its sour tentacles around Williams' consciousness and pull him back towards the pits of despair. "We cannot proceed further tonight. Tonight we shall make camp in the wild, the blaze appears to be contained from reaching the forest. Tomorrow we go down and seek out any survivors." Hamza told Williams. It would be a pity to go this far and not even bother to check. Williams consented to the plan. Less than an hour ago he would have contested Hamza's seemingly sure deduction that the fire would not spread into the wilderness. How would he know? Now however he accepted it as truth. There was little to be lost if he was wrong, just the lives of a useless cripple and a would be terrorist. It didn't matter to him now if the fire did grow and swallow them up as they slept. He could think of many worse ways to die.


	40. Chapter 40: Night and Day

Chapter XL: Night and Day

10 Oct 0606 KST

Munjeong-dong, Songpa District, South Korea

The soldiers and civilians had relocated to the area around a gym just north of Seongnam for the night while their funeral pyre burned brightly and devoured their foes within. Outside the resurgent army's vehicles were parked alongside the disabled cars and trucks which camouflaged their presence. The several dozen bicycles and motorcycles they had gathered were also parked spread out among the sides of the buildings and alleyways on this street. The command staff had taken up residence inside the gym while the civilians and soldiers occupied the nearby houses and shops insomuch as the entire city block had become their base camp.

Bremer was the first to awaken and was doing chin ups on the pullup bar with his shirt off and a towel slung over his shoulder when Vargas' eyes opened to greet the morning light. His firm biceps and chiseled pectoral muscles pulsed with each motion. His ripped abs tensed each time he reached the top and relaxed as he descended, showing the long, thin scars along his left side beneath his ribs. Vargas rolled over off the yoga mat he had used for a bed, sat up straight then pushed himself up to his feet. "Haven't you got enough exercise with all the bullshit we've been through this week?" Vargas asked. Bremer dropped down off the pullup bar and wiped the sweat off his brow with his towel. "Helps to keep the blood flowing. I've got no time be stumbling around groggy in the morning." Bremer explained. Vargas picked up Bremer's shirt off the side of a treadmill and tossed it to him. "Whatever works for you I guess? I'm still sore as hell from the other day." Vargas said. "You're getting old Chico." Bremer joked as he put his soiled white T-shirt back on. Vargas went over to Major Han lying on another red exercise mat and woke him up. "Time to rally the troops sir." Vargas said. "I was in the middle of a dream, ugh, worst time to wake up." Han groaned as he stood up. "What was it about?" inquired Bremer. "Its personal." replied Han as he put on his uniform. Bremer and Vargas laughed and waited on Han to get ready before they went out the front door together.

The three of them went outside along with several other soldiers that had been in the gym with them. Major Han sent the other soldiers to wake up everyone who wasn't on the midwatch and have them report for duty. A single low flying beamer crossed overhead from the south to the north prompting Bremer and those around him to look up. "They got to remind us they're still around." Bremer commented. "Still have to wonder what happened to all the zoomies? We haven't been seeing too many of them lately. Back in the day when we had a thousand plus men they were coming at us from all over the place. For all the ruckus we caused last night we barely got one to pay any attention to us." Vargas added. "They're probably off somewhere else. We can't be the only ones out there being a thorn in the side of these bastards. Don't forget, the world's largest army lies just across the Yellow Sea. Perhaps shit just got real over there and that forced the bad guys to send the zoomies away." Bremer posited a guess. "It's a very real possibility that the world's largest army became the world's largest collection of holes in the ground in hour one of the attack. We've seen that the heavy bombings here in Korea focused on military installations. The Chinese probably got pounded a lot harder when the meteors fell." Major Han added. "Whatever the reason the zoomies have gone away and I say to them good riddance." Bremer remarked. "Now that we have a little bit of breathing room around here we can actually start thinking about going on the offensive. I for one am sick and tired of getting bent over the rectal probing bench by these bug-eyed motherfuckers; sure would be nice to be ones doing the probing for a change." Bremer commented. "First we've got to figure out how to hit them so that it hurts. So far wasting bugs and robots doesn't seem to concern them that much." The three of them then approached a large gathering of men and women outside one of the houses. "Alright everyone listen up." Bremer said to get the group's attention. "We gave the bad guys a black eye last night but our fight is just beginning." Bremer said. "Once everyone wakes up and gets some food in their stomach we're going to start assigning duty shifts again. We'll need volunteers to go back into Seongnam and check in on our old castle there. If it's still standing we can start moving back in and setting up shop this afternoon. If any of you are down with that come find me after breakfast. We leave at 0900." Bremer addressed the group. After the group dispersed Tae-yang and four other soldiers approached him. "We're down for the mission sir." Tae-yang reported. "I've got something else for you to do Sergeant. Your men have been through a lot lately, time to let someone else pick up the slack." Bremer said. "Your orders sir?" inquired Tae-yang. "I want you to go around and find out what skills each of the people here have so that we can assign them to the right jobs. There's a lot of untapped potential in this outfit that we could be putting to good use. Everyone's good for something we've just got to take the time to find out." Bremer instructed them. "Right away sir." replied Tae-yang. "Chico, go with them, you're a people person right?" Bremer instructed Vargas. "I can try to be." Vargas said cheerfully before he left with Tae-yang and his men.

Bremer and Major Han continued onward down the block that comprised their encampment. "You handle this kind of thing with such ease. You think you and I could just switch ranks?" mentioned Han. "Never thought I'd end up getting my oak leaves from a won-ton." joked Bremer. "Consider them yours. I'm not particularly comfortable with command. I make a better XO than a Commanding officer any day." Major Han commented. "Authority's a tricky thing; the best people to wield it are often times the ones who desire it the least. I've always been wary of a leader with blind ambition. I see potential in you; you could be a great commander. You've got the face of a leader; you're the squeaky clean by the book kind of guy that the men can look up to. You've been right by the top brass all this time and your mean can see that rub off on you. You just lack confidence that's all. I think you'll come into your own in time." Bremer replied. "I'm not afraid of command, but you know me; I've got a reputation as being a bit hard to handle. I'm far from being polished and devoid of my fair share of scandal. To be the top dog you've got to have both the chops to handle whatever situation comes your way and have the respect of the men under you. I've got the former but the latter is questionable. My men see me more as one of the boys alongside them, not as the big time brass above them. There's respect there but it's more of a lateral thing instead of vertical if you know what I mean. ." Bremer explained sounding as if he was outright rejecting the idea which was discouraging to Major Han. "If it'll be better for the unit I'll still take the burden off your hands if you'd like. You'll still need to be the guy out in front that people can see though. I'll be the mastermind of this outfit; you can be its public face, deal?" Bremer offered. "Thanks, I know I can settle into the role eventually but we don't have time for me to get comfortable and all." Major Han replied. "So congratulations Major Bremer." Han continued. Bremer laughed as they stopped at the edge of the street. "If we're going to be willy nilly promoting ourselves then I'd like to put a few of my soldiers up for consideration as well." Bremer mentioned. "Go ahead. I'll sign off on it. If and when we ever link up with what's left of the American chain of command we can make it official." Major Han agreed. They headed into a restaurant on the street that had become the mess hall for the day; a big pot of soggy oatmeal provided the morning meal. The two senior commanders stood in line behind everyone else and waited their turn to receive their single scoop of slop in a plastic cup. They had no spoons so they drank their runny oatmeal like a milkshake. "So have you given any thought to what's next? Are we going to head back to the hospital and dig in for the long haul?" asked Han. "That's probably what Colonel Cho would have done; try to set up a secure area though maybe we should think on a smaller scale now." Han continued. "Not to disrespect the dead, but Colonel Cho was fighting last century's war. If we're going to do this we have to get with the times. Digging in to our own little version of the Maginot Line and hoping we can hold back the apocalypse isn't going to work." Bremer replied before slurping up some oatmeal. "We've got to stay mobile, adaptable, we've got keep the enemy guessing, keep the skittery fucks on their toes. I think the idea of safe houses for supplies and civilians works better than a single fortified position. We have several locations spread throughout the area, as far apart as we can effectively manage. The aliens seem to regard us as insignificant in small groups. It's only when we gather together in large numbers that they turn up and pound us. This kind of arrogance is tactically stupid for an occupying force but fuck it, the stupid shall be punished and I for one like to be the guy administering the punishment rather than taking it. So we'll move the civvies around between these locations and we have a small detail on guard duty at all of them to protect whatever provisions and gear we have stored up there. Bear in mind there won't be a whole lot of completely defenseless civvies once we proper job assignments and training taken care of. Now the main force can either stay together and move around or split up depending on what the situation calls for. That way once the zoomies come back they can't just drop a bomb on us and that ends it. If we get in a jam we'll have a means of signaling each other so we can gather our full strength. This place right here can be a start, this morning I expect we will reclaim the hospital. We'll go through Seongnam and root out the last of the enemy garrison there and set up a few more posts by day's end. Later on we can think about spreading out into other territories. When we rid Seongnam of its alien presence we can start striking back into Seoul, after that maybe even force our way north towards the DMZ. Hopefully we can grow our ranks as we move along, we'll need more manpower if we're really going to sting the bugs where it hurts. In the meantime we'll keep probing their lines, trying to find whatever that something is that they care about and hit it hard." Bremer explained. "You think we really have a shot at driving out the aliens?" asked Han. "The Afghans drove out the Soviets at their height, and the British, and the Seleucids, and us after well over a decade of fighting. The bugs have already demonstrated with their tactics that they have rules of engagement almost as asinine as the ones our own politicians have saddled with. These fucks probably have their own douchey self-absorbed politicians, King Bugs and Queen Bees that don't know the first thing about fighting a war yet are handing down dictates to the commanders in the field. So what we do is capitalize on that, keep confounding their efforts in whatever small ways we can and make the alien big shots look stupid. If we can give them a bad enough rash eventually they'll step out of the poison ivy and move on to a less unruly planet to manage." Bremer explained. "You're taking a lot of leaps of faith simply based on alien tactics. It could just be they simply aren't that good at waging war period; might explain while they picked little old primitive Earth to pick on." Han replied. As they were finishing up their oatmeal Ryong-ho entered the restaurant and found them. "Major, the scouts have picked up two men wandering around near what's left of the airport. One of them is American." Ryong-ho reported. "Take us to them." Bremer replied. He and Han got up and followed Ryong-ho out of the building.

10 Oct 0753 KST

Seokchan-dong, Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Seven Korean soldiers on their knees with their hands bound behind their backs were arranged in a line outside a wholesale warehouse store. Behind the soldiers were several dozen men armed with submachine guns and assault rifles affixed with bayonets and under-barrel grenade launchers. Some of these men were dressed in military attire though they were not soldiers; instead they were a gang of thieves that had been marauding the southern half Seoul from Gwanak District in the west all the way to the edges of Gangdong District in the east. Yeom Kwang-su, the self-appointed leader of these bandits paraded himself in front of his captives. He had just taken control of the store with minimal effort. Through careful deception he once again gained the trust of the soldiers and betrayed them in order to take their supplies and strong position for himself. It was a strategy he had repeated many times for about two and a half days now, ever since it became clear that the world was not going back to the way it had been. He had killed, raped and pillaged his way through five districts, gaining men and materiel through fear. In a matter of a couple days he had established a feudal system of sorts, where he was the king and had several other vassal warlords who owed allegiance to him by oath, for what honor their was among thieves, yet remained in every practical sense independent. Kwang-su's private army was by far the largest in his sphere of influence. He fought both the aliens and any human forces that were not under his umbrella, especially the military and police, those he reasoned would be most loyal to the old order and unwilling to submit to the new. For whatever reason the aliens did not try very hard to eliminate him, possibly because he did far more damage to the human resistance than to the aliens and was much more clever and resourceful in dealing with guerrilla tactics than the aliens were themselves. His rampage had done much of the alien occupiers work for them in smoking out the armed holdouts in Seocho and southern Gangnam districts which allowed the aliens to continue their work north of the Han River unimpeded by guerrilla attacks. He was not an alien collaborator however; Kwang-su was very much at war with the new invaders. Kwang-su had to deal with the same skitter raids that everyone else did but never was there a focused concerted effort by the aliens to scour his forces off the face of the earth as there had been with so many others.

This store would make for a fine base of operations for a few days at most then Kwang-su would inevitably move on with whatever gear they could carry. They had no intention of settling down anywhere long term, though they would revisit a location if the need arose. In the new world digging in only guaranteed death. The people inside the store under the Korean soldiers' protection had learned that lesson the hard way. Nearly all of them had been massacred save only a few women and girls who Kwang-su's fighters had saved for their own purposes, though these women would soon wish they had been killed with the others. Both outside and inside the store several dozen rogues stood around and watched as Kwang-su addressed the soldiers. "Good morning gentlemen!" Kwang-su announced. Before he could continue with his planned speech the sound of gunfire rang out to the east. His men had engaged a group of close to thirty skitters heading straight for them. The skitters attempted to fight and dodge their way through his men but were picked off at every turn. Seven of them clung to the sides of buildings as they bounded around the corner from an adjacent and came headlong towards Kwang-su. For of them were shot off the sides of the buildings by Kwang-su's henchmen, two others were bayoneted and hacked to death with axes and machetes after they pounced upon his nearby bodyguards and the final skitter was slain by three rounds from a .45 magnum. Kwang-su walked over to the twitching, barely breathing body of the skitter he had taken out while his men collected their wounded and secured the area. Kyung stood over the skitter, arrogantly looking down upon it with a crooked smile. "Why! Do! You! Geomi! Sons! Of! Bitches! Think! You! Can! Come! Up! In My! Town! And! Act! Like! You! Own! The! Damn! Place!" Kwang-su shouted each word individually while repeatedly kicking the skitter's skull in with his steel toed boot. By the time he was done the skitter's face had caved in and the top of its skull had been broken off. Its brains had spilled out onto the street from the three sided hollow cavity that remained atop its shoulders. Kwang-su stepped back, took a paper towel out of his jacket pocket and wiped off his boot then tossed the sullied paper town onto the skitter's corpse. He turned back to his prisoners. "Now, where was I? Hmm... Ah, damn geomi bastards made me forget! Oh well." Kwang-su said in feigned frustration. "I'll just make this quick. I've got nothing against you personally but your loyalties are misplaced. Law and order is dead, it's kill or be killed now. So, bye-bye." Kwang-su said, comically waving goodbye at the soldiers then turned his back to them. The sound of guns being raised and cocked signaled the end for the soldiers. "No! Not, that way! You'll waste bullets you idiots!" Kwang-su shouted as he spun around. He then walked around the soldiers and approached one from behind. He took out an ice pick and a hammer from his belt and positioned the ice pick on the neck of one of the soldiers, angling it upwards into the base of the man's skull. The man attempted to move but drew the guns of Kwang-su's followers onto him. Kwang-su then hammered in the ice pick through the man's skull at a diagonal angle, killing him almost instantly. "That's how you do it." Kwang-su told his men. He then proceeded to personally execute all of the captured soldiers himself, except for one who tried to escape and was gunned down by his minions.

Soon after he wiped clean his ice pick and put it away one of his scouts rode around the block on rusty old moped to report back to him. "We've got fresh volunteers boss." the scout reported. "Bring them." Kwang-su commanded. Occasionally people would try to join up with him to save their own skin, either from his wrath or for protection from the aliens. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em was the de facto recruiting strategy that had swelled their ranks, although not everyone who applied made the cut. Five people were brought before Kwang-su who now stood victorious in front of the corpses of soldiers and skitters. He looked them over; two strong young men were immediately given the go ahead and welcomed to the gang. The next man was elderly and had some unsteadiness in the hips and knees. "He wouldn't last through the first firefight. You'll only weigh us down sir." Kwang-su told the man and without even batting an eyelash he took out his icepick again and pierced the old man's throat. Kwang-su did not believe in leaving anyone alive that was not a member of the fold. The next person he came to was a young mother with her newborn child in her arms. Dong-won, a large beast of a man and one of Kwang-su's top lieutenants eyed the young woman lustfully. "Boss, if you wouldn't mind keeping that one around for me." mentioned Dong-won. "Fine. But we can't be having this; it will only slow us down." Kwang-su replied and promptly snatched the infant from the young woman's arms. Without a dash of concern or hesitation Kwang-su forcefully flung the infant over his shoulder, landing thirty feet away on the hard concrete. There was a scream as the child traveled from his mother's arms to the ground and then a crack, and then silence. One of the rogues seized the woman, overcome and grieved with shock, and brought her inside the wholesale outlet. The last man was a slender, bald middle aged man. He didn't look in the best shape either which prompted him to plead for his life before Kwang-su made a decision. "I might not be the best fighter but I've been a surgeon for 12 years. Surely that's a skill you could use?" the man begged. "Hmmmph, indeed. You can stay." Kwang-su answered. As the man passed him Kwang-su leaned in and whispered in his ear "You better not be lying." The man winched as he passed by. He was a surgeon, that part was true, but if he didn't meet Kwang-su's standards he knew what would happen. The rest of Kwang-su's band walked back inside the wholesale store. "You three go back to the nest and bring the rest of our shit here." Kwang-su ordered a small band of his men. They got into an armored truck with a K6 machine gun mounted inside of the rear compartment and drove off. Meanwhile Kwang-su stopped some of his men that were dragging along the wounded men from the skitter attack. "If they won't make it to fight another day, leave them." Kwang-su commanded. One of his men that had lost his right leg and right arm in the fight was dropped on the ground and abandoned. Kwang-su took out his pistol and walked over to the wounded soldier to put him out of his misery. The wounded soldier tried to sit up but only managed to raise his back 30 degrees off the ground as his wounds continued to seep blood. Kwang-su fired one shot into his own henchman's skull and the man dropped back flat onto the ground.

10 Oct 0802 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Ryong-ho, Bremer and Han met up with the returning scouts several blocks away from their encampment. Traveling with the scouts were also Williams and Hamza. "Greetings Private. Good to see another one of our own. What brings you around these parts?" Bremer welcomed Williams. "The feeling is mutual sir. I saw the fire last night and came down from the hills looking for survivors." Williams replied. He was more than relieved to have discovered that US-Korean forces were still operating in the area. "Oh, that fire? We did that, no biggie. I'll explain later." Bremer casually responded. "So what unit are you from?" asked Bremer hoping to ascertain where the soldier had come from. "2nd ID, temporarily attached to the 136th Mechanized Infantry Battalion engaged in joint operations with the ROK in Seoul before the shit came down." Williams replied. "Ah, you're with Chico's old unit. He'll be glad to hear another of his boys made it." Bremer responded. Someone else from his unit was alive? Williams could only wonder if it was someone he might have known. "What about scruffy over there?" Bremer asked concerning Hamza. "He's a Turkish national traveling abroad. He was on a Russian airliner that went down near Incheon." Williams answered, lying through his teeth. Williams had just lied to protect Hamza; revealing his true identity would likely cause too many complications. They would probably just shoot him or take him prisoner and after Hamza had his back all the way down here it would be wrong of him to simply hand him over to that fate. The way he saw it he and Hamza were now even. Hamza had saved him earlier with the skitter, and had only chopped his arm off when he could have taken his head. Williams had hoped this display of goodwill would encourage Hamza not to do anything to make Williams regret sticking up for him now. He would have his eye on Hamza that part was certain, but a level of trust was starting to build between them, one not so easily forged. Hamza was surprised that Williams had concealed the truth from his superiors. He had fully expected to be handed over under lock and key. Perhaps there was an American alive with a concept of honor after all. Hamza was conflicted on what to do now. He had initially planned on dropping Williams off with the survivors here if they had found any, then after he had fulfilled his purpose he would go on alone, perhaps return to the survivors of Flight 1437 or find some other group that would be less inclined to hostility towards him, one he could fight alongside without feeling remorse for aiding the sinful and the faithless. Now he was starting to have a bit of a change of heart. At the very least seeds of doubt had been planted in his mind; perhaps he would stay a while longer and give the survivors of Seongnam a chance. "A Turk eh?" Bremer remarked. "So why is it Istanbul not Constantinople? They say it's nobody's business but the Turks?" Bremer asked Hamza in somewhat discernable Turkish as a quick check to his credentials as the delivery of Williams' introduction seemed a bit off. Williams wasn't exactly the best liar but he thought he was believable enough this time. For most people it would have passed for sincere but Bremer, a master liar in his own right, could sniff out all the signs that someone was deceiving him and Williams reeked of them. Being Middle Eastern in origin there were many things that Hamza could have been that Williams may have wanted or been forced to conceal about his guest. Though even if Hamza was straight up Al Qaeda Bremer would have hoped that a Jihad against the devils from the sky would be grounds for a uniting cause with the devils from the West. "Indeed it is." Hamza replied back in Turkish as well. It was hardly a foolproof test, but if he couldn't speak Turkish at all Bremer would have known something was up. Bremer shrugged off his suspicions and welcomed Hamza to the group along with Williams though he too would have his eye on their new ally.

As they got closer to their encampment they spotted a group of teenage boys lumbering around on top of a building in the distance. "There are people up there, you see that? We should send someone to rescue them." Han said. "By the way they're moving I would wager if you looked closer you'd find a big wormy thing on their backs." Williams commented. Han took a pair of binoculars from one of the scouts and zoomed in on the kids on the rooftop. Sure enough, they had the wormlike harnesses on their backs. "You're right. What are those things?" asked Han. None of the soldiers based in Seongnam had seen harnessed humans before so this was quite a revelation. "They let the aliens highjack their minds; it basically turns them into zombies. We think those things might actually be the real aliens themselves." Williams explained. "Sounds like a reasonable enough assumption to me. We found the same kind of giant tapeworms suckling off the backs of a few of the bugs we chopped up, just under that crusty exoskeleton of theirs. Up until now we thought that was just another internal organ of the buggers we didn't understand." Bremer commented. "Our doctors, back when we had doctors, called those things the posterior brain as opposed to the main brain in their heads. In order to kill those things in one hit you basically had to knock out both brains at the same time. Obviously they'll die other ways it just takes longer." Bremer explained. "They do the same thing to the humans they take over. I've seen them continue fighting headless for a while." Williams remarked. "Well damn, that is kind of freaky. So we've got those things on humans now too, ain't that just swell." Bremer cynically remarked as they hastily left the line of sight of the harnessed humans. "Yeah, we've had plenty of troubles with those things in Incheon. You've just got to tell yourself they aren't human anymore; if you can make yourself believe it, it makes it a lot easier." Williams mentioned. Williams never had to kill anyone before. If he had listened to his doubts that these were still real people underneath whatever mind altering effect the aliens had imposed on them he might have not been able to pull the trigger when those moments came. Bremer silently shrugged, having to kill people, even kids when they are intent on killing you was something as a soldier you had to accept though it was never easy. He could compartmentalize it well, and he didn't appear to suffer with the emotional stresses that Williams did, at least not to the same degree. It was something he had to do, though he could say with all honesty fighting aliens was easier to handle mentally; they were monsters plain and simple, there was no ambiguity there. That was something both Williams and Bremer could agree on. "Well shit, might as well just leave them alone." Bremer commented as they continued on back to camp.

10 Oct 0904 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Kwang-su's militia's former headquarters was located on the other side of the Songpa District from their newest conquest. Here in an apartment complex a stone's throw from the edge of Gangdong District they kept a stockpile of vehicles, weapons and provisions. The apartment complex also held the group's prisoners seized in their many raids, who were mostly women and a few young boys who kept as slaves both for menial tasks, human shields and the "recreation" of Kwang-su's fighters. A small contingent of armed guards kept watch over the slaves that were packed into several rooms on the upper floors. Other fighters were housed in the lower floors where the supplies were kept. A few of Kwang-su's elite soldiers stood guard on the rooftops in case of alien attack. There was a heavy machine gun on one of the rooftops and a Javelin SAM launcher on another. Among these elite fighters was Ji-min, the head mistress of Kwang-su's harem and one of the few women counted among the top leadership of the band of brigands. She wore a black Kevlar vest underneath a black leather biker jacket and black leather pants tucked neatly into spike-toed combat boots. She had a previously shaved head which had grown out into bleach blonde fuzz. Clutched in her black studded gloved hands was a K14 sniper rifle and slung over her back was a K11 she kept as an effective weapon for dealing with mechs. In the pockets of her jacket and a small satchel lying at her feet she carried spare grenades for the K11 and ammo for both weapons. If it wasn't for her feminine facial features her tough exterior could easily confuse someone into thinking she was a he. She was one of Kwang-su's followers from the start and had earned her place within his organization. While most of the gang's slaves were considered community property, Ji-min had her own private girls that no one else was permitted to touch under penalty of death. It was a privilege she shared with no more than five others in their ranks, including Kwang-su himself. Parked inconspicuously outside the apartments were several buses, vans, a pickup truck with a K4 automatic grenade launcher mounted over the cab, an old flatbed farm truck with wooden rails carrying an anti-tank missile launcher and several older models of compact cars. Like the human chattel inside the apartments these vehicles had not be repaired or salvaged by Kwang-su's goons but had been seized from other survivor groups that they had destroyed in their rapid rise to power. Despite this position's seemingly stalwart defenses it was known by Kwang-su that the only way to survive the alien occupation was to keep moving. A strong fortification only seemed to invite elevated levels of aggression from the aliens. For this reason this location would soon be abandoned.

A lone skitter wandered around a street corner unknowingly into Ji-min's line of sight. She watched it through her scope and lined up a kill shot in a spot below the eyes. A mix of trial and error and the dissection of skitters captured or killed had taught her well in how to kill these things. A perfect head shot with a skitter was in a slightly different position than one with a human. Near the top or front of the skull a bullet may not even pierce the exoskeleton. The back of the head, below the eyes and near the jaw the hard shell was weaker and more flexible with the latter having no hard bone beneath which allowed for the ideal amount of penetration for a shot to reach the creature's brain. Ji-min adjusted her aim and when the creature stopped briefly she fired the silenced sniper rifle, dropping the skitter in a single hit. Several minutes later the armored car that Kwang-su had dispatched came around the same corner displaying the simple black and purple banner from its driver's side mirror that signified it as belonging to Kwang-su's organization. Ji-min held her fire but kept her weapon trained on the driver of the vehicle. It wouldn't be unheard of for someone else to use their own tactics against them.

The armored truck stopped and Shin Sang-hoon, another one of Kwang-su's top lieutenants, got out of the passenger seat and met and his brother Sung-hoon at the rear of the truck. Two fighters came out the door of one of the apartment buildings and met them with guns drawn. After speaking a bit the guards lowered their weapons and Sang-hoon slung his K1 back over his shoulder. Once allegiance had been established the four of them entered into the apartment while the driver of the armored truck waited outside. In the community center located on the apartment buildings bottom floor the Shin brothers found one of their fighters, Chang Beom-seok drinking malt liquor and playing dice and sharing war, and pre-war stories with several other fighters. They just finished laughing heartily at something said just before the Shin brothers had entered the room. The two guards returned to their post near the windows by the front door while Sang-hoon came up behind Beom-seok and gripped both of his shoulders firmly. "What did I miss?" Sang-hoon asked. "Just chillin'." replied one of the men at the table. "Time to wrap it up then. Boss says we're moving out today so you idiots better get to packing." ordered Sang-hoon. The men grumbled amongst themselves and got up. Sung-hoon and one of the other men at the table went off to tell the fighters in the other buildings to get ready while Beom-seok went with Sang-hoon upstairs. The rest of the men started loading up the vehicles outside.

"You ever think about the people who used to live here?" asked Beom-seok as he and Sang-hoon carried a heavy ammo case out of a closet, brushing aside the clothes and keepsakes that they had used to conceal it. "Nope. Why bother? They're probably all dead now." replied Sang-hoon. The two of them carried the case downstairs where it was picked up by two other men. The complex was bustling with activity as Kwang-su's men carried their stockpiles out of the buildings. Beom-seok stopped to catch his breath while Sang-hoon looked back at him impatiently. "Come on, let's go get the hoes." Sang-hoon said urging him on. They then headed upstairs to herd their captives off to their new home. They came to a hallway in the second to top floor of the building lined with the doors to small apartments on either side. There were two guards pacing the hall talking to each other near the west end of the building. "You take the rooms on the right, I'll take the ones on the left." said Sang-hoon to Beom-seok. Sang-hoon took hold of his K1 in case the girls needed any special encouragement. They each went into the rooms one by one and herded away all the frightened women and girls into the custody of the men in the hallway outside who took them downstairs where they were taken to a prison bus. Sang-hoon found a third guard in one of the rooms who he also put to work clearing out their de facto brothel. Sang-hoon entered the third room on the left to discover a young woman hanging from the brass ceiling fixture by a bed sheet tied around her neck while the other girls sat around as if nothing had happened. The ceiling had cracked somewhat but the fixture held and allowed the noose to do its work to free the young woman from what she felt was a living hell. "Oh shit! One of Kwang-su's fuckdolls hung herself again." shouted Sang-hoon upon discovering the dead woman. Kwang-su had a sadistic sense of pleasure and the things he put these women through, well it was no surprise that they chose the quicker way out. Sang-hoon stormed back out without even bothering to take her down. "He's going to be pissed man! Why the fuck weren't you watching her?" Sang-hoon shouted at the guard he just pulled out of the other room when he left the room. "I was busy! I can't watch all these girls at once!" protested the guard. "Yeah, busy fucking is more like it. You better hope the boss didn't like that one or you'll end up just like her." Sang-hoon growled as he passed by the guard and continued on checking the other rooms. When Sang-hoon entered into the last room on the left Jun Jin-shil, a woman whom Sang-hoon frequently visited came running up to him. "All right bitches we're leaving so get your shit and get moving!" ordered Sang-hoon. "What are you waiting for?" Sang-hoon asked Jin-shil as he moved over to the closet and boxed up the remaining cans of food and bottles of water that had been left for the girls. "I think I'm pregnant." Jin-shil pleaded, hoping it would spare her from receiving harsher treatment for a time at the hands of her captors. Maybe Sang-hoon would show some sympathy for her and at least treat her like a human being if he knew she was carrying his child. She was wrong. Sang-hoon dug around in the closet a while until he found what he was looking for. He tossed a rusted coat hanger onto the bed. It was twisted and stretched out into one long wire, covered with rotting bits of human flesh and entrails for it had been used before. "Take care of it, and do it quickly we've got to move within the hour." he told her sternly. He left Jin-shil there sitting on the bed in shock as he went to help Beom-seok finish the rest of the rooms. "The girl in room 24 has got to clean herself out real quick. Make sure she doesn't try to get away and bring her down when she's done." Sang-hoon told one of the new guards coming up into the hallway to assist before catching up with Beom-seok. "Wouldn't it be a good idea to keep some of them around, you know for the next generation?" asked Beom-seok after overhearing his conversation with the guard. "There isn't going to be a next generation jackass. The expiration date on mankind is up, all we can do is scrounge up the best quality of life before the Geomis come in finish the job." Sang-hoon retorted. "Live it up while you still can. Woo!" cheered Beom-seok. "You said it. Now let's get these bitches down to the bus and get the fuck on to our new nest." said Sang-hoon.

The fighters finished clearing out all the apartments and started heading out. The Shin brothers got back into the armored truck and led the way. The pickup truck was the next to leave with Ji-min in the passenger's seat followed by the three prison buses full of the gang's prisoners. Behind them a pair of school buses intermixed with vans and compact cars carried away the fighters and their weapons. Jin-shil and her guard were the last ones down. She stalled as long as she could but was unable to avoid being shipped away with her captors. She was thrown into the back of an ambulance that brought up the rear of the convoy behind an old farm truck loaded with a BGM-71 TOW missile launcher. They drove along across the breadth of Songpa District en route to Kwang-su's location. Jin-shil peeked into the front seat of the ambulance and watched the road up ahead. She soft hum of the engines could not soothe her shaken nerves. How long could she endure this? She heard isolated bursts of gunfire each time the convoy made contact with a few skitters but it was never enough of them to pose much of a threat to the heavily armed convoy. Jin-shil wouldn't mind if she was taken by the aliens in a raid so the fighting ahead did not scare her, after all what would really change? Her prayers seemed to be answered as the farm truck in front of her launched its TOW missile and the same time it was hit by a mech rocket which rolled the truck over several times before it came sliding to a stop as a burning upside down hulk of mangled metal. The ambulance wasn't given enough time to react to the explosion ahead of them and hit a large chunk of the truck that had fallen off onto the road. This caused the ambulance to steer off course and into the side of a brick walled building. Jin-shil was slammed against the back of the front seat of the ambulance, knocking her unconscious while the man in the passenger seat was launched through the windshield and into the interior wall of the building they had smashed into. The driver was choked out by his seatbelt and hit by shards of glass flying back from where the passenger had exited the vehicle as well as bricks that had collapsed down onto and crushed the front cab of the ambulance. The man guarding Jin-shil in the back of the ambulance had accidentally stabbed himself through the bottom of his chin with his own bayonet during the crash leaving Jin-shil the only one breathing in the vehicle. The rest of the convoy carried on and didn't bother to look back lest the mech that had attacked them was still operational.

10 Oct 1048 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Bremer, Han, Williams and Hamza returned to the main camp along with the scouts. After checking with a few of their other patrols the four of them went into a small furniture shop to debrief Williams. Hamza was dismissed to eat breakfast and observe one of his daily prayer rituals while Williams was to be questioned alone. They posted a guard outside in order to give them some privacy while they spoke and temporarily sent out a handful of people than were cleaning rifles inside. "You said you came from Incheon right?" asked Bremer. "Yes." replied Williams. "I heard Colonel Cho had discussed a plan to send scouts in that direction looking for reinforcements." commented Han. "That would have been us, but it was a Korean Major that sent us." Williams added. "Major Yu, it had to be." mentioned Han. "Though that plan didn't pan out like we thought it would." Han commented. "Well unless you count those wannabe wankstas from Seocho District." chuckled Bremer who then shifted his train of thought back to serious business. "What do you mean by us? That Turkish fellow or were there others?" inquired Bremer. "No, the Turk we picked up in Incheon. There were others, an ROK army engineer and another US soldier, Private Aaron Carter, they both died in combat." Williams said his voice changing to sorrow as he mentioned his fallen comrades. "Our condolences; we've lost a lot of good men over here too." Bremer said sympathetically. "Yeah." Williams sighed. "So what happened over here? Major Yu told us that there was a major garrison being established in Seongnam." Williams asked, changing the subject. "There was, we had thousands of troops, tens of thousands of civilians, then the aliens hit us hard and what you see is what's left. The bugs seemed to move on afterwards though; they only left a small garrison behind which we took care of last night. That's what that fire was last night; nothing like a healthy mix of JP-8, fertilizer bombs, gasoline and napalm to really burn the house down, and cook up a whole mess of crabs at the same time." Bremer answered. "What is the situation over in Incheon?" asked Han. "It's pretty bad. The aliens have heavily entrenched themselves over there. It's hard to move about the city without running into enemy patrols. They've enlisted human allies to fight for them as well." Williams replied. "Go figure, some selfish assholes would go off and turn on their own kind." Bremer said rolling his eyes. "Yeah, but that's not the worst of it. The aliens rolled out a few new weapons out there, bigger badder bots, human soldiers with those back worms, psychotic birds that explode when they die and can inject you with something that can turn you into a walking bio-bomb too. They've even turned our own factories against us. Their churning out those robot things over there by the hundreds." Williams explained. "Well I think we have ourselves a target." Bremer remarked after hearing about the factories. "What's the status of allied forces over there? Are there any?" asked Han. "There's no military units active over there, at least none that I know of. We joined up with the remnants of the local police department there as well the rest of the passengers of the airliner that the Turkish guy was on. They've managed to hold down a secure location over there but they're severely lacking in weapons and supplies. The enemy patrols don't make it easy to look for more equipment either." Williams replied. "They agreed on the Major's plan to start linking up the various resistance groups and coordinating our efforts. They sent me back here to relay that message to you and see about setting up a network of messengers so long as other forms of communication are down." Williams explained. "We're all on board with that. In fact should probably start coming up with a plan for a coordinated attack on Incheon once we've got our numbers up." said Bremer. "We're going to need to establish way posts along the way to facilitate the movement of messages and supplies." Bremer continued. "Exactly. They had the same idea back in Incheon. We came through Anyang on the way here, it was fairly calm and alien free. It would make the perfect place for us to set up a post office. Be sure to avoid the bridges and tunnels going over there though. It's safer through the hills even though it might take a bit longer." Williams replied. "If it's like you say we can get started on that one right away. We'll likely need more manpower to expand further but it's a start." Bremer stated. "After you get checked out and have a good night's sleep would you be able to lead a team safely into Anyang so we can get this show on the road?" asked Bremer. "I don't see why not sir." Williams answered. "Excellent. Then I believe our business is concluded here." Bremer said then stood up. Williams and Han stood up and followed Bremer to the door. Bremer turned to the guard outside after he exited and told him. "Take this man to Tae-yon and get his arm checked out, and for the love of all things good please get him a freaking hook or something." "Yes sir." the soldier replied delivering a salute before he escorted Williams to see Tae-yon.

Bremer went to check in with Tae-yon later that afternoon to see how she was doing and get her evaluation of Williams' condition. The temporary field hospital she was working in was a small pharmacy with a few stainless steel cutting tables brought in from a nearby butcher shop then wiped clean and sanitized with water and bleach to serve as patient beds. The store displays for non-medical items had been removed from the pharmacy and placed outside to make room for the tables and a couple chairs that had been brought in. Tae-yon was examining a young woman when Bremer approached her. "Major Bremer sir, what can I do for you." she said once she saw him. "You're in on the whole Major thing too?" Bremer asked jokingly. "Yeah, Major Han told me. He said he wanted to swap ranks but you let him keep his anyways." replied Tae-yon. Bremer laughed. "That's just like him to go off and announce it to the world." Bremer remarked. "Yeah, he seemed quite happy about it." Tae-yon laughed. "The burden of command is a heavy thing to bear, it helps to share it." Bremer commented. "I wish I had someone to share it with. Went from a lowly intern to the head of an army hospital in less than a week, just thinking about it can seem overwhelming." Tae-yon complained albeit with her typical sense of optimism in her voice. She had a very positive outlook on life, even with the aliens bombing everything she had once known out of existence. Her cheerful demeanor and pleasant bedside manner proved to be as much of a salve for the ailments of her patients as the limited selection of medications she dispensed. "So I assume you're coming to check in on the new American?" asked Tae-yon after she finished up with her current patient and headed behind the pharmacy counter. "Read my mind, my dear. So how is he?" answered Bremer. "He looked fine, the wound had been cauterized soon after and it is healing rather well. Doesn't seem to be any serious infection but I gave him two weeks' worth of antibiotics just in case." Tae-yon replied as she looked through the various bottles of medications she had in the pharmacy. Prescribing meds was outside of her experience so she had to read the available literature and guidebooks that accompanied the medications whenever possible, especially when looking for less common drugs that she wouldn't have known by name. Fortunately for her most of the people in their group that had been taking meds regularly knew the proper name of what they were taking. This also helped her when running across someone new with the same problem which reminded her now that Bremer was here, to ask about getting more of certain drugs. "That's good to hear. When do you think he'd be able to return to duty? Oh, and did you get the part about the hook?" Bremer asked. "He's good to go right now so long as he takes his meds on schedule and keeps his arm clean. I cleaned the wound and changed his dressings so he should be good for now." Tae-yon answered. "As for the hook you requested I asked one of my patients, an elderly gentleman who used to be a cabinetmaker to build him one. He's more suited for the task than I am and he's got a lot of time on his hands due to his age. He wants to feel useful and that was a way he could contribute." she continued. "Good deal. Everyone's good for something you know. There's plenty of work to go around and prosthetics are something I can see us needing more of in the future so next time you see him tell him he'll have plenty more orders for hooks and peg legs coming up. If the bugs leave our boys with a leg to stand on we'll be a jolly pirate crew sure enough." Bremer said. "That's one way to put it." Tae-yon laughed as she picked out the meds she needed. "Yo ho, me hearties, yo ho!" Bremer said imitating the romanticized image of a pirate from the Age of Sail. "Oh and Major, before you leave there's a few medications I'd like to see if your men can pick up for me. Mostly antibiotics, there's a few prescription meds that I wrote down as well. Oh, and we need to find some insulin too. We have a diabetic patient here who needs regular injections and we are clear out of the stuff." Tae-yon mentioned as she and Bremer started to head out from behind the counter again. Tae-yon picked up the list from inside a book lying on the counter as she walked by and handed it to Bremer. "Insulin? Doesn't that stuff need to be refrigerated?" Bremer asked. "It's still good for up to a month if it's unopened. After that hopefully I can at least get a mini fridge running if that's not too much to ask." Tae-yon replied. "Alright then. I'll get Lyndsey's team on getting us a generator and a fridge back to functionality and put the word out to the scouts to bring back as much insulin as they can find." Bremer told her. They walked back into the cluttered pharmacy, now packed with new patients. "Miss Kwon, your vitamins are over there." Tae-yon called out to a newly arrived woman pointing to a store shelf that had been moved against the wall. "Full house. Don't you worry though; we'll have you out of this place and back into a proper hospital setting by tomorrow morning." Bremer commented, noting the crowded conditions Tae-yon was working in. "Thank you sir. My patients would appreciate the elbow room." Tae-yon said with a cheerful smile. "I better be going. Until next time, keep up the good work "doctor"." Bremer said as they parted directions.

As Bremer left the pharmacy he was met by a young woman holding a bottle of prenatal vitamins in her hand. It was Kwon Sang-mi, one of his scouts that had just got back from patrol several minutes ago. "Sir, if I could have a word with you please?" she meekly asked. "Sure thing. I've always got time to chat with a pretty girl." Bremer replied, casually flirting with her. The two of them then walked together around the block to the south. "I don't know if you were aware of it but I'm with child." said Sang-mi. "Well those prenatals kind of give that away." Bremer playfully chuckled. "Congrats, how far along are you? You still with the father?" Bremer inquired. Sang-mi couldn't tell if he was still flirting or just making conversation now. "We believe I got pregnant sometime in the month before the aliens appeared which would mean I'm between two and three months along. My fiancée died in the initial attack so you could say this child is all I have left of him." Sang-mi replied. "I see." Bremer said. "What I wanted to say sir was that today on a run I had these terrible stomach cramps; they were so bad I was forced to stop and wait for them to subside. I've been spotting for several days now and I'm afraid I might lose the baby if I keep pushing myself this hard." she explained. "It's probably stress, I'm not surprised given everything we've been through, especially this early in the pregnancy." Bremer commented. "That's what Tae-yon said too. She recommended I stay away from front line duties for a while and see if that helps. If I can make it a few more months the baby will be safe but by then I'll be a fat cow and useless to you anyways." she said, her voice beginning to break. "Nonsense, Seok-ju is a freaking whale and he's still useful for guard duty. Also he's a dude so he can't claim pregnancy as an excuse, though sometimes I wonder if he's pregnant with an entire race of turd people that any day would be loosed upon the aliens and send them recoiling to the moon with their horrible stench. The point is he can't run for shit but he's still a hell of a shot." Bremer jokingly replied attempting to lighten her mood. "If you want I can put you behind a light fifty on overwatch duty by the hospital a few hours a day so it'll be easier on your body than riding around and running from crabs all the time." Bremer continued. "I don't want to be a burden sir. If you need me to sir I will continue to give it my all. If the baby dies then it's just one more casualty of war right?" she said fighting back the emotion in her voice. "I mean really, is this really the kind of world we would want to bring children into? A short life of squalor and fear?" she asked with the first tear breaking through her eyelids. "Hey hey hey there, it's alright." Bremer said, stopping and placing his hands gently on her arms and looking down towards her sincerely in an attempt to comfort her. Sang-mi looked away; she did not want him to see her like this. "It's not the world we're in now you've got to think of but the world we will build for them." Bremer continued. "Our children are our most valuable resource; they're the only thing that ensures the human race even has a future. If not for that future then what are we even fighting for?" Bremer told the young woman. She looked up at him with tears streaming down her face. She buried her face in Bremer's chest, drying her eyes on his jacket. Bremer gently hugged her to calm her down. "I'm sorry I can't help be part of the war effort. I want to help you build a better world for my son or daughter, but I fear I would be too much of a burden." she sobbed as she pulled away and regained a more professional demeanor. Bremer didn't mind, he knew pregnant women could be even more emotional than they already were. Visits to Vargas's house for booze and football, both American style and that weird one with the soccer ball that Vargas also called "football", when one of his kids was on the way had taught Bremer this fact. "You shouldn't feel like you're not helping the war effort here, in fact you're a big part of it" Bremer consoled her. "To win this war we've got to be prepared to go for the long haul. Unless we find some ridiculously obscene Achilles' heel we can use against these aliens or some super advanced Galactic Federation peacekeepers show up to lay the smack down on the bugs for picking on an "undeveloped" planet we can't expect this war to be over anytime soon. If we can't end this fight in our lifetime we're going to need to raise up strong children to finish what we started." Bremer explained. "Are you sure?" Sang-mi asked. "I'm sure. Now take the rest of the day off and get some rest. Tomorrow we'll get you started on your new duties, I'll have you work tandem with fatass just so you can see what a real man-cow looks like so you don't dare call yourself one when you start showing." Bremer told her. "Thank you sir." Sang-mi replied, drying her eyes one last time. "..and don't forget to take your vitamins, that's an order." Bremer playfully commanded her before they parted company.

10 Oct 1239 KST

Seongnam, South Korea.

The scouting party earlier in the morning had just arrived at the hospital after navigating the burnt out remains of northern Seongnam. The execution of the controlled burn the night prior had been impeccable given the circumstances. While in some areas the blaze had burned far beyond its intended range here it could not look more perfect. The hospital stood intact at the precise edge of the devastation. Vehicles parked across the side street to the north bore the marks of the flame but the hospital itself did not. The only damage to the building was that of shattered windows on the north and some of the east side of the buildings that were the product of the shockwave caused by the alien bomb. The hospital now had a clear view to the north and east for miles; the tall buildings, homes and warehouses had been flattened and burned away. In their place was a sea of ash and rubble with piles of concrete, brick, rebar and twisted, melted steel support beams rising above the blanket of fine ash like islands. Smoke still drifted up from the smoldering embers beneath the soot and stained the sky a dark grey. The breeze picked up tiny flecks of ash and carried them away like snowflakes frosting the last remnants of incinerated bones and mangled mechs that filled the streets. A group of skitter corpses near the hospital that had not been totally consumed by the fire remained as blackened skeletons revealing to all that the aliens had an internal skeletal structure as well as a hard outer shell. This earned them the name "man-crabs" or the South Park inspired title of "Crab People." by those who saw them later in the day as they returned to their former home. The parking garage was still a wealth of vehicles waiting to be restored to functionality along with ambulances and fire trucks parked on the south and east side of the hospital near the emergency room entrance. There were still stockpiles of weapons at the school further to the south that had yet to be gathered. Now that the alien presence had been significantly reduced the school itself would also make an ideal location to set up a base. The survivors of Seongnam had their second fortress and were well on their way to establishing a third.

10 Oct 2159 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Five older children ranging in age from 7 to 12 slowly walked down the dark and empty street. The youngest of the children, a little boy and a 10 year old girl both were wearing full backpacks. He had a blue Iron Man backpack and the little girl had a pink backpack with white polka dots and cutesy looking flowers on it. Inside of a seven story building about two blocks away from the children Kwang-su and a group of his henchmen observed them. One of Kwang-su's henchmen went on top of the roof and launched two fireworks into the sky near to where the children were gathered together. It was a common tactic used by groups of humans in distress to signal for help or warn of approaching danger and one the aliens had gotten wise to. Kwang-su pulled out a pocket compass and waited quietly from his position tucked away in the abandoned structure. Sure enough a short time later Kwang-su's compass needle began spinning; it was an effect caused by the aliens' sub-orbital propulsion systems that Kwang-su had learned to use as an early warning system. "Bingo!" Kwang-su mumbled in delight. The fireworks attracted four skitters which approached the children's' location on the ground while a large beamer transport/gunship diverted course to land directly in front of the kids. The faint moonlight was overpowered by a soft blue glow coming from the beamer as it opened its front hatch and extended the landing ramp. The children backed off, paralyzed with fear as a skitter and an older harnessed boy stepped out of the alien craft in front of them. Three of them turned to run only to find the four skitters cutting off all routes of retreat. "Don't be afraid. They will not hurt you." the harnessed boy told them. His voice was gentle and comforting, and strangely instilled a sense of trust in some of the children. "I know that the adults have filled your heads with all sorts of scary stories about them. They are not true. They are quite gentle, and they care for us very much, more than our human families that abandoned us did." the boy told them. "Come with us. We can give you a good life. There are friends here. You will never be alone. We will not abandon you." the boy coaxed the children into moving closer to the alien craft. The harnessed boy extended his hand in an invitation to them. The youngest boy left the other children behind and walked up to the harnessed boy. The little boy's older brother and sister were obligated to follow after him. Then his friend ran up to him, not wanting to be left behind. He was followed by his sister, the little girl with the pink backpack. For a moment it was strangely calming to the children who should have been scared to death. The children were led by the boy onto the alien craft and were followed by the other skitters. The landing ramp then retracted and the hatch closed, the soft blue internal glow was replaced by the dim blue running lights of the craft as the alien vessel prepared to take off. It rose up vertically and darted off into the night sky. From the window of his hiding place Kwang-su watched as the alien ship shrank away in the distance. "Tick, tock. Tick, tock." he counted down. He waited patiently a few minutes for the payoff to arrive, and it came just has he had predicted, for the children's backpacks were loaded with explosives set to detonate on a timer. As intended the alien ship exploded over the horizon raining down burning shrapnel onto the quiet streets below.

10 Oct 2201 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Major Han went to visit Sobieski later that night in the hospital parking garage where she had resumed work on several more vehicles there. "Hey Lyndsey, heard you were back over here already." he said to her. "Yep, no time like the present to get started." she replied. "I brought you something in case you get hungry." Han said holding up a bag of fresh oranges, cherries and avocados. "Too late, I'm already starving." Sobieski said as she stepped away from the van she was working on and walked towards Han. "Fresh fruit might as well enjoy it while it's still fresh." Han said. Lyndsey reached into the bag and took out a handful of cherries. "True. No telling when we'll be able to start growing things again." she said before taking a bite. "And it'll fend off the scurrrrvy." added Major Han in a pirate voice. "That's sad, knowing we've got to worry about scurvy on dry land." Sobieski laughed. The two of them wandered over to the second row of vehicles from the edge of the parking garage and sat down on the bed of a red Nissan pickup and looked out into the night sky, still tainted with the remnants of smoke from the razing of Seongnam. They shared a late night snack together while making small talk and cracking jokes underneath the moonlight. "So tell me about your wife, what kind of person was she?" Sobieski asked Han, hoping not to strike a nerve as the night had been going so well for them. She was genuinely curious about the person that had taken such a sweet and sincere man off the market from her. "Well I believe the word you would use to describe her is "gold digger". Not to say that it was a loveless romance at the start; there was passion, and lots of it. Min-jung sure knew how to ensnare a man when she wanted one. I should've known from the start that she was after the one thing I always tried to downplay about myself, my inherited wealth. If I didn't earn it I wasn't going to be all braggadocious about it, but for women like Min-jung it didn't matter how you got the bank accounts only that you had them. Believe she had me spending money like a teenage Arab; I blew cash on her like it was going out of style. It was a hot and passionate romance even after the wedding but it never got any deeper than that. After a while she became too self-absorbed with her own career and pushing our son to excel that I kind of became an afterthought. Don't get me started on Do-yeon though, she was so hard on him with the academics and activities demanding perfection in all things. I get wanting him to be an overachiever; I'm somewhat of an ambitious guy myself, but he's still a little kid, he likes superheroes and dinosaurs. What's wrong with letting him have some time to enjoy that? I don't mean to complain, and really I do miss her dearly just it wasn't as perfect of a marriage as people seem to think." major Han explained. "I understand. There were things that were difficult but you were happy overall." Lyndsey said placing her hand in his. "Yes, we were happy. It was a good life we had. We only had the misfortune of living too close to ground zero." Han replied going into a melancholy cadence. "We can't dwell on the past though lest it consume us with grief. There's too much serious business that needs attended to." Han said, shifting back to a resolute tone of voice. "It doesn't all have to be serious Jung-nam." Lyndsey replied softly while turning to face him. She didn't know why listening to Han gripe about his presumably deceased wife had got her aroused all of the sudden. Perhaps it was hearing how their marriage was weakened in places which left some space in which she could justify belonging. In the time she had known him, he had proven to be everything she had wanted in a guy. He had both the looks and the personality, along with a sense of chivalry that she assumed was dead among the boys back home. She had fought back these feelings until now; it had been a long time for her since she had been with a man and her resistance was wearing thin. The fact that Major Han believed his wife was dead was enough justification for her to convince herself that it was ok to go through with what she wanted to do. He turned and faced her, feeling her breath close to his skin. Amidst the rank odor of sweat and grime accumulated from days of combat and hard labor were subtle pheromones exchanged between the two of them. These pheromones ignited the dormant attraction Han had for her as well. He knew he had feelings for her that had developed over the time they had worked together. It wasn't a physical attraction but something else, something he never had experienced before. They were two kindred spirits pushed together by unspeakable hardships. The shared pressures placed upon them did nothing but elevate the sexual tension that existed between them. They both felt guilty for doing it as they leaned in close to each other. Lyndsey felt the bristly peach fuzz that had grown on Han's upper lip and he tasted the residue of cherries on her lips and tongue as they kissed each other slowly, locking lips in what felt like an eternity under the stars. Han held her hand tightly until they let go and moved their arms around each other's back. Lyndsey reached down towards the rear waistband of Han's pants as he laid her back onto the truck bed. They kissed passionately several times as Han ran his fingers through her soiled blonde hair. Both the feelings of guilt and remorse along with the feel and odor of unwashed skin were completely ignored by them as they let their passions take over. However they would feel about this in the morning was irrelevant now. In this moment, the here and now, the burning lust impelled by the nascent feelings of love and mutual attraction between them was all that mattered.


	41. Chapter 41: Someone To Lean On

Chapter XLI: Someone to Lean On

9 Oct 1840 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Ji-hye stood up after breaking the news to Ho-jun, the son of the man they had just sent away. The boy was still noticeably shaken but was holding it together on the surface. "Come on Ji-hye, we've got preparations to make while we've still got the lights on." Sergei urged her to continue her obligations to the group as a whole. Reluctantly Ji-hye handed the boy his father's rifle and left the boy to go along with Sergei. Ji-hye didn't know the best way to cushion the blow to the boy so she tried the radical concept of simply telling him the truth. She wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do and she hoped that the boy would in time come to understand her decision. Ho-jun remained standing where he was, lost in his own thoughts, trying to shelter his mind from the reality that had just been thrust upon him. It still didn't seem real; any minute now he expected his father to come walking through the front door and tell him it was going to be alright. He waited but it didn't happen, still the fact of the matter did not sink in.

Hyo-ri was chatting with several of the other girls across the room from Ho-jun. She watched him, noticing something was out of the ordinary with the boy as she carried on idle conversation with the other girls. She saw him stand like a statue in front of the door for over an hour. She could see that he was in pain and felt for him though she knew him not. Hyo-ri excused herself and left her friends then went over to the boy to commiserate with him over his loss. "Hi." she greeted him. "Oh, hi." the boy replied in a meek and melancholy voice. "You ok?" Hyo-ri asked. "I guess... Say you're that archer chick all the boys were fawning over earlier right? Ho-jun asked. "Yeah, I don't think they were all about me though. They just wanted my gear cause I got the best one. I beat them to it so it's mine fair and square though." Hyo-ri said with a tilt of her head and a big smile. "I was the guy way in the back that got a tennis racket so they all beat me to something better too." the boy sadly stated. "You've got that rifle now, that's better than most of us have." Hyo-ri said to try and cheer him up. "It was my dad's before he..." Ho-jun started to say then fell silent. He didn't want to believe it and thought if he didn't say it then it didn't happen. "I understand how you must feel. I lost my parents too." Hyo-ri told him. It wasn't any consolation to Ho-jun to hear that, as if more loss would be better than just his own. All it did was make their mutual plight seem sadder. "What happened to them?" he asked. "I don't know for sure. They disappeared back when we were staying at those apartments. I overheard the Russian guy saying that he found their bodies chopped up in a dumpster outside. I can't imagine what they had to go through." Hyo-ri explained. "That's brutal. I'm sorry to hear that." the boy remarked. "I hope my dad died a clean death, before those bugs had a chance to hatch." he continued after a short pause looking down and away as he spoke. He said it; he broke his own rule, now he couldn't go back on it. He had inadvertently acknowledged that his father wasn't coming back. He struggled to keep his eyes from welling up. He didn't want to break down when no one was watching; much less did he want to break down when a cute girl like Hyo-ri was watching. Hyo-ri could sense his inner struggle and volunteered a way to take his mind off his tragedy. "Want to go up to the roof and have a look around? I'm sure the overwatch could use some company." Hyo-ri offered. "Sure." Ho-jun accepted. Hyo-ri took his hand and led him through the fire station onto the roof. She thought that a sympathy date with one of the popular girls would help numb the pain until he could better handle it in time.

Hyo-ri led Ho-jun onto the roof as the dark of night settled over Incheon. The sun had gone down and the stars had come out twinkling on a black velvet curtain stretched out from one horizon to another. A middle aged man armed with a Dragunov sniper rifle, the father of two girls Hyo-ri knew was covering the first watch. Hyo-ri clutched Ho-jun's hand as they walked to the edge of the roof and looked out over what they could see. Around them were deserted warehouses and a water treatment plant with small homes and shops beyond that. In the distance were large towers, lifeless and black like obsidian rods in the moonlight. At the edge of the horizon a small number of alien structures sprouted up from the ground with dim pale blue marker lights serving as docking stations for beamers flying out over the bay. "It's so quiet isn't it?" Hyo-ri asked. "I remember how loud and busy this city was." she continued. "I remember going to the PC bang and playing MMO's all through the night." remarked Ho-jun. "Which one did you go to? I might have seen you there back when I was into Call of Duty." asked Hyo-ri. "It doesn't matter. Can't do any of that stuff now with the power gone." Ho-jun replied. "Sure would be nice though wouldn't it?" Hyo-ri asked. "I won't lie, an all-night gaming binge would be freaking awesome now, so long as it isn't X-COM. I'm so god-damned sick of killing aliens in real life that I don't want to see another one in a game." Ho-jun replied. "Ayy lmao!" Hyo-ri exclaimed. The two of them burst out laughing together. For a minute there Ho-jun had forgotten his loss. "Can you kids keep it down? We don't want to attract aliens over here." asked the overwatch. "Probably shouldn't be saying "ayy lmao" either lest the aliens start thinking you're coming on to them." Ho-jun whispered to Hyo-ri. The two off them muffled their giggles and laughs at the remark and turned back from facing each other towards the city skyline again. "Maybe someday we can get the power back on again, like we did for this fire station only for an entire block or town." Hyo-ri suggested. "We still wouldn't get our games back. The same EMP that fried all the heavy duty electrical systems would've turned the delicate hardware of any computing system into silver goo." Ho-jun lamented. "Maybe we'll find a PS4 wrapped in a tinfoil coated rubber sleeve and suspended in a hamster cage?" suggested Hyo-ri. "This is Korea, not Kentucky; as insane as gamers are over here none of them would ever go that far to protect against something no rational person would ever believe was going to happen." Ho-jun replied. "Those assholes in Kentucky are playing Call of Duty without us? How could they?!" exclaimed Hyo-ri in feigned outrage. The two of them shared another laugh together as Ho-jun turned to Hyo-ri and whispered "ayy lmao" in her ear. "ayy lmao!" she repeated back to him amidst the laughter. The overwatch glanced over at the teenagers; it gave him a good feeling to know there was still some joy left in the world. Boys and girls were out having fun together, though the world had seemed to come to an end some things still hadn't changed.

In the distance to the southeast a massive explosion shattered the still of the night. They felt the vibrations from the blast in the air around them as the overwatch and the two teens turned to look towards what had happened. A blossoming burst of flame and debris spread outward from a single location on the ground raining down burning bricks onto the nearby streets and buildings. If this fire station had still been in operation it would be up in full alarm as some of the nearby structures caught on fire from the flaming fragments launched outward by the blast. The fire station itself was in no risk of being threatened by the fire, it was too far away and unlikely to spread once it burned down the buildings in the immediate vicinity. "That was over near that store where we got our gear. Seems we're not the only ones out there that ran into trouble." commented the overwatch. "Burn in hell you god-damned bugs!" shouted Ho-jun with his right fist raised in the air in outward defiance. With his left hand he clutched Hyo-ri's hand tightly as he watched the fire burn. In his mind this was his dad going out the way of the hero. He could envision his father bringing in propane tanks to that store and opening all the valves until the store was saturated in gas. Then the bugs would come crawling out of all the nooks and crannies and his father would take out a road flare and ignite it, triggering a massive explosion that consumed both the bugs and himself. He would not have to suffer the incubation and hatching of the bugs within his body and he would have avenged them all against their tormentors. This was the way it played out in Ho-jun's mind; in reality no one knew what had just happened and why.


	42. Chapter 42: The Wasp and the Porcupine

Chapter XLII: The Wasp and the Porcupine

10 Oct 1010 KST

Gangseo District, Seoul, South Korea

It had been two days and the survivors of Flight 1437 had seen no sign of either Ji-hye's or Williams' group. While it was within reason to assume Williams and Grigor were still on their way back, Ji-hye on the other hand didn't go that far and after two days had passed the survivors of Flight 1437 had to assume the worst. They had started to clean out the gas station next door of provisions, particularly clean water. This had prompted them to boil water from the Han River to drink using wood and gasoline to provide the heat to do so. They also carried untreated water up from the river for washing, flushing and sanitation purposes. This was particularly troublesome due to the mechs on the opposite bank of the river. Every time they went to fetch water they ran the risk of exposing their group's presence to the enemy or at the very least being gunned down in their tracks. So far they had dodged the bullet but how long would their luck last?

Inside the hardware store Petrikovich was chugging away on a bottle of tequila near the back exit while Klauss paced nervously back and forth in the center of the store. "I don't think Sergei's coming back." Yulia said what was on everyone's minds. "That would leave me in charge I guess?" postulated Dr. Klauss. "Not so fast Santa Klauss, I am still pilot here which make me next in line." Petrikovich objected as he marched over from the wall after overhearing Klauss' comment. "Go home Leonid, you're drunk." said Yulia. "No, no, no bitch, I know what we are doing. Police lady and Sergei are roach food we know. Now we need working vehicle in case Grigor and the Ugandan fellow don't come back." Petrikovich said. "And water, lots of water, as much as we can carry." added Dr. Klauss. "Water is for wussies when you have tequila!" boasted Petrikovich. Klauss snatched the tequila bottle out of Petrikovich's hand. "We could use this to clean wounds." Klauss commented. "Give me that!" Petrikovich demanded reaching for the bottle but failing to grab it on the first try. He snatched it back from Klauss on the second try and tilted his head back and took a good long swig of it. "You waste." Petrikovich stated. "Now wait a second we don't know for sure that Sergei and the policewoman are dead. Shouldn't we at least go out and look for them?" interjected Melissa. "Another reason why we need car. I think is pointless effort when they are dead though." Petrikovich commented. "I'd hate to say it but Leonid's got a point. We do need a vehicle. There's too much enemy activity out there to trust in moving stuff with backpacks and rickshaws to carry stuff around if we have to go a fair distance to find it. We need something we can bug out of trouble and get back here quickly in." Klauss said. "Good then. Who's coming with me?" asked Petrikovich. "You're not going. Your loud drunken ass will just get us all killed." Klauss scolded him. "I'll go." said Samuel Harrison, the father of the aboriginal Australian family offering to lead the expedition. "Ok, I'll sign off on that. You seem like a responsible bloke so you can lead the search party." Klauss said. "Who else wants to volunteer?" Klauss asked as he looked around the hardware store at the people gathered within. One Korean man stood up and joined Harrison by the back exit. A few minutes later three more joined him. After that volunteers succumbed to shame and peer pressure and a decent sized team began to take shape. In total about fourteen of the survivors of Flight 1437 joined Harrison for the task.

"Alright we've got the numbers now" Harrison commented. "Now how's this going to work? We've only got two guns and we can't assume the cockroaches are going to take it easy on us out there." Harrison asked. Klauss took out the pistol from his belt and handed it to Harrison. "We'll keep the shotgun here. We're pretty well dug in so we should be alright." Klauss told him. "Hold on a sec and we'll get you some more bullets." said Klauss before going off into the breakroom. He came back with a sack full of the 9mm bullets Ji-hye had given them along with two pipe bombs. Klauss handed Harrison the bullets first and then the two pipe bombs and an oversized zippo lighter to light the fuses. "In case you run into any mecha-walkers." said Klauss. "I pray we won't have to use them." Harrison said. "As for the rest of us there are those sticks of ten foot rebar against the wall that we sharpened into pikes." one of the volunteers, a long haired Chinese man, suggested. "Good idea." Klauss agreed. "What good are spears against spaceships and walkers?" objected a concerned member of the group. "Tactics my boy, tactics." The Chinese man said. "Most of what the enemy has out there are those spider things which for whatever reason don't use guns. People have been using massed spearmen for millennia to counter melee units and what's true for humans can also be true for spiders." the Chinese man explained. "Except for the fact that the spiders are freakishly fast, can climb walls and jump far." One of the other volunteers commented. "As quick as they may be it will be to no avail for they will be like birds trying to feed from a cactus. They will be the wasp, we will be the porcupine." The Chinese man elaborated. "You be just like the Spartans. You be alright." Petrikovich chimed in with a simpler explanation. Harrison's wife and children came over to him to wish him well along with a couple other people who were the siblings and wives of one of the other volunteers. Harrison holstered his pistol and took the first spear before exiting the building. The rest of the group took up their spears one by one and followed him in turn.

The group ventured out to the east then towards the southeast in search of a vehicle that would start. They tried everything they found but had no luck; all of the vehicles that appeared reasonably intact were modern cars that were too reliant on electronics to function in a post-EMP world. Within couple kilometers the group came to a garden store where they encountered another group of survivors. The leader of the new group greeted them with open arms, for his people were in no position to resist, they could only hope for goodwill from Harrison's unit. Harrison easily negotiated a truce with the new group and convinced them to join him with promises of a safer more comfortable lifestyle back at the hardware store. It was refreshing to find people who would so easily trust each other after Incheon fell. The new group had thirty members, mostly men. The majority of them were unarmed but a few of them had gardening implements that for the look of it had seen considerable use as weapons. Their refuge had little by way of supplies and these men were quite hungry and thirsty. Harrison shared with them the water in the silver flask on his hip but it was scarcely enough to wet their tongues. After a thorough show of friendship the new band of survivors left the garden shop along with the survivors of Flight 1437. Half of the rebar poles were given to the strong men of the new group by the weaker members of Flight 1437. These stout men would be more effective in melee combat if they were discovered, for a weak link in the phalanx could potentially doom them all.

So the men of Flight 1437 and their new friends continued on. Still they had no luck in finding a functional vehicle; everything was either too modern, too damaged, or they couldn't reach it due to skitters and mechs moving along the highways and major roads. After going around an aircraft wing in the middle of a street the group entered into a region dubbed the "airline graveyard" where numerous planes had fallen out of the sky. Here little more could be expected as the planes had crushed most of their potential prospects. They then passed by a row of burned out APCs north of the airline graveyard. From there they crossed under a partially destroyed highway. The found the decomposing bodies of several dead soldiers along with their weapons on the other side of the highway underpass. The group picked up the dead soldiers weapons and proceeded onward. Now at least a handful of them were armed with modern weapons to support their more ancient-styled comrades. From there they went into an industrial area with many devastated buildings. The outdated utility vehicles of the area's blue collar workforce provided the combined group with ample candidates. They continued into the maze of rubble and broken buildings to start checking the cars parked along the curb and in the parking lots. They almost had a change in their luck when one of the cars almost turned over when they turned the key that had been left in it. Either the battery or the alternator was dead, if they didn't find anything else they could come back to this one and possibly fix it up. Across the street another couple of men failed to hotwire another car then opened up the hood and found the battery was missing anyways. Someone else must have had the same idea they did. The survivors continued on down the street, the area was heavily populated with vehicles so the odds of finding one here were definitely slanted in their favor.

Soon after the group moved on to attempt to other vehicles a group of skitters and harnessed humans passing by the one open alleyway in the row of collapsed buildings spotted them and stopped. At this moment the survivors knew they would have to fight. Around twenty of the fighters rushed to hold the skitters in the alleyway while the others hurried to find a functional vehicle they could make their escape in. Those armed with the sharpened rebar poles arranged themselves into two ranks of seven along the length of the alleyway with those armed with guns standing a few feet behind them. Harrison fell back with a few of the others with salvaged military rifles to cover the rear in case anything came over the rubble and buildings or went the long way around the alley. Those lightly armed or without weapons hastily continued the search for a functional vehicle. The skitters, unafraid of the stalwart human defense, rushed the phalanx formation intent on smashing straight through. The shooters fired upon the charging skitters, stopping a few of them and wounding others that continued their charge. The de facto pikemen raised the rebar to form a phalanx just in time to stop the vanguard of the skitter attack from breaking through. The pikemen thrust forward and reared back again and again. The first skitters to reach the front line were taken by surprise and skewered through the head, neck, shoulders and chest. Those behind them attempted to deflect the spear tips by batting them away with their arms and front legs or diverting the spears to strike less vital areas of their bodies. Some of the skitters attempted to jump over the front rank of spears only to impale themselves on the second rank's pikes as they thrust vertically to skewer them in midair. The pikemen had to back off and regroup a little to avoid the falling skitters but in the end managed to use the slain skitters in their favor, forming a hurdle in front of them that slowed down the enemy charge. Ultimately the confined space of the alleyway and the length of the rebar poles slanted the odds in favor of the defenders. The skitters compensated by sending some of their number around the sides of the alleyway and over the buildings surrounding them. The shooters opened fire on these ones allowing only a few to get through who were engaged by the people frantically searching for a functional vehicle. Those with guns that were covering those busy searching for a vehicle opened fire on the skitters going over the buildings. The skitters came over in wave after wave to rush the lightly armed human backfield behind the alley and attempt attack the phalanx from the rear. The skitters managed to tear the head off of one Korean man before his fellows rushed in to avenge his death. The people clubbed the skitters with sledgehammers and garden tools ensuring they paid dearly for the life they took. Harrison shot dead a skitter that had almost reached the rear rank of the phalanx, sparing at least two people from being ripped open. In spite of the aliens efforts the wave that went over the buildings was repulsed without further casualties. The wall of pikes held against the initial charge of the skitters while the gunmen picked off the skitters that attempted to climb up and around the sides of the buildings along the alley. In the rear of the alley however instead of making a second charge while the defenders were removing their rebar spears from the bodies of the first rank of skitters that rushed them the skitters backed away and allowed their human slaves to take their place. Only some of these human puppets were armed, the others either held ropes that bound four adult men in torn clothes with unusually pale skin. These men trashed and frothed at the mouth in rage surprisingly being held back by the strength of mere children and teenagers. As the last skitter from the first wave dropped from the side of building on the north side of the alley the pikemen braced for the next charge. "We've got one!" shouted a woman from the street behind them as she got into the passenger seat of a compact car that had just been started. Another man loaded the back seat with the water bottles and tapped the roof of the car signaling to the driver to leave. While the rest of their group started to fall back and flee behind the car the pikemen and three of the shooters held firm as the four rabid men were set loose. The raging men charged the pikes, impaling themselves without any apparent concern for their own lives of safety. They didn't even try to deflect the pointed ends like the skitters did, they simply ran straight into their own demise. The reason for this suicide attack soon became apparent as one of the men puffed up and exploded. The blast burned the arms and faces off the two Russian men in the center of the phalanx and knocked the rest of the first rank onto their backs. There wasn't much time between the first and second explosions which triggered the third and fourth simultaneously. The following blasts annihilated the first rank and scattered the second rank, leaving one dead and the rest of the second rank wounded to varying degrees. The shooters fired at the harnessed humans and made a run for it leaving the surviving spearmen to the mercy of the skitters who flooded the alleyway towards their ruined formation. The gunmen turned back and continued shooting at the skitters who were pursuing them as they fled. The skitters caught up and tackled two of the shooters to the ground. Harrison took out the pipe bomb from his bag and frantically tried to light the fuse. Once it ignited he tossed it behind a small natural CNG delivery truck in the path of the skitters. The bomb exploded sending nails and shrapnel into three of the skitters passing by. The nails dented and scratched the rear CNG cylinder on the delivery truck causing pinprick leaks of the pressurized gas inside. The detonation also ignited the fuel tank of the fuel tank of the natural gas delivery truck which caused it to burst into flames which spread to nearby structures and other cars abandoned on the street. What the pipe bomb had failed to do in causing a secondary detonation from the natural gas, the fire from the fuel tank had succeeded in igniting. The secondary blast created a virtual wall of intense flames over the width of the street. A single skitter charged through the fire and pursued the humans despite being set alight. Harrison turned and shot the skitter in the shoulder once then heard the click of his gun indicating he was out of bullets. He turned and sprinted as fast as he could hoping that the fire would snuff the life out of the skitter before it could get to him. The skitter closed in and reached for Harrison with its burning hand. Before it's clawed hand could seize Harrison's neck it fell limp and hit the street ahead of the collapsed body of the dying skitter being roasted alive. The blaze managed to hold back the other skitters and allowed the rest of the group to escape. At the cost of seventeen lives they had their vehicle. It was hardly a victory they could be proud of.


	43. Chapter 43: Boomers and Beamers

Chapter XLIII: Boomers and Beamers

9 Oct 0655 JST

Pacific Ocean, 55km off the coast of Yokosuka, Japan

The Nevada had seen smooth sailing over the past few days in spite of the reports they had received from other vessels indicating the aliens were actively hunting naval forces at sea. Captain Denning had concealed this knowledge from most of the crew aside from those in the Radio Room, CTC Lewis and the senior officers who already knew. The crew was enough on edge as it was; they did not need more to worry about. They were not far from port now; once on dry land the Captain had hoped his crew would make a less tempting target for the aliens. They had already launched their nuclear payload so the tactical value of the boat was minimal in the face of the overwhelming forces prowling the oceans of the world, such as the one that sent the 7th Fleet to the ocean floor in a matter of minutes. The fact that the alien craft were submersible was known to the Captain as well. Ignorance of this fact had claimed the lives of his colleagues onboard the Alaska and the Maine. As for the fate of the rest of the Pacific Fleet's submarine force he did not know. He did not want to think that he was the last boomer in the sea. The tension was so thick in the Captain's stateroom you could cut it with a knife. They were so close yet still so far away when all it took was one split second encounter to end it all. It was shameful that a seasoned sailor like Captain Denning would be so eager to run for dry land but that was exactly what he believed needed to be done. Capt. Denning had thought to take a short catnap to clear his mind, as he had been up for close to 36 hours straight. ET(R)2 Clifford Garibaldi knocked on the door to the Captain's stateroom and waited outside with CTC Lewis. "Enter" the Captain said. He wasn't going to be able to get any sleep anyways. The door opened and Garibaldi entered while Lewis remained in the passageway. "Captain, we've cleaned up a transmission that we intercepted last night. From what we can make of it Tokyo and the surrounding areas are completely under enemy control and we should expect a heavy presence at Yokosuka. It may not be advisable to make landfall there sir." Petty Officer Garibaldi reported. "Should've known, and we're not fast enough to go take a look for ourselves and run if something should go wrong." the Captain grumbled. "Tell the OOD what you just told me and that he has my permission to adjust course to avoid the enemy presence near Tokyo. We'll make for the civilian port at Yokkaichi. If he needs to speak to me tell him I'll be on my way." Captain Denning instructed the sailors who then departed to relay his orders to the OOD.

Elsewhere on the boat breakfast was being served. The sailors waited in a single file line extending into berthing until space opened up in the galley. When they were called they each went up to the galley window and received a scoop of powdered eggs, a sausage patty and two squares of toast from CS3 Jason Alvarez who was working the galley for breakfast. "Powdered eggs? Really Alvarez? You're telling me we're down to this crud already?" complained MM3 Darrell Meyers. "Thanks to the flying saucers we've been out here longer than our full rotation. Chief says we've got to make do." Alvarez attempted to explain. "A-gang's always bitching out something, don't take it personal Alvarez." commented MMN3 Gregory Russell who was next in line. "Fucking nukes." chided Meyers playfully as he passed by Russell to take his seat "We're 90 days overdue for shore leave and Gold crew's been chilling back in Bangor this whole time. Swell deal we got here. Thanks aliens." griped FT2 Eric Schwartz who was seated at the table with Meyers and others. "We might be the lucky ones here Schwartz. Something tells me Bangor's not out there anymore." remarked YN1 Theodore Lee, the LPO of Admin Dept. from across the table.

"Officer on deck!" barked out Lee when he saw the boat's captain enter the galley. All personnel promptly got up and stood at attention. "At ease." the Captain said, allowing the crew to be seated again. "Gentlemen, have any of you seen Alvarez?" asked the Captain. "Right here sir." replied CS3 Alvarez. "I mean Weapons Officer Alvarez, not you." the Captain clarified his request. He often forgot he had a few pairs of crewmen with the same last names, none of which were actually related. "..and I need to see Torpedoman, err I mean Machinist Mate Kelly as well." Denning added. "Blasted rate changes, if the Navy keeps this up three quarters of my crew will be Machinist Mates, then how am I going to tell people apart." the Captain grumbled under his breath while waiting for a response. "You needed to see me sir?" MM1 Kelly, the TM-Div LPO asked as he approached from ship's berthing behind the Captain. "Yes, and where's Alvarez?" Denning turned around and replied. "He's in the head sir. I can go get him if you'd like." answered Kelly. "No. Tell him to wait for me in the torpedo room; I'll meet you down there." Captain Denning replied. "As you were gentlemen." the Captain said before he left the galley and made his way down to the torpedo room.

A few hours after checking in with the torpedo room and ensuring that all torpedo tubes remained loaded and ready to fire Captain Denning was in the control room standing right behind the OOD, shadowing his every move. "Officer of the Deck, get on the JA system and check in with all department heads. I want us at peak readiness until we reach port." Captain Denning ordered. "Aye aye." replied the current OOD. After about twenty minutes of routine operations in the control room and chatter over the sound powered phone circuits "We're reading two contacts ahead, 10 meters to port." reported Sonar. "Adjust heading to face them. Keep us straight and level. Capt. Denning told the Dive Officer who relayed the command to the helmsman and planesman. "We've got another contact splashing down, directly above us sir." Sonar reported. "Multiple new contacts breaking away from the first one above us." the watchstander at Sonar corrected himself. "They're crapping squidders on top of us." Captain Denning remarked. He thought up a plan quick. "Alright everyone listen up. We're going to blow right through that thing" Captain Denning stated. Captain Denning then got on the 1MC to make the announcement to the entire ship. "All hands to battle stations, prepare for emergency blow. Repeat all hands to battle stations, prepare for emergency blow." Captain Denning broadcast to his crew. "Ready torpedo tubes 1 and 2." Captain Denning ordered fire control. "These guys are going to move when we shoot so target one 40 meters above them and two forty meters below and set to detonate at those coordinates." the Captain clarified. The alien ships were not as face underwater as they were in the air so they had a chance here. "Prepare to fire on my mark." he continued. "All stations checked in. Ready for emergency blow." the OOD reported. "Fire torpedoes!" the Captain ordered. "Blow main ballast." he commanded once both torpedoes had launched. The torpedoes trailed above and below the beamers in the water ahead of the Nevada as the boat began to launch itself to the surface. Directly above the Nevada was a waiting large sized beamer-gunship that had released the squid-like aliens to attack. As the Captain had expected the two beamers attempted to move away once the torpedoes were launched. The alien craft first attempted to move up and down respectively; however the beamers caught themselves before they accidentally moved into the torpedoes' trajectory. The torpedoes did not simply pass by the beamers though; they detonated as intended above and below them. The pressure differential created by the detonation forced the two beamers to collide with each other and rupture their hulls. The seawater rushing into the breach then finished the job; cracking open the alien craft and flooding it until it's outer shell burst in other places leaving behind inoperable floating hunks of alien materials.

Meanwhile the Nevada rushed upwards through the water. The force of the Nevada's hull struck the descending squidders like a knockout punch, killing or at the very least rendering them unconscious. The Nevada's sail slammed into the underside center of the beamer-gunship moments before it broke the surface of the ocean. The full force of the close to 17,000 ton boat rocketing up from the depths split the beamer-gunship in twain before. The two halves of the large beamer floated downward below each side of the Nevada with a multitude of smaller material fragments and displaced members of the beamer's crew drifting down into the deep darkness towards the ocean floor. One of the squidders however had managed to evade the Nevada during the emergency blow maneuver. A couple others had only been dazed by the rushing water currents in the vicinity of the ship. "All hands prepare to dive." the Captain ordered over the 1MC. The submarine dove down as the lone squidder swam up from below and approached the boat from behind. "Sound the Maneuvering Bell. Full astern!" Captain Denning ordered as the squidder closed in. The boat's screw began to turn and the Nevada moved in reverse just as the squidder was about to wrap its steely tentacles onto the boat's hull. The propeller struck the squidder in its central body and ripped it apart before it could get its razor sharp tentacle blades onto the Nevada itself. "Ahead Two Thirds!" ordered Captain Denning. Slowly the submarine changed direction and released the slain squidder along with a cloud of alien blood and fleshy chunks chumming up the ocean. The three surviving squidders that had only been dazed started to ascend towards the Nevada but the vessel found its salvation in the most unlikely of places. A pack of Mako sharks and a single Great White were in the area prowling for food. When the squidder was ground up it triggered a feeding frenzy that impelled the sharks to maul the other squidders, still hazy from the brush with the Nevada and in no condition to contend with nature's king of the sea. The sharks turned the squidders into a calamari buffet and allowed the Nevada to steam away. They had survived the attack, but not without nearly crapping their collective pants in the process. "Get us ashore as fast as possible. I don't care if you have to beach this whale just get us to dry land." Captain Denning ordered as he wiped the sweat from his face.


	44. Chapter 44: Alone and Forsaken

Chapter XLIII: Alone and Forsaken

10 Oct 2111 KST

Songpa District, South Korea

Jin-shil woke up long after the sun had gone down. How long had she been knocked out, she wondered. To her all the time between the crash and now felt instantaneous, like she had blinked and everything changed. She looked around to get her bearing. She was still in the ambulance; her captors appeared to have all died in the crash. Her mind was in a haze; she felt disoriented and struggled to stand up without losing her balance. She knew would have to leave if she didn't want to be found again by Kwang-su's militia and was frustrated at her body's difficulty to comply with her wishes. It took several minutes before she had her motor skills back in enough of a working order that she could get up. She felt her head and discovered a large painful lump on the front left side of the top of her head. She moved her hand back in front of her face to discover traces of blood on her fingers. She must have been hit hard when the ambulance wrecked. However she was the fortunate one. She looked over at the man across from her; from the looks of it the dumbass stabbed himself, serves him right Jin-shil thought. She reached over and removed the gun from the man across from her whom its bayonet had impaled. She let the man's body fall forward onto the floor of the ambulance, brushing against her leg as he fell. In a fit of disgust and race she kicked the man's corpse over and over again ferociously and followed up by bayoneting the body in the back. She stopped herself and stared down at the lifeless, motionless body. What good did all her aggression do? It's not like this guy could feel anything. If there was a hell this asshole surely was burning in it, if not, well he just got away with the most unspeakable acts next to which the brief pain of his passing paled in comparison to. She hated him; she hated them all for what they had done to her, for what they were doing to others like her. Her hatred flared out again as she slammed the butt of the rifle against the back of the man's skull before carefully stepping out of the ambulance.

She staggered away on unsteady legs until she got to the wall of the building that the ambulance had crashed into. The moonlit streets were quiet tonight; only a gentle breeze stirred the still of the night. The low lighting actually made it easier on Jin-shil's eyes to focus after coming back to consciousness. She pressed against the wall to try and support herself as she moved until her sense of equilibrium returned. Some of the bricks gave way and she stumbled, catching herself halfway before she hit the ground. Jin-shil pulled herself back up and walked along the wall to the edge of the building. She waited a minute and then ran across the street to the next building. Her sense of direction was improving and she seemed to have better control of her faculties to the point where when she reached the next intersection she no longer had to support herself. She stood up on her own legs and straightened out her back. Her back ached with stiff soreness along with her ribs and abdomen. If she actually was pregnant she probably wasn't anymore she thought. It was amazing what people could live through though; it was but a stroke of good fortune that even she had survived the crash. She didn't have much time to stand around and think however. She had to get somewhere to wait out the night where she would be hidden from both the humans and aliens that prowled the streets. While there were numerous shops and residences in this neighborhood that would be suitable for the task she had to get far enough away from the crash before she could even consider bedding down. She headed south and slightly west around all the abandoned vehicles and dead bodies in the street. Some of these corpses had been lying here since the first day of the invasion and were now severely bloated and surrounded by the putrid odor of decomposition. They had no one to see to their burial, no one to mourn their loss, no one to tell them goodbye. Their fate would be hers eventually, which was something she did not want to think about as it stuck in her mind. There were a few dead skitters to even out the fallen humans in the street. Funny however, they didn't seem to rot as quickly as people dead. Must be some kind of an alien thing, after all they were just as much a foreign element in the microbiotic world as they were in the macro world. She turned a corner past a destroyed mech and an ice cream parlor. There were hundreds of sheets of paper blowing in the breeze down this street. They seem to have come from the ruins of a collapsed office tower that blocked the road behind Jin-shil. The papers also clued her in to the movements of something else. She heard the steps of many skitters rustling through the papers that had blown down one of the alleyways and settled on the ground. Jin-shil quickly darted into a clothing store and crawled under one of the registers. Outside seven skitters walked down the street past her hiding place. One of them turned in her direction and took a couple of steps towards the door but did not bother to investigate further as the group was drawn away by noise in another direction. When they were gone Jin-shil gathered up armfuls of clothes and carried them to the fitting rooms. She hung the long dresses and pants from the fitting room doors to obfuscate the open area below the door. She did this to all the fitting rooms so that no single one would stand out. The rest of the clothes she laid out on the fitting room floor of one of the rooms to use as a bed when she was able to relax. Meanwhile she sat on the fitting room bench and waited, listening intently to any and all sounds. This was as good a place as any to get through the night. In the morning she would have to keep moving and find some food and water; her throat was parched and she hadn't eaten since last night when her captors had tossed her and the other girls their scraps. Hopefully she would be in better shape for a fight then. As she sat back and waited for fatigue to overcome fear she thought to herself. So this is what life had become, an hourly struggle to stave off the imminent inevitability of death. A dismal life indeed, but one that she was the master of now. No more would she have to suffer at the whims of sadistic madmen. Now all of her suffering would be solely of her own doing, and she was willing to fight and to die to keep it that way.


	45. Chapter 45 - Reorganization

Chapter XLV: Reorganization

11 Oct 0936 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Sobieski woke up still in Han's embrace well into the morning. This was the latest she had ever slept in since the invasion; in fact it was the latest she had slept in for several months. She felt comfortable and safe, something that seemed so foreign now. She didn't want to move, she wanted to remain here and bask in the afterglow of the previous night's passion. How often was it that the man she had gone to bed with was still there with her when the morning came. Sobieski rolled over and snuggled up closer to Major Han. Her movements roused him from his slumber. "Good morning beautiful." Han said as he opened his eyes. Lyndsey's face glowed with the compliment as she looked back at him. "Decided to come back to the waking world huh?" Sobieski asked. "Of course, I could never have a dream sweeter than what I am waking up to." Han said. "Now don't go getting all ridiculously sappy on me." Lyndsey cautioned him. "Oh ok." Major Han replied. It was a little too much for her, sweet talk embarrassed Lyndsey, and it was so uncharacteristic of her and the life she knew. Neither of them wanted to get up, they just wanted to stay there cuddling in each other's warmth surrounded by the cool of the October morn. They soaked in the comfort and emotion for as long as they could until Lyndsey had to be the snap back to reality that ended the dreamy moment for them. "Don't you have an army to run Major?" asked Lyndsey. "You don't have to call me Major now, it feels a little awkward to hear that. Jung-nam will work when we're off duty." Han replied. "But, yeah I should probably be reporting in to see what kind of silliness Bremer's cooked up for us today." Han continued. Silliness was a mild word to describe the prosecution of a war but it was the word he chose. Lyndsey sat up and allowed Han to sit up next to her on the bed of the truck. "Do you think this will really work?" Lyndsey asked. "What work? What do you mean?" Han asked. "You know, us. Can we keep our personal and professional lives separate? You know they're going to be talking about us if they find out." Lyndsey clarified. "I think we should just take it one day at a time." Han replied. It sounded to Lyndsey that he didn't even believe that there was an "us" to be concerned about, but maybe she was just being cynical about it. "We have enough out there to worry about, we shouldn't worry about the good things." Han elaborated. That made Lyndsey feel better that he considered what them to be a good thing and not just something that happened. "Well I'm going to go check in with Bremer before he gets worried. I'll bring you back breakfast after I'm done." Han told her. They got up, gave each other a quick kiss and Han left the parking garage while Lyndsey went back to the vehicles she had been working on the night before.

Lyndsey got to work looking over the vehicles that had potential for restoration. She made a list of the parts she would need to get them running that she would hand off to Han to deliver to the foraging parties before they went out on their second runs. She was going to start needing replacement electrical components for many of them as the number of classic cars and old clunkers available was rather limited. Although the worldwide EMP had toasted nearly every unshielded circuit on the planet there was always that one in a million they found when raiding an auto parts store or warehouse that was still intact. If Han had the practical experience to match his education he could probably manufacture new components given the proper materials and tools, alas his electrical engineering degree was never put to use aside from being a ticket into the officer corps so his ability in that regard was all theoretical. Nonetheless if they managed to procure the right parts Lyndsey would be able to widen their potential choices of vehicles into those produced in the late 70s and 80s as well. Though restoring a modern car with all of its integrated computer systems would be almost certainly beyond their reach. With much of Seongnam destroyed the nearest warehouses containing the electrical components they needed would be in the parts of Gangnam District that were still standing. There was a direct manufacturer that Williams had seen on his initial trip to Incheon that should carry the harder to find components that she needed, provided it hadn't already been looted by someone else. She went about her work merrily as if somehow the burden she had charged with was somehow lessened even though in reality it had increased.

Eventually her happiness would fade and the old ghosts in the back of her mind would make their appearance. Major Han had left thinking things were on good terms as did Lyndsey for a while. After an hour or so had passed, when Lyndsey finally realized what she had done with a sense of clarity, free of emotion. What had felt so right last night had now come to be a thing of regret for Lyndsey. She had, perhaps unfairly, lumped Major Han's intentions with those of all the men she had known in the past. Her own biases heavily tainted her perception of last night's events. "Stupid, stupid, how could you been so stupid." Lyndsey muttered angrily as she tightened down the bolts where she had just replaced the starter on one of the cars she was working on. In frustration her grip slipped and she cut her finger. She cursed under her breath and wiped the small droplets of blood on her shirt, applying pressure on her finger to allow the wound to close. She should have never stepped out of the bounds of a professional relationship with Major Han. How could she have slept with a superior officer, a married one at that? How could she have believed that she meant anything to him, there she was again, just another cheap lay when no one "better" was available. Once he found another girl, one he could be proud of, or better yet if his wife came back then all of the sudden Lyndsey believed she would be dumped like yesterday's garbage. She didn't even have to get drunk this time to give in; she went along with him willingly. Worse still she actually let herself fall for him. Yes she had her "needs" but did she have to satisfy them by allowing herself to be used the way she always had. Worse still this wasn't just a fuck and forget it incident; instead she had to work with this man probably until one of them died or the aliens went home, though the latter felt like a vast improbability at the moment. What had happened between the two of them would complicate matters; things would be awkward to say the least.

After asking around Han found Bremer in an upstairs waiting room for the dermatology ward that they had converted into a private briefing room. It was more spacious than the ER on call doctor's office and further removed from all the commotion down there in the lobby. They had brought out a single desk into the waiting room and had several maps and hand drawn charts laid out on it. In the office in the next room they had filing cabinets and shelves for their administrative materials and in the consultation room they had a small stash of weapons, snacks and a water cooler with a couple spare bottles on the ground next to it. Around the desk Bremer, Tae-yang and two grey haired older gentlemen were seated and chatting amongst themselves. When he heard someone enter the room Bremer stood up. "Ah Major, so fine of you to join us." Bremer greeted Han as he was escorted in by the guard posted at the door. "Likewise." Major Han replied while the guard returned to his post outside. The two older gentlemen stood up and greeted Major Han as well. "I'd like to introduce you to Kang Hyun-joon; he's a retired Colonel in the ROK Air Force." Bremer said motioning towards the shorter, stockier man with a full head of grey-white hair. ". . . and this is Sun Chang-woo, he was the CFO for a medium sized construction firm with a background in human resources." Bremer said concerning the taller, skinnier old man with a receding hairline and a moustache. "Seeing as just me and you as the only active duty officers here we've reactivated Colonel Kang and given an honorary commission to Mr. Sun to serve as our Admin officer." Bremer informed him. "I won't be taking over here though, rank aside, I've been out of action too long to make heads or tails of this operation so I'll be serving strictly in an advisory capacity." Colonel Kang stated. "We were just discussing reorganizing some sort of a proper chain of command to this outfit along with a name change." Bremer explained. "A name change?" asked Han. "Yeah, we can't go around calling ourselves the First Army when there may still be other remnants of the First out there, probably some in more senior commands than we are. Since we're all from different units and in cases like yours truly, different countries, hence I propose we reform ourselves as something entirely new." Bremer elaborated. "Since there was no ROK Fourth Army currently in existence at the time the world went to shit, would you like to join me in inaugurating the birth of the Fourth Korea?" asked Bremer. "I would be fine with that. Sounds like you want us to be a real army again. What happened to the whole being the Mujahideen thing you and Vargas were going on about when Cho was in charge though?" replied Han. "Tactics and structure, two different things. It's good for morale for us to have a clearly defined organizational structure, and it will save time once we become a larger operation." Bremer answered. "Now that you're here I'd like you to go over the promotion requests I've put forward and make any suggestions you might have from among the ROK forces. If you would be seated please." Bremer said. "Tae-yang has been serving the longest so we think it would be a good idea to move him over to the officer corps as an acting 2nd Lieutenant. That guy Williams lost his arm to get over here so he's deserving of a Purple Heart as well as a bump up to Corporal in my eyes. As for my guys of course I'm wanting to bump Lyndsey up to Staff Sergeant and Vargas up to First Sergeant. There's a few of your guys too that I've seen in the thick of things too that I'd want you to look over and add to if you see fit." Bremer explained, sliding a small stack of handwritten files over to Han to sign off on. It was an informal system but it was a system nonetheless. "Speaking of Vargas sir, he's here to see you." the guard at the door reported. "Send him in." Bremer answered and stood up as Vargas and a small group of people entered into the room. "Keep quiet on the promotion." Bremer silently mouthed to Han. Han made a zipping motion over his mouth to acknowledge the request. "Chico!" Bremer greeted Vargas after the customary salute. "Who are all these people?" inquired Bremer. "When we went around interviewing folks yesterday like you asked I found a few that you might want to meet." Vargas explained. "Very well. Go on." Bremer said. The first man in the group Vargas brought in stepped forward. "This is Young-gi, he used to be a high school chemistry teacher and worked as an engineer in a manufacturing plant before that." Vargas introduced him. "I see where this is going, so do you have enough of a handle on your chemistry that you can make bombs and bullets for us when we start running out?" Bremer asked Young-gi. "My classes weren't exactly the anarchist's cookbook but I understand the principles that could be used to make munitions well enough." Young-gi explained. "Good enough, we'll be sending you on a few supply runs in case we stumble upon anything you could use. Young-gi stepped back and a young woman who looked barely out of school stepped forward. "This is Yu-ri; she was an intern veterinary assistant and has some first aid experience with humans too." Vargas explained. "Glad to have you aboard Yu-ri. Tae-yon will be grateful for any help she can get." Bremer greeted her, batting an eye in her direction almost as an involuntary reflex. Yu-ri stepped back and an athletic man in his late 20s stepped forward. "The last one I wanted to introduce you to is Seung Seo-jun, he was a pro MMA fighter for about six or seven years. Hadn't made it to the UFC or anything like that but he's enough of a badass in his own right." Vargas stated. "Excellent. I could probably put you with Ryong-ho. You've got the physical strength and skill, with a little coaching and the right mindset you should fit in with our Spec Ops battalion. If that doesn't pan out we can have you train our greenest fighters in close combat, and if that doesn't work there's always the infantry." Bremer told him. "Since you're here Chico, I'd like you to stick around while we hash out more permanent duty assignments. The rest of you are dismissed." Bremer said. The three people Vargas brought in left to go catch a late breakfast while Vargas sat down with the officers around the table. "Aside from those three what all did we find from the personnel interviews yesterday?" Bremer asked. "Mostly office workers, truck and bus drivers, tradesmen, gardeners, hair stylists, department store workers, tech workers, short order cooks, housewives, high school and college students, a few factory workers and police officers, a pet groomer, convenience store clerks, bank tellers, a daycare worker, and one street junkie." Tae-yang answered. "Most of the older men here have military experience thanks to South Korea's Heinlein-esque mandatory service laws so it wasn't hard fitting them in." Vargas added. "We always have a need for drivers and cooks too; those were a no brainer, same with the cops." Tae-yang added. "I assume you have recommendations for the rest?" asked Bremer. "Most of the others have proven themselves in some capacity or another since the invasion so it wasn't too difficult to sort out." Vargas explained. "Excellent." Bremer replied. "Oh, and Chico, before I forget, someone from your old unit just showed up the other day. You wouldn't happen to know anyone named Williams would you?" Bremer inquired. "Hmmm..." Vargas thought. "Oh yeah, a new guy showed up not long before the bombs dropped. PFC Williams, young dude, tall, sort of husky dark black guy, Jersey accent and big strong bear wrestling arms?" Vargas asked. "That sounds like the guy, except he's only got one of those arms now." Bremer clarified. "Damn spiders, at least he's alive thank God." Vargas replied. "Indeed, you two can catch up with each other later. As for now since all of the senior staff are here let's go ahead and unveil the proposed layout for the new 4th ROK Army." Bremer said. He and Colonel Kang cleared off the table and laid out an oversized flow chart drawn up in black fine point sharpie with the words "4th Korea: Chain of command." in both English and Korean. "What about Ryong-ho? He's still out on patrol, and Sobieski? Shouldn't we wait for them?" asked Tae-yang. "Ryong-ho was notified of the proposal before he went out this morning. He's conducting a broad sweep of the area around and north of our secondary camp and probably will be gone most of the day, as for Lyndsey, Major Han can notify her of here "official" position when he goes back to check on her." Bremer explained. It was common knowledge to Bremer that Han and Sobieski spent a lot of time together, even more so than was required for coordination of their job duties. Having his own improprieties however, Bremer wasn't going to be the one to raise the slightest concern about it. As of yet whatever was going on between Han and Sobieski wasn't affecting either of their performance. "Understood sir." Tae-yang replied.

What the chart had displayed wasn't anything of a radical departure from what they had been doing all along; hence it was fairly easy for it to be codified apparently overnight. Bremer was given command of the army as a whole with Colonel Kang serving in an advisory role. The 4th ROK Army was further subdivided into the Medical Corps and a single infantry division, named the 2nd Infantry Division in homage to the former members of the US 2nd ID who had fought so valiantly alongside their Korean counterparts. Command of the sole division within the 4th Army was entrusted to Major Han. In practical terms Bremer and Han remained co-commanders of the 4th only now they made it official. For the time being the 4th Korea had skipped past organizing at the brigade and regimental level as they did not have the manpower nor leadership to command at levels deemed redundant. In all actuality the size of their army was barely that of the strength of a standard company before the invasion but with hopeful optimism they had prepared themselves a far larger organizational structure to grow into. They were strongly banking on expansion, such would eventually be necessary to stand any chance of ultimately winning the war. A single stinging bee could be any annoyance, perhaps even cause a little pain, but in order for the aliens to really feel the hurt from their insurgency they would need more "bees" stinging in more places, and not only throughout Korea. Countering a global occupation would require a coordinated global resistance movement. That was a major objective on the far distant horizon. In the shorter term Bremer truly believed that one day the Korean Fourth Army would truly be up to full strength.

For the mean time however, the highest true subdivision of the 4th Army, aside from the Medical Corps, was at the battalion level. In total there were 7 battalions. Two of them, the 4th and 7th Armored battalions were a virtual non-entity that existed solely on paper. While currently they had no members or machines operating in these battalions Bremer was anxiously awaiting the day they could incorporate tanks or other war machines into their fold. There was even talk that they could do a hatchet job or reverse engineer some of the alien war mechs to turn them into something they could use against their occupiers.

The rest of the battalions all had the names of their commanding officers, whom in some cases were enlisted personnel, written beside them and any subdivisions thereof beneath them. Now it wasn't customary to place enlisted men in charge of entire battalions but it also wasn't customary to have battalions consisting of fewer than 50 men or in the most extreme case an entire Corps consisting of two people.

.

"Sergeant First Class Antonio "Chico" Vargas, I'm putting you in charge of the 1st Infantry Battalion, the tip of the spear." Bremer announced, subtly breaking the news to Vargas on his impending promotion. "After we're done here I'll need you to select which fighters you want in your unit and report back to me before 1900 hours. Yours and the 2nd Battalion will get the pick of the litter." Bremer instructed Vargas. The 1st Infantry was to be their offensive strike force. This would be the one to bring the fight to the enemy. It was a front line combat unit and as such had no further subdivisions though Vargas was at liberty to break his men up into smaller platoons and squads as needed depending on the mission objectives.

The next unit, the 2nd Special Operations and Reconnaissance Battalion was led by Sergeant First Class Ryong-ho, also a likely officer candidate in the same vein as Tae-yang. This battalion had one of the most diverse missions in the 4th ROK. The 2nd handled intelligence gathering, led sensitive supply runs, sought out and recruited new members, carried out special missions behind enemy lines and was responsible for training new recruits. They were also to form the vital links between outposts once this "Pony Express" style communications system that had been planned was put into practice. Given its wide array of duties there were several subdivisions already laid out under the umbrella of 2nd SO-Recon. There was currently one Spec Ops platoon, three Recon platoons, two Communications/Signal platoons, one logistics platoon, and one training platoon. As expected, this unit had the highest percentage of former soldiers in its ranks.

Next was the 3rd Infantry Battalion, under Tae-yang's command. This was to be the largest battalion in the army and was charged with the defense of their camps and safehouses. As such it was divided into as many platoons as there were encampments to defend, presently two. The 3rd Infantry also served as a reserve force to aid the 1st and 2nd.

The next extant unit was the 5th Maintenance Battalion, led by SSGT Lyndsey Sobieski. They were tasked with basically the same thing Lyndsey had been doing since the invasion; fixing vehicles and equipment and rigging up mechanical devices requested by the other units. The 5th was also a rather small unit but had grown with the addition of a few handymen and engineers that had joined prior to razing a large portion of Seongnam. Lyndsey had some subordinates under her now that allowed her to actually catch up on the sleep she had been missing out on for the past week. However the workload that the 5th had in front of it was still exceedingly heavy. As with any other unit this one could be called out to fight with the 1st and the 3rd if need be, however due to the demand for the 5th's skills they were not the first choice for that role.

The last unit was the 6th Auxiliary Battalion which was composed almost entirely of civilian conscripts and most of the non-combatant personnel. It was further subdivided into several companies and platoons. There were four transportation and logistics companies, who worked in conjunction with the Recon platoons of the 2nd Battalion to handle the supply runs and movement of men and materiel around the friendly sections of the city. There was also the administrative company, a morale and wellness platoon which was under the direction of Father Yang who was also the 4th ROK chaplain, two construction platoons who handled building repairs and fortifications, five general purpose platoons and the culinary company. "Culinary" was hardly the term anyone who ate the food served to the 4th ROK would use to describe their cooks. Though given what they had to work with it wasn't surprising the results. Fresh produce was slowly becoming a thing of the past, with some crops enduring longer than others. They were likely to have oranges, limes and potatoes for several more weeks while the organic vegetables and herbs already had to be thrown out. Fresh meat was virtually non-existent and anyone who could turn rat stew into something edible perhaps was deserving of the title of "culinary" after all. The 6th was the second largest battalion and while some of its members could be counted on to fight largely it was a civilian operation. Nevertheless there still were some civilians that couldn't be included in any unit, small children, the elderly, the crippled and infirm. These people however still contributed to the 4th ROK as a whole, they mended clothes, made banners and patches, assisted the cooks, managed administrative and organizational tasks and kept their living conditions clean and sanitary. Generally something could be found for anyone in camp to do. Even those who could not do much were looked out for by the others, no one who came to the 4th ROK was turned away.

After going over the proposed chain of command Bremer dismissed the senior staff. Despite what seemed to be a well-drawn out chain of command the mostly undisciplined forces of the 4th Korea would still find their formal roles to be quite fluid and for the most part took on whatever tasks needed done, regardless of unit affiliation. The assignment to specific units simply served as an aid to the commanders, a means to sort through the chaos that had developed as they were reeling from blow after blow from the enemy now that they had finally crawled into a corner where they could catch their breath. It also served to provide a sense of comradery between the soldiers rather than just tossing together raiding parties on a day by day basis. It was expected that in time the army would become a more cohesive, well-oiled fighting force and start to more closely resemble what they had once known. In the end it all counted for little. In the moments where it counted chaos still reigned. The best laid plans could so easily collapse once the chips were down.


	46. Chapter 46 - Heartbreak and Chest Wounds

Chapter XLVI: Heartbreak and Chest Wounds

11 Oct 1149 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Han and Vargas went down to the hospital cafeteria after they were dismissed, now expecting an early lunch instead of a late breakfast. There was already a long line as the cooks just started to bring the day's lunch out from the kitchen. Young-gi was already halfway through the line and waved for Vargas and Han to come cut in with him. They accepted his invitation and joined Young-gi at his place in line. There was a little grumbling in the line but most people recognized the pair as including the base commander. "I figured you two have a long day ahead of you and wouldn't want to wait around in line." Young-gi said. "It would have been fine but yes we've got our work cut out for us today. At least it looks like we're not going to have any major battles to get through, that's always a positive." Han replied. "To tell the truth I'm lucky I haven't seen much fighting." Young-gi stated. "That is luck indeed." Vargas commented. "You two have I'm sure." Young-gi said. "You could say that again, it's been almost nonstop since the bombs dropped." Vargas replied. "I've been wondering something about the aliens though, something about their tactics has always bugged me, pardon the pun." Young-gi mentioned, and then paused briefly. "Why don't the bugs carry guns when they clearly have them on the walkers. You think they would take a lot less casualties if they were shooting at us rather than running up and grabbing us right?" asked Young-gi. "I for one am glad they aren't shooting at us. We're having a hard enough time with the bugs as it is." Han commented. "It's the same reason they haven't bombed us out of existence already, or wiped us out with a biological agent of some kind. This war is a garland war; they aren't trying to kill us, they're trying to capture us. Everything we've observed so far tends to point to that fact. "Why?" you ask? I haven't a clue, but they must have their reasons. Alien reasons could be just that, alien." Vargas explained. "A what?" inquired Young-gi unfamiliar with the phrase "Garland War." "A Garland War, centuries ago the Aztecs used to go to war on frivolous or non-existent grounds for the purposes of obtaining captives which they would then sacrifice to their gods." Vargas explained. "It always goes back to the Aztecs with you." Bremer said as he came up on them from behind and slapped his right hand on Vargas' shoulder. "It might surprise you Chico, that most Mexicans aren't actually descendants of the Aztecs, but rather the other tribes which they subjugated." Bremer commented. "Never said I was." Vargas replied. "Well I sure hope I don't end up sacrificed to some alien star-god." commented Young-gi. "Neither do I. The space spiderish god of butt-probing doesn't need our firm supple asses offered up to its skitterty skattery glory." Bremer added as he became distracted checking out the firm behind of a young woman walking to the end of the chow line. "Anyways, I've been working some things over from the reports I got in the morning and am going to need you to head into the south of town after your lunch has settled and you have your unit together. We're going to need to start mopping up the scraps the fire left behind. I would like Seongnam bug-free by morning." Bremer told Vargas. "That's a tall order sir but we'll give it a go." Vargas said. They got to the front of the line and received a scoop of a scoop of instant Mac and cheese, half an orange and two Vienna sausages. "Wieners and watery mac n' cheese. Hoo-ray." Vargas said sarcastically as his plate was handed to him. "Can I get two please? I'm bringing one to someone on watch." requested Major Han. "Lyndsey's lunch service." Bremer chimed in mockingly then imitated the sound of a whip snapping. "Woman's got to eat." explained Han. Bremer just laughed and got his own plate. Bremer and Vargas went over to one of the cafeteria tables to eat while Han left to go back to the parking garage to find Lyndsey.

In the parking garage Lyndsey was drying off the sweat and grime from her face after finishing up on her second vehicle of the day. She then gathered up her crew and dismissed them for lunch before she looked over the next vehicle on her list. "Eck, fish truck." she muttered after reading the words. Apparently the fish truck in the cafeteria loading dock had been cleaned out last night and only needed to have the solenoids and spark plugs replaced for it to start up according to the junior guy in her unit that wrote up the order for her. Of course she would have to check it out herself in case he made an error or two. She met up with Major Han as she was heading out of the garage while he was coming in. She stood at attention and rendered salute which was uncommon for her given the informal setting and how close the two of them had become and definitely not expected within clear view of the outside. Han returned the salute nonetheless. "Lyndsey, I brought you some lunch. I figured you might be held up in here." Han offered. "Thank you sir." she said plainly and took the plate from him. "Bremer and a couple of civvies drew up an official chain of command for our outfit earlier and wanted me to let you know you've been assigned to head up the maintenance battalion." Han told her. "That's nice, what's new?" Lyndsey said sarcastically, not in a playful manner of sarcasm either, but a cold bitter manner. "I suppose nothing's changed." laughed Major Han. "I've got work to be doing if you don't mind." Lyndsey replied in a sharp almost resentful fashion. She then started to walk off. "Is something wrong?" asked Major Han. "No." she said and kept walking. Major Han turned and walked briskly to catch up with her. "Are you sure?" he asked from behind as she sped up to stay ahead of him. "I'm sure." she growled. Major Han hurried up to get beside her. "This isn't like you Lyndsey, tell me what's wrong, please." pleaded Han. Lyndsey stop and faced him, trying to purge the glaring look from her eyes and assume a more civil countenance. "Last night, it was a mistake and I don't want to talk about it right now." Lyndsey said and then stormed off. "Lyndsey wait!" Han called after her. "I don't want to talk about it." she shouted back.

Han caught up to her by the fish truck. "Lyndsey, we can't have all this pent up resentment between us if we're going to work together effectively. I get it that you need your space and I'm going to give you that but I want to at least get everything out in the open right now. Just hear me out." Han said to her. Lyndsey exhaled sharply, he could order her if he wanted to, though she would call it an abuse of authority. She turned to Han and closed her eyes and breathed deeply then exhaled again. "Sir. It's just, well about last night, like I was saying it was a mistake. It never should have happened. I was way out of line and I'm sorry." Lyndsey said raising her hands and flinging then to her sides. "Hey, hey, there's nothing to be sorry about. I was just as responsible for what happened as you were. If you really think about it was it so bad? We just don't want to be alone in this world. Is that really so wrong?" Han said to her. "You aren't alone in this world! What about your wife?" Lyndsey snapped. "She's dead. I've accepted that, I know it hasn't been a long time and I was wrong to move so quickly. That's on me, I admit it. Things just happened you know? We can just slow down, go back to being friends and take our time like we should have, if you want to stay friends that's fine too." Han pleaded with her, trying to calm her down. "How do you know she's dead; have you seen a body?" Lyndsey harshly asked him. Han was silent almost a minute thinking of exactly how he should word his response. "That's what I thought." Lyndsey quipped and then turned to open the hood of the fish truck. He could see that he was going nowhere with her; whatever thoughts had stewed in her mind this morning had riled her up beyond his ability to reason through. "I'm sorry Lyndsey for pushing this right now, I'll let it go." Han sadly stated. "I don't mean to come off as such a bitch, I just really don't want to talk about this right now sir. Maybe later after I've had enough time to come to terms with things on my own I'll want to sit down and chit chat with you about "us" as for right now I really don't want to even look at you." Lyndsey said while taking a couple of wrenches off her belt. "If it's fine with you I'd like to just continue my work. Mr. Geun, that big guy you sent me has a list of parts I'm going to need soon. If you would give it to the scouts." Lyndsey told him, her voice settling down to a normal tone. "Ok, I'll give you you're space. Come find me when you're ready. I won't push this any further." Han replied. "Oh, and I'll look into getting you those parts today." Han added as Lyndsey started working on the truck. He then walked away and left her to her business.

Bremer stood on the street with seven other soldiers as one of the scouting parties returned from their second run of the day. They came back with both of their vehicles plus a brand new RV to boot. The leader of the scouting party got out of the RV after they had parked on the street in front of the hospital and reported to Bremer before the rest of the scouts continued on to drop off the supplies they had recovered. "What's the haul this time?" inquired Bremer as the two of them went inside and went towards the ER doctor's station. "Shoes, clothing, canned fish, juice drink, a little bit of art supplies for the kids." the scout reported. "We've also picked up 15 fresh recruits and a motor home." the scout continued. "I see that." Bremer said, quite pleased with the scout. They walked over to the street map in the doctor's office and the scout pointed out various locations on it as the debriefing continued. "We ran into two walkers over here, a single walker and about three dozen crabs on this intersection. There seems to be a nest of kind in the new mall over here, we took out four or five crabs in this building. This distillery here was full of crabs and these big ant things so we had to bug out. Saw four walkers and a column of those zombie children heading north into Gangnam district. It looks like the bugs are building something over by where one of the bridges used to be." the scout reported, each time placing a colored tack in the corresponding location in the map. "All in all it seems they are moving to the northwest." Bremer observed. "Away from here, sir. That's good I hope." the scout said. "Yeah, unless they just plan to drop a bomb on us." Bremer added, always with that bit of skepticism. "I've hardly seen any flyers for days so I hope that's not the case." the scout reported. "Indeed, me too. Good work soldier, you're dismissed. Might still be able to catch lunch if you hurry, they're serving up cream of crap today." Bremer said.

The scout and Bremer left the doctor's office and soon after Major Han came walking quickly towards him. "You look like a man on a mission." Bremer commented. "You could say that; aren't we all?" replied Han, a little short on breath. "Lyndsey needed some really particular parts to get some of the less ancient vehicles out there running again." Han said, showing Bremer the list he obtained. "I guess digging up the classics is slim pickings." Bremer commented. "So it seems." Han replied. "If I could go with the scouts today, there's something I need to check on." Han told Bremer. "Besides I'm familiar with the area where these parts are sold. They aren't likely to have them at any run of the mill auto parts store or dealer. It would help to have someone that's not blindly making wrong turns into walker patrols if we're going to go that far into enemy territory to get them." Han explained. "You don't need to explain yourself to me, Major. I've got three men and a pickup truck I can spare you whenever you're ready." Bremer said. "Thank you." Major Han replied then promptly departed to get ready for his mission.

Bremer then went to find Tae-yang who was hanging around a number of soldiers and civilian guards near one of the secondary entrances to the hospital. "There you are Lieutenant. Have you got yourself some good men picked out for your unit?" Bremer said after finding him. "Yes sir; these boys behind me included." replied Tae-yang. "Excellent. I've got a job for whenever you're done." Bremer said. Tae-yang and his men stopped their side conversations and directed their attention towards Bremer. "We need to send a group south to the agricultural regions and see if any of the farms are still out there. You see it won't be long until all the produce around here rots and we'll need more than canned goods for the long haul; shit, eventually we are going to run out of canned goods too. I don't want to have to fight starvation and scurvy at the same time we're fighting the bugs." Bremer explained. "I'll get right on it sir. I'll see if I have anyone that knows the area. Do you want me to lead the expedition or will you need me here?" asked Tae-yang. "I'll leave that call up to you." Bremer said. "This unit will have to be all native Koreans though; we can't count on people outside of the Seoul metro to be fluent in English. That's one reason I'm giving this to your unit, the 1st and 2nd have all the US and foreign folks in them. I can't really draw manpower away from them either since we're stretched pretty thin in that regard and we really got to start building ties back to Incheon as well." Bremer explained. "Don't worry sir. We've got this." Tae-yang said.

Bremer then went up to one of the patient rooms where Williams was staying and found him and Vargas catching up on what had happened since they were separated. "Mind if I intrude for a minute?" asked Bremer after knocking and peeking into the doorway. "Not at all, come in." replied Williams. "I see you've met Chico, so do you two know each other?" Bremer asked. "Chico? That's what he calls you?" Williams asked Vargas with laughter. "Yep, that's been his pet name for me all the way back to Iraq." Vargas replied. "Sir, you don't know how glad I am to see that someone from my unit is still alive. I've lost so many friends since this thing began." Williams said exasperated with joy. "That happens in war, it's a damn a good reason to avoid fighting them so often." lamented Bremer. "Hopefully after this war is over the human race will have had its fill of bloodshed for the next few hundred years." said Williams. "You would think but I'm skeptical of human nature even after all of this. Kick out the aliens and we're still just as flawed beings as before. Face it, killing ourselves has been the one thing we've been good at for all of human history." Vargas commented. "Well I'm glad you two are getting a chance to have a little male on male bonding going on up here." Bremer commented. "Private Williams I'm going to need you for an assignment tomorrow. Tae-yon wants you to take it easy the rest of today too." Bremer told him. "What is it sir?" Williams inquired. "Like we mentioned earlier we're going to need you and the Turk to show a couple of our guys into Anyang so we can set up an outpost there. It'll be the first stop on our pony express. I'll be sending Ryong-ho with you so you'll be in good hands if anything goes afoul." Bremer told him. "No problem sir. I'm sure I'll be up to the task. We can get to Anyang on foot without much trouble, it's the roads that are chock full of spiders." Williams replied. "Excellent. Catch you in the morning Private." Bremer said before leaving Williams and Vargas to continue telling each other their war stories.

11 Oct 1641 KST

Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea

Han made an unexpected turn after successfully acquiring the majority of the parts Lyndsey had requested from the specialty auto parts manufacturer. For being as deep into enemy territory as they had gone they ran into surprisingly little resistance. They were chased by a swarm of skitters when they had first crossed into Gangnam district from the south but after they had managed to fight off and evade them all the aliens they had come across were already dead. They had seen more downed mechs than operational ones along this route. Some other force or perhaps Ryong-ho's men, if his sweep had taken him out this far had done a nice job clearing a path for them. It was a pleasantly unexpected turn of events. The soldiers with Han however were still on edge, as well they should be. Out of sight should not mean out of mind; the groans of mechs and the occasional rush of a flyover could still be heard quite frequently here. The soldiers were so focused on anticipating enemy activity that it took them a while to realize that they were going in the wrong direction. "Sir, we're heading north. We need to be heading south to get back to base." said one of the soldiers with a hint of concern. "Everything's under control I just need to check on something first." Han told his men.

Han drove north, around several heavily fortified alien structures that were being erected and into the utter devastation that encompassed the bulk of Gangnam District. There was not stone left upon each other here, all was rubble and mangled steel. Carefully Han navigated the ruins until he came to a spot where the ground itself had given way. In front of him a great crevasse had opened up in the earth forcing the Han River to break its banks and flood a section of the city. Beyond the river Han could see numerous alien ships buzzing around the center of Seoul. The framing of titanic support structures that would become a massive arch were beginning to take shape on the other side of the Han River. It was not clear however if this arch the aliens were building was but part of a far larger structure. Han got out of the truck and looked across the water that had swallowed up entire neighborhoods. His home was there, sunken under the murky waters of the Han. He didn't need a body to know that his wife had perished in the attack; this was all the proof he needed. He didn't want to see a body. Down there in the water, sitting for days, he did not want to see what gross abomination his beautiful radiant trophy wife had devolved into, and his son, oh Do-yeon, the Major did everything he could to block those terrible thoughts from his mind. It was so much easier without seeing this. It was as he had feared; Min-jung was no more. In a strange way he felt relief in his horror; he knew to expect this, it wasn't so much a shock rather than an affirmation. He had been grieving in his own way, masked by the constant struggle to survive. The relief was that he had not wronged Sobieski, that they were safe to proceed on whatever course they would pursue; though after seeing this Han was the one who thought they should back off for a time. There was no room in his heart for romance now, only the sick twisted feelings of loss and regret. The alien sounds all around him gave Han little time to truly reflect on things and soak it all in before he was forced to withdraw from the area.

Han drove back through Gangnam district but was forced east into Songpa District by a squad of skitters. Having safely eluded his pursuers they stopped the truck outside a min-mart to pick up some more water as Han and his men were parched. When they returned to the truck they noticed a young woman running from three skitters. Not being a man who would stand idly by Han and two of his men rushed into action while one stayed behind to guard their booty. The woman fended off one of the skitters and Han and his troops shot dead the other two from behind. She had a funny way of showing gratitude for their heroic actions in rescuing her however. The moment the last skitter dropped to the ground and the woman, Jin-shil turned her gun towards Han and shot him three times in the chest. "I'm never going back!" Jin-shil screamed. Han fell onto his back and hit the ground hard enough he bounced once before settling to bleed out all over the pavement. Jin-shil ran behind a dumpster as Han's stunned escorts were still in shock. She opened fire on Han's men, scattering them before they had a chance to get to their leader. One of the soldiers returned fire, the bullets denting and ricocheting off the steel dumpster forcing Jin-shil to take cover. Jin-shil shot back before the other could contemplate making a run towards Han again. She had both of the soldiers pinned down behind buildings on the left and right corner of the intersection. Major Han groaned in excruciating pain that started to dull as he felt the life flow out of his body. The sounds of the gunshots became distant, his tactile senses became numb and his vision started to contract into a single point. He expected to see his wife and child waiting for him at the end of some mysterious tunnel of light. Has last thought before it all went dark however was of Lyndsey. He lamented that he never had the chance to make things right with her and wonder just what could have been. Meanwhile, while Han was fading fast Jin-shil started to contemplate an escape route knowing that she would eventually run out of bullets trying to keep these two men held back. She had to save one round for herself lest they manage to reach her. She was not going back there, never again would she be a slave to those arrogant fools. She saw it, a shadowy alleyway just across the street and little to the south. She hoped her attackers concern for their fallen comrade exceeded their desire to capture her. Jin-shil sprinted diagonally from the dumpster to an alleyway between two apartment buildings all the while unloading a barrage to fend off the soldiers. She did not look carefully enough when entering the alley however. For she had been crept up on by another, someone that was drawn in to investigate the sound of gunfire from a few blocks away, someone that now was literally right on top of her. Ryong-ho dropped down from the fire escape in front of Jin-shil and clubbed her across the face with the butt of his rifle rendering her unconscious. He reached down and took the rifle away from Jin-shil's hands and shouted to Major Han's men. "Get him on the truck and go! I've just knocked down two walkers four blocks to the east so the crawlers are going to be awful ornery when they get here!" yelled Ryong-ho. The two soldiers ran to Major Han's side. He still had a faint pulse but his body was growing cold. One of the soldiers removed his shirt and jacket and tried to use them to stop the bleeding from the three holes punched into Han's chest and abdomen to no avail. Upon hearing the heavy footfalls of a mech followed by a retaliatory burst from Ryong-ho's forces around the corner to the sound the two soldiers were forced to scoop up the Major's body and carry him to the truck. Once they were all in the bed of the truck the other soldier got into the cab and sped away seconds before a damaged mech and four skitters came into view. The mech fired a burst that sheared away the corner of a building as the truck fled. One of the soldiers on the bed of the truck fired upon a pair of skitters that had given chase while the other frantically tried to control the Major's blood loss. "How much blood did he even have left now?" wondered the soldier as he applied constant pressure on the wounds. He felt only the slightest, irregular breathing in Han's chest. As the threat of the skitters was neutralized the soldiers realized that Han was a goner. They would be the ones to bear the corpse of their fallen commander back to base. The shame of his passing would be theirs, but the blame would be on Jin-shil, now bound and in the custody of Ryong-ho. There would be a cry for justice when she was brought before the base. In a world where the rule of law is only as strong as it is imagined to be would she truly be subject to justice, or to vengeance. Han was respected and beloved by many in the 4th Korea; his passing would not be an easy thing to take, or to forgive.


	47. Chapter 47: Coming of Age

Chapter XLVII: Coming of Age

10 Oct 1000 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Ji-hye had slept in late again when Sergei came in to wake her. She rolled over on the rock hard concrete floor she had slept on and looked up at him, squinting her eyes to see through the sunlight. "I would have let you sleep in but then the kids would have got all of this." Sergei told her while offering her a half-eaten can of peaches. Ji-hye groaned and sat up, brushing aside the wadded up trash bags she had used as a pillow then took the can from Sergei. "Will be seeing you downstairs when you are ready." Sergei told her before he got up and left.

Later that morning Ji-hye walked outside of the fire station to find several of the young boys and girls shooting bottles and cardboard targets in a small field around the back of the fire station. Sergei was supervising the teens and pre-teens and giving them pointers as needed. Ji-hye noticed he seemed to be a natural at this; he was able to command attention and respect from these most rebellious aged youth. He also happened to be a fine shot himself which didn't hurt in establishing that respect towards him as a firearms instructor. "Isn't that a waste of bullets having them practice with live rounds?" commented Ji-hye as she walked up and stood beside Sergei. She was concerned about running out of ammunition again, they had nearly run dry in the middle of enemy territory many times already and she didn't want to have to go through that again so soon. "Is it more waste to fire one bullet now at bottles or to waste ten bullets on a space crab because you can't shoot?" rebutted Sergei. "Good point." Ji-hye conceded. They watched the kids shoot, some were more gifted than others but they were making progress. They were all training with the .223 rounds and bolt action rifles as they were the most abundant of their armaments. "We get the basics down to make sure they can hit a crab at fifty yards and we'll move on to hand to hand combat training in the afternoon." Sergei explained. As he said this Ji-hye just watched a 13 year old boy whiff a shot at twenty yards, completely missing a cardboard cutout of a local celebrity that had been doing autograph signings at this fire station during a charity event a few days before the war broke out. "Good luck with that." Ji-hye chuckled. "Don't look at that one to judge. Watch that boy over there." Sergei said pointing to Seok-min as he took aim at the yellow light on top of a golf cart all the way inside the water treatment facility's fence. It was easily a hundred yards or more and Seok-min made the shot, through the opening in the fence and straight on to the light. Ji-hye raised her eyebrows and hummed to herself. "Not bad." she commented. Sergei laughed. "With the right scope and a little practice I'll have that one making the same shot at a thousand yards, wait and see." Sergei boasted.

After target practice was over Ji-hye went back inside for a while. She wandered around the fire station checking in briefly on all the children and adults to see how they were doing. She then went downstairs to the boiler room to visit with Officer An. An looked bored sitting on a stool and doing a word search puzzle he had got from one of the younger children while he was on watch. Across the room Ji-yoon was handcuffed to a sewer pipe and looking back at them. "She's been brooding like that all morning. Wouldn't eat the cupcake we gave her for breakfast either." Kyung-seok explained. Ji-hye looked over at Officer An then back at Ji-yoon. She walked over to Ji-yoon and crouched down just outside of Ji-yoon's reach. "Hey, you understand why we are keeping you here like this right?" Ji-hye asked her. "Yeah. I wouldn't trust me either if I were you. I still don't know why you let me live after what I did." Ji-yoon told her. "Your parents were desperate people trying to stay alive, now I don't know if you really went along with it against your will or you were in on it the whole time but I understand the motivation, however wrong-headed it may be." Ji-hye explained. While what they did seemed abhorrent to Ji-hye she indeed could understand it. She had made a profession of understanding the criminal mind and done case studies in her training of monsters far worse than Ji-yoon's parents. Oddly enough back when she was a police officer she had longed to take some maniac down and get involved with the investigation of some truly demented killer, though back then all she got were mundane cases of vandalism and petty larceny, at most a domestic violence dispute that often came down to be false. Now that she had seen people become real monsters, she did not seem to want that anymore. "Who is to decide that our lives were more valuable than the ones we sacrificed to survive?" asked Ji-yoon remorsefully. It would take more than this display of repentance to convince Ji-hye to unchain Ji-yoon but she could sympathize with her nonetheless. "That's where you were wrong; a life is a life, none are more valuable than others, regardless of what the new thinking might say about it." Ji-hye told her. "In time we might give you a chance to redeem yourself." Ji-hye said while standing up. She walked over to where Kyung-seok was sitting and took the half drank water bottle sitting beside his stool and brought it over to Ji-yoon. "I'll get you another one." she assured Kyung-seok. "In the mean time you need to take care of yourself. You won't accomplish anything by starving yourself to death." Ji-hye said, leaving the water bottle with Ji-yoon. She turned and made her way back upstairs; hoping that in time Ji-yoon would come around. She had to hope, for if Ji-yoon was already beyond redemption what hope would there be for any of them as these days would inevitably become months, and years.

She went back upstairs about the same time as the boys and girls Sergei was training came in. "You all look beat; how's the training routine going?" Ji-hye asked them. "Brutal." replied one of the boys, sounding winded as he spoke. "Nah, it was alright. He's just being a pussy." remarked another of the boys. "Is Sergei still outside?" Ji-hye inquired as the rest of the group passed by. "I think." replied one of the girls. After speaking with a few more of the kids, Ji-hye then went out to find Sergei again.

As she was looking for him she noticed two of the adults going around examining the cars parked in the lot across the street. She walked over towards them and discovered Sergei kicking a high end custom motorcycle that wouldn't run. "Damn it! I always wanted to ride one of those and now that I can, it doesn't work." Sergei complained. "Sorry to rain on your tirade here but I've been thinking." Ji-hye spoke up. "Thinking good. It keeps us alive." Sergei answered with a smirk. "So what is it you are thinking?" Sergei asked. "You know what we were talking about last night. We can't all possibly fit back in the hardware store so I've been thinking we should go ahead with the plan to establish a second base here. It's large enough, easily defensible, we've got a clear view in all directions except for due north and the backup generator is a nice amenity to have." Ji-hye mentioned. Yes. This place is nice, too close to enemy for my comfort, but hell isn't that the same everywhere?" Sergei answered shrugging his shoulders as he finished. "We still need to send someone back to store and let my people know we are alright soon. They could start getting impatient and come out looking for us. That could open them up for attack." Sergei added. "Agreed. We need to get word back to the rest of the flight as soon as possible." Ji-hye affirmed. "I know the area best so I can get there faster. I'll just need a couple men to watch my back in case we run into trouble." Ji-hye said. "You'll be faster if you had wheels and you are needing to carry back guns for my people. That is why we came out here in the first place, no?" Sergei remarked. "Did you find any cars that start over here?" Ji-hye inquired. "No, there's a Subaru in the treatment plant's parking lot that might if some piss ant hadn't stolen the battery out of it." Sergei complained. Car batteries were one of the few reliable sources of power that survivors had so it wasn't uncommon for them to be taken out of vehicles and used to power other simple devices for a short period of time. They also didn't have anyone among them mechanically inclined enough to swap out parts between the cars to get one of them running again, not to mention the time involved in creating that Frankenstein's monster. "I could just walk then." Ji-hye said. "Nonsense, we need to get you a running vehicle before you leave. On foot it could take too long and you know how bad the crabs can get if you are outside too long. We have to make a run today anyways in order to get foodstuffs to feed the children. It would not be anything special to snatch a car along the way." Sergei continued. "In that case get a team together and we'll go scout out a few blocks around the area here. Once you get past the industrial and public works buildings there are bound to be places to glean supplies from." Ji-hye said. "No. This time I would like to use the boys. Let the grownups rest, they will need their strength when you leave. You should take it easy too, could be a rough day for you if we're not lucky." Sergei responded. It was a simple enough mission, they wouldn't have to go far and enemy resistance if any should be slight. It was the perfect proving ground for the boys to cut their teeth in actual combat. They would need the experience at the time when the real battles would come. "Ok." Ji-hye reluctantly agreed, though she could see the wisdom in what Sergei was doing.

Within an hour Sergei had gathered close to half of the youths in their company outside of the fire station. "Listen up everyone. We have something that requires your assistance." Sergei announced in a strong voice. "We need to have a working vehicle by the end of the afternoon. All the cars in the lot next door are shit so we have to go around a few blocks until we find one that works or a battery that we can fit in that rusty Subaru. While we're out we might as well get more food, hygiene items, bandages and anything else you can think of." Sergei addressed the group. "We may run into crabs so be prepared for that." warned Sergei. "Now do I have any volunteers?" asked Sergei. Several of the teenagers stepped forward to volunteer. Sergei looked them over, having observed some of them in their behavior and in training earlier in the morning, and selected six boys to accompany him on the mission. Among those he picked was Ho-jun, for Sergei believed a little vengeance for his father's death would do the boy good. He could get out his anger and move along the grieving process which would be good for everyone since they did not have the time to truly be able to grieve their losses. Seok-min was also chosen, demonstrably being the best marksman from among the boys. After he had chosen his team Hyo-ri came running up to Sergei, desiring to go along on the mission. She wanted to get out and walk around a bit and this would be the chance for her to do that. There were a few simple items she missed having and wanted to check around for them as well, not to mention she was ready to go out and waste some spiders of her own. "Can I come?" asked Hyo-ri eagerly. "No, no. We are good. I'm sorry I cannot bear to see little girls bleeding on the battlefield. You stay here and stand guard please?" replied Sergei. "I'm not a little girl. I'm almost 16." Hyo-ri protested indignantly. "No matter. We have not time to argue. Stay here." ordered Sergei. "If she's staying then I'm staying too." Ho-jun spoke up in an attempt to stick up for Hyo-ri. Hyo-ri was flattered but it was unnecessary, she knew Sergei had already made up his mind. "Fine. You stay here too." Sergei responded then looked back towards the group of boys loitering around outside the fire station. "You! Boy with funny hair! No, you! Come here, you're in." Sergei called back to the group, snatching up a replacement for Ho-jun. Sergei and his team then departed leaving Ho-jun and Hyo-ri behind. "That was nice you vouched for me there but you didn't need to." Hyo-ri said. "It didn't feel right, him leaving you behind just because you were a girl." Ho-jun told her. "I'm sure he had his reasons. Russians though, who knows what goes on inside their heads." Hyo-ri said. "Vodka, that's what goes through their heads, on its way to their stomachs." joked Ho-jun. "Oh you haven't even met Petrikovich yet." Ji-hye laughed as she came up behind the two. "Sergei's clean as a whistle, his buddy back at the landing pad, now that guy's your stereotypical drunken Russian." Ji-hye commented. "Now let's get you two back inside before we attract any attention from the spiders." Ji-hye told them then led the two back inside the fire station with the rest of the boys and girls.

Sergei and his team stopped a couple blocks away from the fire station and then proceeded west until they had gotten out of the industrial area. Ironically all they found along the way in terms of vehicles was a road service truck containing a hefty tool box, sledge hammer, crow bar, hydraulic jack, ladder and an acetylene cutting torch. It seemed the repairman was in need of repairs himself. Sergei noted this location however as some of the tools on this truck could be useful to procure later. For now however they were too heavy to carry around. They then went further south and scoped out a row of cars stalled on the street in front of a few small shops. There was a donut shop, a low rent electronics store, an office supply store and a few bodegas that looked fairly untouched compared to the rest of the block that had been thoroughly smashed or shot up. There was also a tire shop that had the display glass shattered which was the best candidate for finding a new car battery should none of those on the street start up. "Now those in the front and back of these groups you know they are worthless. May get a start on one trapped inside but we will need push cars around it to get it out if it does start." Sergei explained. "We try those parked on curbside first." Sergei directed. He turned back and noticed a couple of the boys seemed hesitant to follow him out into the new street. They were leaving the large open areas and industrial buildings for a tightly packed mess of cars and commercial buildings all stacked and packed. This offered many hiding places for something that wanted to come out and get them. The hesitation bubbled over into fear for that terrifying experience with the crawlies was still fresh in their mind. "I'm nervous about this, are you sure we're ready?" asked one of the boys. "Is easy. Is just like first person shooter, only you don't respawn." Sergei explained. The last part was not comforting to the boy at all. "Just don't get hit that's all." Sergei told him nonchalantly. "No but seriously, it's natural to feel nervous; fear keeps you alive, but use fear don't let fear control you." Sergei encouraged his team. "I've got your back. Now you cover mine ok?" Seok-min told the boy, offering his own words of encouragement. "You've got the makings of a fine soldier, my boy." applauded Sergei. The team then proceeded cautiously to check each individual car. Some still had the keys in the ignition and were silent when they were turned. Other vehicles had to be broken into and hotwired, yet still the would not start. "I've got a winner!" shouted one of the boys when he fired up an old Buick. "Keys still in the ignition too." the boy added as he got out of the car. It was boxed in by two cars in the front, one car to the right, by the curb and the back end of a parked car on the left and three cars and a city bus to the rear. From all appearances the owner of the vehicle had simply abandoned it and fled on foot when all the other vehicles died around it. "Good work, good work. Now shut it down." Sergei instructed the boy. "We're going to have to move a few cars around to get it out." Sergei explained. "Now, you three go into the shops here and get food to pack in trunk." Sergei said pointing at Seok-min and two others. "Be careful and look out for anything creepy when you go inside these places. Oh and take this." Sergei said tossing a tear gas canister to Seok-min. "Also look for a battery for the Subaru in that tire shop over there." Sergei added. "The rest of you, with me." Sergei told the other three. "How do we know which battery is the right one?" asked one of the boys. "There should be a guide book that tells you and it is marked on the battery." Sergei explained. "Wouldn't it be easier if you looked for the battery then?" asked another boy. "Markings on battery are all in squiggle. I can't read squiggles." Sergei told the boy. "We start on car to the right, then give space in the front." Sergei told the three that were with him. The other three boys went into one of the bodegas and started gathering up their lunch and dinner.

The bodega they had entered wasn't exactly the hallmark of fair business practices, nor did it have much to offer in the way of essentials. The canned goods and ramen noodles were all expired, some of them by as much as a decade. The boys had also seen the impossible on these shelves, a rotten Twinkie. "I thought these things could last forever?" asked the boy who discovered it. "Apparently not. It's probably been there since before there was only one Korea." remarked Seok-min. "I'm not touching it, or anything around it. That's evil I tell you! Eeeeeeviiiil!" said the boy. The store was filled with posters, CD's from people no one has ever heard of, movies from the 70s priced as if they had just come out today, blacked out racks of porno magazines, incense, a selection of cigarettes, phone cards, lava lamps and knockoff clothing and jewelry; all things they didn't need. They gathered up some chips and beef jerky that didn't look too bad along with a couple packs of cigarettes and some lighters. After the aliens had come the smoking laws were all irrelevant now, might as well take advantage of it, was the rationale of one of the boys. One of the boys also snatched up a smut magazine and hid it among a sack of chips. Outside Sergei was covering the area, keeping a lookout for aliens on the walls, rooftops and streets. The other boys had just finished pushing the car to the right onto the curb and were starting on moving those in front of and to the front and right of the Buick out of the way. After carrying off their first haul Seok-min and his companions went into the tire shop through the broken display window. Once inside they spotted a skitter hanging upside down from the ceiling in the far corner. Quickly Seok-min and another of the two boys fired upon it. One bullet struck the side of the skitter's neck while the other missed completely. The skitter, which had been napping was awoken by its wound and the sound of gunfire. It leaped towards the three boys as they chambered another round but was shot by Sergei and the other 3 boys as they came running to help. Two of the four rounds fired hit the skitter in its wide underside and knocked it onto its back. The one boy who hadn't fired yet shot it again once it hit the ground. Then Sergei walked over to the dying skitter on the ground, took out his survival knife and stabbed it through the throat to finish it off. Sergei then got up, cleaned his knife on a pink shop towel and quietly gathered his crew and went back to work on moving the cars.

Seok-min's group looked through the tire shop for batteries; they found the guide book behind the service desk but didn't find any batteries. "Maybe they are stored out back?" suggested Seok-min. The three of them took the rear exit into the alley behind the store. They found some empty grease drums and a Volkswagen beetle parked there but no batteries. "Nothing here." said one of the boys while shrugging his shoulders. Out of curiosity Seok-min decided to try to start up the beetle. It was one of the older postwar models of the car and would have had no sensitive electronic components that could have been fried by the alien EMP attack. The only reason it wouldn't start is if it hadn't been properly maintained, and from the looks of the exterior of the car that simply wasn't the case. While it was a shame for Seok-min to do so, as his father was quite the admirer of gussied up cars from yesteryear, Seok-min smashed the window to gain access to the beetle. After a cursory search he found a spare key hidden under the floor mat and viola, the car started without as much as a cough or sputter from the engine. He shut it off and took the keys with him. It wasn't what they were looking for but it was even better. They then went back into the tire shop and Seok-min noticed a second, smaller supply room hidden behind a cage that they had missed earlier. He ran up and peeked in between the holes in the tightly meshed steel latticework. This is where the rims and the batteries were kept, however it was locked and they couldn't get in. "Guys we're going to need bolt cutters. I found the batteries." Seok-min told the others. "Why don't you just shoot the lock off?" asked one of the two boys. To Seok-min something about that idea seemed like it would blow up in their faces, literally or figuratively. "It's not going to be a big deal; we've got to go get more food anyways. You want to be eating nothing but stale chips from before you were born?" replied Seok-min. The three of them then exited the tire shop as Sergei and the others had moved a couple more cars and were nearly finished clearing a route out for the Buick. One of the boys had just gotten into the Buick and drove it into the space they had created to allow them to push the other two cars back into the space where it was which would then create the escape route to free the car from its prison. "We found another car!" Seok-min told Sergei. "Excellent news! Two is always better than one. Well, most of the time." Sergei praised him. Seok-min's group then bypassed the opportunity for week old donuts and raided another bodega. This one was less sleazy than the other one and netted a decent amount of ramen noodles, candy bars, and jars of premade kimchi. They also acquired a couple bags of vacuum packed dumplings and fish which would be the only meat any of them would likely be having for a while. They took the food to the beetle and loaded it into the trunk, but not before one of the boys made the mistake of thinking the trunk was in the back of the car. "I forgot to mention these ones are back asswards." mentioned Seok-min. "Now you tell me." said the boy as he gathered up a few bags of ramen noodles that he dropped into the engine compartment. "I find it kitschy and cute." the other boy said as they loaded their haul into the trunk proper. They then went into a smashed up 7-11 to see what kind of goodies they could find there. When they entered Seok-min froze in abject horror, no, not at the flayed bodies on the ground or the dead skitter that had knocked over the candy aisle, but at something far, far worse. "What unholy madness is this?! There's no Slurpee machine! My mind simply cannot accept this!" Seok-min declared in feigned shock. "Guess Apu doesn't work here. The slurpees would all be liquid goo by now anyways." one of the other boys remarked as they started bagging up the overpriced minor tools and over the counter medications that had sat unsold for months and years. "But, but, the liquidy goo was the best part. Nooooo!" Seok-min said, dropping down on both knees and raising his head to face the ceiling. "You maniacs! You blew it all up!" he shouted raising his hands into the air. "Alright enough of this nonsense!" Sergei barked as he came running in, worried the noise would attract unwelcome guests. "We've got the car running and ready to go. Let's finish what we came here for." Sergei said. Sergei and the other boys joined in to help load both vehicles. One of the boys stayed behind with the Buick as the engine warmed up. Sergei found the keys to the supply cage in the most obvious place, in a drawer under the service desk. "You are good at missing things in plain sight kid." Sergei jokingly commented and messed up Seok-min's hair. They found the right battery and loaded it into the beetle. "Now can any of you drive? I need one driver for the beetle." asked Sergei. None of the boys spoke up or raised their hands. "None of you, really? Oh, right, fucking kids and none of you break the rules or have parents teach you? What is it with this country? You would not last one minute in Russia always staying within the lines and combing your hair and whatnot." grumbled Sergei. The boys looked puzzled and one of them rain his hands through his hair to make sure it didn't look odd or out of place. "Is easy, just like video game. We stay in first gear if you can't shift. Don't oversteer and just point the wheel where you want to go. I drive land boat, you pick one to drive beetle." Sergei told the teenage boys. The other boys voted Seok-min to drive who accepted the role reluctantly. "Good then. Wait for me to come around you then follow me back to camp." Sergei instructed Seok-min. Four of the boys followed Sergei outside while one went with Seok-min to the beetle out back. They sat down in the beetle and waited but did not start the engine. The outside air was cool and regardless the vehicle did not have an air conditioner, or a radio, or anything worth idling the engine for.

When Sergei approached the Buick he heard the scampering of many feet coming down the cross street to the northeast ahead of them. "Spiders." Sergei mumbled. From the sound of it there were many of them too. "Get out of the car and hide!" Sergei ordered the boys out of the Buick. The teen waiting in the drivers sear shut off the engine and bolted out the door of the vehicle, following Sergei and the other boys back into the tire shop where they hid behind the service desk. The boys were frightened but had different ways of showing it. One froze up and stared off into space, one tensed up and sharpened his senses bracing for a fight, while another formed a wet spot in his pants that trickled down to the floor beneath him. "So are we going to kick some ass now?" asked the fourth boy. Sergei shook his head no. "Sometimes the best way to fight is to avoid a fight" Sergei whispered. "Now everyone stay down, don't move, don't make sound." Sergei quietly but firmly instructed the boys. He hoped that the enemy would pass by and that the two boys in the alleyway behind them would not be discovered. It was too late now for Sergei to go and warn them. A pack of skitters already were moving through the street in front of the tire shop. There were 16 of them in the first group and still more coming. Sergei and the boys remained silent and motionless behind the service desk, clenching their weapons should the need to use them arise. Outside the pitter patter of the skitters many spidery feet was joined by the heavy clanging of something larger. There was at least one mech in this patrol group. "Oh I fucking hate those things." Sergei complained when he heard the mech's footsteps coming closer. A single mech lumbered down through the street followed by a rearguard of skitters. They just had to wait it out a little longer and they would be in the clear. Then they would have to hope they didn't cross paths with this patrol group again on their way back. They were traveling parallel to the alleyway so Seok-min and his friend would not be noticed so long as they stayed put, but who in their right mind would bet against the impetuousness of teenage boys? The mechs footfalls grew closer and louder and then they stopped. They mech had stopped beside the Buick which was parked across the street from the tire shop. It could detect the residual heat signature from the vehicle indicating it had been recently operated. In response the mech raised one of its legs and stomped down on the hood then repeatedly stomped on the roof of the car. It concluded by jumping up onto the Buick and completely collapsing the roof down onto the interior. It stepped off the car, walking down the battered hood, damaging the motor below it in the process. Anti-freeze, oil and gasoline dripped down from the vehicle and pooled on the street below it. They were learning. The damned aliens were getting craftier by the day. Sergei knew that if the mech could detect the heat signature from the Buick it could probably pick up the heat signatures from five people huddled together behind a desk. Some cheap painted plywood would not be enough to stop its heavy armor piercing rounds either. Sergei had the only weapon that could damage the mech but not much of right type of ammo to do the job. This fact was made worse by the arrival of a second mech from around the corner. This mech was holding up the rear of the column but it was one too many. Sergei slowly peeked around the side of the service desk to see the first mech staring them down, as if it had eyes to see to begin with rather than just faint glowing lines etched along a winged egg shaped torso. He also noticed the pool of gasoline that had formed at the mech's feet. As the mech shone an array of targeting lasers in their direction Sergei reached for the flare gun at his waist. He fired a flare into the pool of gasoline and other combustible materials, thus igniting it and overpowering the heat signatures of mere humans. The flames spread and ignited an adjacent car's leaky fuel system as well producing a wall of flame that obscured the mechs infrared sensors. He motioned for the kids to follow him and ran out the back door as the mech fired blindly into the service desk. The mech bullets ripped through the desk as if it were made of paper, sending splinters and dust into the air. Sergei and the boys ran out the back door and closed it behind them before the mech had a chance to recalibrate its instruments.

"Drive! Drive! We'll follow you!" Sergei commanded Seok-min who then started up the engine and drove away down the alley. It didn't matter where they were going right now they only had to escape the aliens. Sergei and the other boys ran after the beetle which had difficulty shifting, and stalled a few times in the lower gears. Seok-min's meager driving skills allowed those on foot to keep up with the car and stay together. Meanwhile four skitters ran into the tire shop and investigated the area where the mech had fired. One of the skitters found the back door and went out into the alley only to be met with a volley of gunfire that struck it about the arms, shoulders and chest, dinging off its armor and wounding it. Sergei managed to fire a couple mortal rounds from his pistol to finish it off after the boys had stunned it. He had loaded his rifle with the anti-mech magazine on the fly and wasn't going to waste it on skitters. The other boys chambered fresh rounds in their rifles, slowing down the pace of their run to do so as the other three skitters burst through the door to pursue them. Two more skitters appeared on the rooftops to their left. Seok-min stopped the car and shot one of the skitters on the roof in the knee joint which caused it to lose balance and fall two stories down, landing on the side of its head and right shoulder, rendering it unconscious at the very least. The other skitter started to crawl down towards them amidst a barrage of bullets, few of which made their mark, though some struck glancing blows. Seok-min reloaded and hit the flanking skitter on the side of the face, critically wounding it as it leapt from the wall towards the rest of the group. Those on foot ran ahead of the beetle leaving the wounded skitter behind. No matter how fast they could run however the skitters behind them were closing in on them as if they were standing still. Seok-min tossed the tear gas canister hoping to slow them down. The gas did not have the same effect on skitters as it did on humans but the smoky fog of the gas itself served to obscure their vision momentarily forcing them to slow down. The boys and Sergei used this as a chance to reload so that the moment the skitters emerged from the fog they were greeted by a fresh volley of bullets heading their way. After firing three or four rounds each in the direction of the skitters they had killed one and wounded the other two to the point which they could not continue pursuit. They were not in the clear yet, before the teenagers had reloaded again the rooftops lined up with skitters and another one came out the back door of a dog meat restaurant ahead of them. They fired until their weapons ran dry and thinned out the ranks of the skitters as they attempted to escape but it was not enough to stop them before several skitters had closed in enough to engage them in melee combat. One of the boys had his neck broken and his head slumped to the side by a single ferocious swipe from a skitter, another was stabbed in the hip at the same time the boy bayoneted the skitter through the throat. Sergei gouged one skitter through the eyes with his knife then rapidly exchanged magazines on his pistol and fired into the unarmored skitters chest cavity at point blank range. The cries of the wounded boy halted the retreat of the others, though they could do no good for him as two skitters descended on him and cut him down. That was the boy who had been so frightened at the start, Sergei thought, now his fears had been proven true. Sergei let out a sigh of disappointment at this and opened fire on the skitters tearing the boy apart. He most disappointed in himself, that he had lied to the child when he told him he would be alright. He had so hoped to have been proven truthful to all the boys when assuring them no harm would befall them. Sergei took down one of the skitters before he had to reload and the other boys critically wounded the other before they had to turn their attention to another pair of skitters coming down of the walls for them. It was too late though, the boy was in pieces on the ground. They resumed their retreat as Sergei delivered a parting headshot to a skitter still in pursuit from the rear. At the next cross street they turned north to elude the next wave of skitters crawling into the alleyway.

Whilst they had eluded the skitters they had crossed the path of one of the mechs. Sergei opened fire on the mech with his rifle, exhausting the anti-mech ammo in the magazine. The mech was stunned and staggered back but remained functional. They bought enough time to zig zag through a few other streets to return to the industrial area but they were still not safe yet. They knew that they could not lead this alien patrol back to their base of operations for even if they destroyed it there with the aid of their allies the aliens would undoubtedly send another attack to annihilate them at their new home. Remembering the location of the repair truck Sergei formulated a plan. "Park around the corner and come help." Sergei told Seok-min as they reached the truck. Here was where they would make their stand. "You get up here and help me roll these cylinders on top of the roof rack." Sergei instructed the strongest looking of the boys. The rest of them topped off their ammunition and prepared to fend off an attack. Sergei and the strong boy closed the supply valves and removed the regulator from the cylinders before unsecuring the tall cylinders from the cutting rig. They leaned the acetylene tank against the roof rack and hefted the oxygen tank on top with the supply valve facing them. They braced it on its sides and pointed it straight ahead down the right side of the street. "Hand me that sledge hammer." Sergei ordered the boy as the others, joined by Seok-min and his companion opened fire on several skitters that had just rounded the corner several blocks away. "Let's hope there's enough pressure left inside for this to work." prayed Sergei as he took hold of the hammer. The boys kept a stream of near continuous fire that held back the swarm of skitters, in spite of most of their hits being minor or non-fatal to the creatures; enough wounds and eventually it will be enough to stop them from coming. The sound of mechanized footfalls caught up with them and soon enough the damaged mech was rounding the corner. Sergei slammed down on the supply valve to the oxygen tank with the sledge hammer just as the mech opened fire on them. Sergei and the strong boy got down in the nick of time to let the mech rounds buzz over their heads. All the while the oxygen tank took off like a rocket towards the mech. Not only did it smash the front face of the mech in when it struck but it lifted the mech off the ground and slammed it through the side of a brick building behind it. One down, one to go, thought Sergei as he and the strong boy now lifted the acetylene tank, which seemed heavier than the oxygen tank, up onto the roof rack of the repair truck. Sergei had to pause before bracing the tank in order to whip out his pistol and slay a skitter that was on the verge of fileting one of his boys. "Right on!" exclaimed the boy he had saved who loaded up the last couple rounds of ammo he had into his gun and took out the legs of another skitter in the distance. Sergei had just finished bracing the acetylene tank when the second mech came into view. Undamaged, this one was the rearguard of the alien column, possibly a sign that they were nearing victory in their fight. Below him one of the boys was riding the back of a skitter trying to choke it out with his gun while the skitter reached for the boy with flailing arms. The other kids were too busy keeping the onrushing swarm at bay to assist their friend. Seok-min took out a skitter near the mech's leg which caused the mech to divert its attention from Sergei towards Seok-min. It lined up its lasers for a sure shot but Sergei would have none of it. "Oh no bitch, you do not touch my boys!" Sergei growled as he slammed down the hammer onto the acetylene tank sending it flying towards the mech. The mech hastily reacted by shooting the acetylene tank. The tank detonated as it was nearing completion of its trajectory. The explosion only served to accelerate the velocity of the fragments of the cylinder that tore into the mech with greater force as the detonation itself blasted apart the weakened body of the mech. The flames also toasted eight skitters, killing all but one, who was immobilized and badly burned. These skitters were the last in their patrol group, leaving only four between the explosion and Sergei's team to deal with. Seok-min easily took down the furthest skitter while two of the other boys used the last of their ammo to cripple another. The skitter with the boy on its back managed to seize the teen and slam him down onto the pavement in front of the skitter. The skitter flicked the boy's gun away from him as the impact had knocked the air from his lungs and left the boy stunned. While it could have easily finished off the teen the skitter hesitated. Perhaps it thought it had a chance to take him prisoner and make him into one of those zombie freaks, or perhaps the aliens had a conscience after all. The skitter's hesitation would prove to be its downfall, for Sergei leapt upon the skitter and knifed it repeatedly in the side of the neck, dulling his blade against the hardened exoskeleton every time he pierced through. Sergei, still mounted upon the skitter pulled out his pistol and emptied it on the last skitter before it could close the last couple yards to get within range of the boys. Sergei jumped down and helped the startled teen get back to his feet. Meanwhile two of the others went ahead and finished off the wounded skitters that were lying around across the length of the street. They could not afford to leave any of these alive lest they report to their superiors later. "Are you alright?" Sergei asked. "I feel like I've been hit by a bus." complained the boy. "Can you walk?" Sergei asked. "Yeah." the boy replied. Sergei helped this boy into the passenger seat of the Volkswagen and then went to assist the others in finishing off the wounded skitters. He then took the driver's seat and proceeded at a walking pace while Seok-min and the others followed on foot on their way back to the fire station. It was more of a fight today than Sergei had planned for, he had expected maybe two or three skitters not an entire platoon. In spite of the losses which he deeply regretted Sergei was proud of the performance of the boys. The troops of tomorrow had indeed proven themselves today.


	48. Chapter 48: Bystander

Chapter XLVIII: Bystander

Oct 10 0004 GMT

Earth Orbit

The alien ship hovered motionless as the Earth slowly turned in front of it. The ship was a small smooth dull tan boomerang shaped science craft with a crew of 3 plus the ship's AI which could be considered by some on his world to fall into a vague definition of life. These beings hailed from a cold dim world on the Galactic Rim on the opposite side of the Core from the earth. Long had they visited this world to observe the native flora and fauna. It was far too warm a world with insufficient concentrations of ammonia and other gases for his species to inhabit. His own world would be considered frigid and toxic to most of the organisms that called the blue planet home. In order to even land on Earth and walk around these visitors had to wear special refrigerated encounter suits to survive that gave the beings the appearance of small metal men. It was a fearsome place full of giant creatures for the gravity on Earth was considerably less than on their homeworld which allowed creatures to grow to a far larger size. Among their people being 4 feet tall was considered a humongous freak of nature. Earth was a scientific curiosity for them, a study in how vastly different environments could produce strains of life that were not as dissimilar as one might assume. Upon the rise of human civilization the Earth became of greater interest to them as they watched from a distance undetectable to the natives as to not interfere in their development. From on high they periodically checked in on the Earth and for millennia they watched, and waited. Many species had rose to dominate this world yet none had taken up the torch the way that humanity had despite manifold greater times of their reign. The promise of humanity had lured these far watchers to observe the blue planet more frequently, making note of their advances and regression. These beings would have regarded humanity of late to be moral monsters had they observed them only at this brief moment in time. However they saw promise in these beings to become greater, within cycles of former times they had been a nobler species, if such could be recovered and combined with their technological advances they would be on the way to being a species worthy of contact with the greater universe. They had seen this promise but knew it must come to pass on its own, they would not intervene. Thus one day they had planned to welcome humanity into the larger galactic community but this day would not come to pass.

Its pilot detected none of the familiar signals that had once continuously beamed out from the lovely blue planet beneath him. He had come to love the multitude of languages of this world weaving together through their transmissions the past four years, which in earth time was a period of roughly 113 years, 7 months, 23 days and 4 minutes. The peoples of the Earth had been singing to them in their lives, their stories, their history, it was all such lovely music to this outside observer. The highs and lows of the symphony played out to the watchers on high, not realizing the depth and breadth of the sufferings and the joys going on upon the blue planet below. To the observer these things were only differences notes in a chorus, the human beings below them were like fireflies, beautiful yet insignificant individually over the grand scope of time. Their lives were but momentary flashes, vapors that soon faded away but the symphony went on. Alas how quick were the jewels of the cosmos often snuffed out, for the universe was a violent place. Worlds shook, stars burst, comets rained, and the wars of the elders raged. What they had anticipated from this world had ended abruptly in fire. His scans revealed that it was not the result of a natural astronomical event that had doomed the human race. It was the terror that had come from beyond the Rim, from a distant galaxy not yet given a name by their explorers and scientists, merely a numerical designation. These Espheni had been carving their way through the Milky Way harvesting up one species after another for reasons yet unknown and humanity it appeared was the next victim. The pilot scanned throughout the star system from the safety of his vessel, cloaked beyond the detection capabilities of the Espheni. There were no large ships left in the system, and less than a hundred light cruisers spread out between Earth, the moon, Mars and Saturn. About forty of these disc shaped craft hovered over major cities on the Earth's surface where the Espheni had established their primary command hubs. A few of them guarded an extensive complex constructed on the dark side of the moon whilst the majority of them protected mining operations in the asteroid belt beyond Mars and helium siphoning rigs in the upper atmosphere of Saturn. The earliest stages of a spaceborne drydock were in construction around the Martian moon of Phobos. There was a steady stream of transport ships going between the surface of the earth and the moon. These would rendezvous with one of the cruisers or the lunar facility and return to earth. How had this infestation seemingly crept up overnight, wondered the alien pilot. Oh if the Progenitors were still with us, they would have never allowed this blight to befall this blue world of promise, lamented the pilot of the alien craft. The species of which the science vessel belonged to were exceedingly advanced in their technology which in many areas exceeded that of the Espheni but they were not warriors. They did not even manufacture weapons or implements of war, and while they could turn tools of a peaceful purpose into mechanisms of destruction it would violate one of the most sacred tenets of their dominant religion, believed to be handed down by god as they understood him; that the taking of life was a divine prerogative alone and never would they interfere in matters of life and death. As such their history had no conflicts, no violence, no strife; even crime was handled by exile. Furthermore this species' biology aided them in compliance with their religious beliefs. They were extremely long lived and reproduced at a proportionally slow rate. There were more humans on the planet now than their species had spread across twenty seven star systems. As such they held a deep reverence for the value of life. So sacred was it to them that they did not believe in killing at any cost. They would entreat the enemy, negotiate, beg, plead, appease them, abandon their homes and flee to distant star systems but they would not fight. Surely if they stood against the Espheni with all their genius they would fall. The pilot felt sad for the inhabitants of Earth but he was just a bystander in their affairs. No more could he interfere than could a butterfly watching a cat dismember a mouse. There were those who could help this world however and they were not unknown to the bystander. He would signal the Volm; this fierce race of warriors had been locked in combat with the Espheni since he was a young boy. They had been trying to confound the Espheni's efforts after their own civilization was attacked. It wasn't an intervention per se but it was not abandoning humanity to a dismal end. In this way the pilot could rationalize his actions. If anyone could help humanity survive this it would be the Volm. The pilot removed his long skeletal hand from the navigation control slot and inserted it into the communications node beginning with his elongated middle finger, then his thicker but slightly shorter thumb, then the two stubby fingers around the middle finger. Once inserted his thoughts began transmitting as a general distress call in all directions.

The hyperluminal distress call triggered the attention of the Espheni, giving away the location of the cloaked vessel. From a hangar on the moon's surface four beamers were dispatched in the direction of the source of the signal. The pilot noticed the approaching craft through the interface connected to his back pores which fed sensor data to his brain. He withdrew his hand from the communications array and slowly inserted it back into the navigational array. It was too late; the beamers had visual confirmation of the craft's location by launching energy spheres that scattered the effects of the cloaking device. The pilot charged the hyperspace actuator as he evaded the first attack by the beamers. As he was making the jump however he was struck amidships by an Espheni energy weapon that obliterated the vessel sending only debris a short distance in hyperspace before it emerged outside the influence of Alpha Centuari as fine shards of alien metal and particulates. At the cost of his own life the signal had been sent, had he just remained a bystander humanity would surely perish.


	49. Chapter 49: Heart to Heart

Chapter XLVIII: Heart to Heart

11 Oct 1939 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Father Yang was conducting a bible study in the hospital's chapel on the ground floor. About thirteen people had joined him and were seated around a large oval table in the back of the chapel between two sets of glass doors. One set led into the hospital corridor, the other set led into the sanctuary where a few small rows of pews were laid out before an altar on a slightly raised stage. There were old bibles and candles placed around the table to provide illumination for reading as the sunlight shining through the small circular stained glass window above the altar was fading.

After the opening prayer concluded, the lights in the room came on and the ventilation starting humming. Room temperature air blew over the parishioners from the ceiling ducts, feeling cool against their skin. The air conditioning and heating systems were still inoperable so all the ventilation fan did was circulate the air through that small section of the hospital. Still it felt refreshing to these people who had been living without the comforts of electricity for days. "Let there be light." Father Yang said softly as the fluorescent lighting overpowered the comparatively dim glow of the candles.

A few minutes later outside the emergency entrance to the hospital Bremer was helping one of the last foraging runs of the day carry in their haul on rickshaws and wheelbarrows. A security detail from the hospital was with him and covered the man-powered convoy in all directions. Other men were posted on the corners of adjacent streets and alleys to keep watch for any incoming threats. The foraging party brought in among other things, sacks of rice, beans and fertilizer, cans of coffee, bottles of water, assorted engine oils and lubricants that they had procured from nearby shops, homes and storehouses. Due to the limited number of functional vehicles the group had to use hand carts for the movement of material at shorter distances. It left them more vulnerable to attack but the compensated with a heavy escort. Fortunately there hadn't been a single alien sighted within 3 kilometers of the hospital since the fire. Not to be overconfident however, they wouldn't be sending these large supply runs out at night. As the last cart was wheeled across the street the guards and Bremer pulled back closer to the hospital.

Lyndsey had just come out of the hospital when Bremer and the security detail were returning. She waited patiently while they were concluding their business. When Bremer stepped back onto the sidewalk after the last cart had gone inside Lyndsey came walking across the grass to meet him. Bremer sensed her approaching and turned to face her. Behind her Bremer could see the glow of electric lighting through several of the hospital windows. He scanned the hospital quickly to see which rooms were lit up and which were still dark. With a pleased look on his face he looked back towards Lyndsey. "As you can see we've got the backup generator working. The civvies changed enough of the blown out bulbs throughout the day so we've got light where we need it. We're still working on the ventilation system and the water pumps. Give us a couple more days and we should have air and running water." Lyndsey reported. "I wouldn't trust that water for drinking after it's been sitting around stagnant in the pipes for a week." Bremer cautioned. "It should be ok so long as nothing has gotten into the system from the outside. If anything at least it will work for cleaning and bathing purposes. I don't know about you but I'm feeling hella gross and could really use a nice hot shower about now." Lyndsey told him. "Sometimes I have to tell myself you are still a girl." Bremer laughed. "So how long can we keep the juice going?" Bremer asked. "We've got enough fuel to power the whole place for 12 hours continuously. If we restrict usage to only the most essential items in just the parts of the hospital we're using we can probably stretch that out to around 24-36 hours. If we only run it at night for a few hours at a time we'll be good to go for about another week before we have to refuel." Lyndsey explained. "Alright. I need to halt work on the ventilation and get to work on refrigeration. We need at least one functioning fridge to keep insulin in for one of Tae-yon's patients." Bremer instructed Lyndsey. "I'll get right on it sir." Lyndsey replied. "Oh and when you're done take a shower, you smell like a dude." Bremer said jokingly to Lyndsey as she walked away. Lyndsey turned and playfully gave Bremer the middle finger as she continued on her way.

In the southern part of the city Vargas and his team were clearing a neighborhood of aliens in the twilight following the sunset. One of their fighters sped through a street between previously cleared apartment buildings leading three mechs and seven skitters in pursuit. Once the aliens went between the two buildings Vargas and the rest of his team opened fire. Vargas' .50 caliber rounds were sufficient to poke holes in the mechs' armor whilst the others gunned down the skitters. The mechs turned their attention towards the buildings and returned fire, forcing the snipers to take cover deeper within the rooms as the mech bullets broke through the walls and floors around them. Using one of the walkie talkies another soldier triggered detonators made from wires and components of the other walkie talkies in the set. The detonators set off explosives hidden inside derelict cars parked on the sides of the street to take out the legs of two of the mechs. The third mech stepped on a mine hidden in a faux manhole cover which detonated and collapsed part of the street into the sewer system. The damaged mech, deprived of one of its legs from the explosion fell into the sewer and landed on the central section, jarring the main body and severing one of the rear wings as it hit the ground. One of the mechs above ground was effectively destroyed while the other legless mech rolled onto its side and continued firing into one of the apartment buildings. Vargas crept back towards the window on the other side of the mech and fired several rounds into the main body of the mech until it stopped moving. Once the threat had been neutralized Vargas signaled for his men to come out of hiding. They had a successful evening hunting but they were losing the last of the daylight and decided it would be best to finish the job tomorrow. Vargas' men withdrew from the street and regrouped with a small group of new survivors they had rescued earlier and headed back to base.

Later on that evening Bremer went to check on Lyndsey's progress with the fridge. She had found the part she needed in a bag brought back from one of the earlier supply runs and had a medium sized fridge turned sideways and partially disassembled in a staff breakroom on one of the upper floors. Lyndsey noticed him come in and set down her tools for a minute to give him a quick report. "This one's an easy job; I should be done in just a few more minutes." Lyndsey told him. "Good work sergeant." Bremer answered. He then leaned up against a vending machine and watched Lyndsey go back to work. "So what's been going on with you and Prince won-ton lately?" Bremer asked out of the blue. "Nothing, why do you ask?" Lyndsey replied. "You don't have to keep stuff from me Lyndsey; I'm not exactly a beacon of purity myself." Bremer told her, trying to coax some details out of her. He knew something had been going on between them from at least the time when they had arrived at the hospital. He didn't care one way or another if there was any impropriety going on between them so long as they performed their duties admirably, nor was he in any position to judge. His own views on marriage or any steady relationship were closer to that of an insurance policy, so the things that Sobieski felt were wrong between her and Han were completely normal in Bremer's eyes. Sometimes he just got a thrill by comparing other men's sexual conquests with his own. Today however this wasn't the case, he was more concerned with how Major Han was acting earlier, his urgency on going on a specific mission for reasons unspecified. Again Bremer trusted his judgement but worried that something was building that could spiral out of control in the future. He needed all his men, especially the senior staff to be of sound mind and judgement at all times. "I'm serious, nothing's going on." Lyndsey told him as she pulled apart the refrigerator to get to the part that had blown out. "If you say so." Bremer replied with a flair of sarcasm. "Why you gotta be such an ass David." Lyndsey chided him. "Easy there, the Major was acting a little off earlier, seemed a bit ruffled up by something. He was quite insistent on leading the supply run to pick up your gear. Didn't bother to ask him why and he didn't say." Bremer said. "Did you let him go?" Lyndsey asked, now starting to sound concerned. "Yeah I did. Not like I could stop him anyways; technically he still outranks me." Bremer answered. "With all due respect that really wasn't a wise decision sending a staff officer into enemy controlled territory on a routine supply run." Lyndsey commented. "Is that a hint of fear I detect? Is someone worried about a certain someone else? So you do care." Bremer teased her. "Shut up Bremer, I mean shut up Bremer, sir." Lyndsey quipped back. "Its nothing." she insisted. "Are you sure?" Bremer goaded. "Major please, I don't want to talk about this." Lyndsey replied, sounding quite irritated now. "Alright fine." Bremer responded. "Speaking of Han, he should have been back a while ago." mentioned Bremer. "Probably ran into some bugs and had to take an alternate route around them. He's from Gangnam District so he knows his way around there." Lyndsey replied sounding more sure in her voice than she was in truth. Deep down she was very concerned that something might have happened to Han, and after the way their last meeting had gone she didn't want that to be the last impression he had of her. "Well the way around might have changed a little since the aliens rearranged the surface of the Earth. Suppose you're right though, I'll give him another 90 minutes before I send a search party out after him." Bremer commented. "Let me know when you're finished with that thing." Bremer told Lyndsey. "Will do sir." she replied as Bremer left the room.

Bremer was looking over the reports brought back by the scouts and foraging parties when a commotion outside caught his attention. He grabbed his weapon and ran outside with a small security detail accompanying him. Outside several men were frantically talking amongst each other and looking towards the road heading north. Bremer stopped on the hospital lawn and looked in the direction the cause of the commotion was coming from. To the north a dark red pickup truck was coming in fast and flashing its lights at them, signaling distress. His men had their weapons ready, expecting an alien attack to follow the truck. That looks like the truck Major Han went out in, thought Bremer as it rapidly came towards him. "Get me snipers on the roof! ...and go get Tae-yon, we might have wounded incoming." Bremer ordered sending one of his security detail away. The pickup truck screeched as it laid on the brakes in a rapid stop in front of the hospital lawn. The tailgate of the truck was dropped as Bremer sprinted over and stood at the rear of the truck while two soldiers propped up the pale unconscious body of Major Han. "Damn it, don't tell me that, don't tell me that. Damn it Han why did you have to go and get yourself killed you asshole!" Bremer griped in disbelief. He was really not in the mood to lose his co-commander, as if there was a mood where he would have been seeing as he wasn't the conspiratorial power hungry type. Who wanted to be the leader of an alien resistance movement with a near certain chance of total annihilation anyways? Worse still she would have to explain this to Lyndsey right after she had just seemed perturbed by the notion that he had allowed Han to go in the first place. Of course she would blame him, that wasn't even a question. Though she may vehemently deny it, Bremer could see there was something going on there. She had feelings for Han, as much as a stone cold bitch like her could have and Bremer knew it. "Is anything following you?" Bremer inquired of the driver as he got out of the truck and walked around to him. "No, just Ryong-ho and his team about three clicks back." the driver told Bremer while shaking his head. Tae-yon and Yu-ri came running out of the hospital along with two men carrying a stretcher. "I've slowed down the bleeding as best I could but he's fragile." warned one of the men in the bed. The two men in the bed, Tae-yon and Bremer helped to carefully move Han's body onto the stretcher. He felt like a limp sack of potatoes, a very heavy sack of potatoes at that. "He's still got a pulse, but it's very weak." Tae-yon informed Bremer after taking his pulse. His heartbeat was barely discernable, his breathing, virtually non-existent. Han's skin was pale white like a corpse and was cold to the touch; the last ounces of life were slowly slipping away from him. "He's going to need blood stat or he won't last long." Tae-yon informed Bremer. Even then she was unsure she could save him being so close to death's door; and even if she could, the Major could have irreparable brain damage or memory loss. "Blood type's AB negative." stated one of the soldiers from the truck as the four men rushed Han across the lawn to the emergency room door. Without refrigeration to store the blood it meant Han would have to receive a fresh transfusion. "Anyone with rH factor negative blood will work; it doesn't have to be type AB." Tae-yon informed the others. "Can't we just ignore that shit this time considering how much he's already lost? I've got A positive will that work?" Bremer asked, hoping to be a stop gap measure to save his friend. "Sorry sir, rH positive can receive rH negative blood but it doesn't work the other way around. In his present state any adverse reaction could kill him, so I can't sanction that without further testing." Tae-yon explained. Other fighters held open the ER doors as Han was rushed inside and taken to the trauma center. Meanwhile Bremer turned to the crowd. "Do any of you have a negative blood type? A negative, B negative, AB negative, type O negative, any of you?" Bremer shouted. The soldiers shook their heads no; some double checked their dog tags to make sure. "I don't know." replied one of the civilians. They didn't have time to check the blood type of all the civilians that didn't happen to know theirs, they needed blood now. "Damn it!" Bremer cursed looking at the ground. "Think, think, I know you know someone with the right blood type." Bremer whispered to himself, going through a list of names in his head. Each one of them he recalled happened to be dead, or elsewhere, most of them being casualties from Iraq. "He's dead, he's in Miami, he's retired, ummm Vargas, no he's A positive same as me." Bremer mumbled. "Oh shit, wait! I think Lyndsey might be B negative! Umm, unless I'm thinking of some other army chick." Bremer exclaimed. "Go get Sergeant Sobieski from upstairs, double time soldier!" Bremer commanded the nearest soldier to him. "Yes sir, right away sir." the soldier replied as he took off into a sprint towards the stairs.

Just then Ryong-ho's vehicle arrived and his team poured out of it in a classic clown car fashion. Ryong-ho himself was carrying a woman clad in dirty, blood stained discount department store clothes who was just barely coming to her senses. Her arms were bound by a power cord tied tightly around her wrists. Ryong-ho had clocked her good, only adding to the effects of the head trauma from the recent ambulance crash. "Who's that?" asked Bremer. "This is the bitch that shot the Major." Ryong-ho explained. "Well fuck, I thought it was one of those egg-walkers." Bremer commented. "Go lock her up somewhere and make sure Lyndsey doesn't see her. I'll deal with this later." Bremer told Ryong-ho. Ryong-ho then carried off Jin-shil around towards the front entrance of the hospital to avoid running into Lyndsey on her way down.

Bremer met up with Lyndsey in the ER waiting room as she came running down. "Lyndsey, what blood type are you?" Bremer asked her from across the room. "What? A negative. What's going on? I heard you needed me, has Major Han returned yet? Lyndsey asked in response. A negative, I was just off on the letter, works just the same though, thought Bremer. "That's kind of why I need you. Quickly, follow me." Bremer ordered Lyndsey and they both hurried into the trauma center. Inside the trauma center Tae-yon, Yu-ri and two civilians and a soldier were standing around Major Han's body which was laid out on an operating table. Behind them laid out on beds and propped up in chairs were about a half dozen other wounded fighters with non-life threatening injuries. "I see exit wounds so that's good. The bullets seem to have missed the heart and lungs. We won't have to do any invasive procedures but I'll need to clean and stich up these wounds. Oh wait, dammit! The internal thoracic and axillary arteries are severed so I'm going to have clamp them and do a bypass." Tae-yon told Yuri and the men who volunteered to help her. "One of you bring me some oxygen and a clean mask stat. One of you go up to anesthesia and bring me some ketamine. Another one of you can bring me surgical drapes, gauze, stiches, and preparatory solutions. Yu-ri, fetch me the surgical kit from operating room 2 after you've finished setting up for a transfusion." Tae-yon commanded those around her. "Can't risk operating on him until we have some blood though." she said. "Don't worry about that, doctor, we've got your blood right here!" Bremer shouted as he and Lyndsey came into the room. Lyndsey rushed over to Han's side. "Is he alive?" she asked frantically. "Just barely, are you the donor?" replied Tae-yon. "Yes ma'am." Lyndsey answered and pulled up a chair next to Tae-yon. "Major, he's going to need more than one donor to get through this. I need you to go through all the other soldiers here and find as many potential donors as possible." Tae-yon turned and said to Bremer. "If we need more we can start blood typing the civilians that are unsure if the Major is still with us, but please start with the soldiers." Tae-yon continued. "Will do. Be back as soon as possible." Bremer replied then raced out the door. Tae-yon started getting Lyndsey set up to give blood. "If he needs that much just hook me straight up to him." Lyndsey told her after looking over and seeing how pale Major Han looked. "What?" asked Tae-yon. "Take those tubes and connect my veins to his, let my heart pump the blood for both of us, like Siamese twins." Lyndsey elaborated her wishes. "I don't know if I can do that, but I'll try." Tae-yon replied as she figured out a way to conjoin Lyndsey's circulatory system most effectively with the Major's. "You are aware that if we hook you together the way you are describing your blood pressure could drop dramatically and you both could die?" Tae-yon asked Lyndsey. They would essentially be a two person unit with the blood of 1.4 people and falling slowly. One of the soldiers returned with an oxygen tank and mask and placed it onto Major Han at Tae-yon's direction while she prepared to join him and Lyndsey together. "Bring me another one please." Tae-yon told the man. "We're going to oxygenate the heck out of both of your blood; since there will be less of it we have to get the most out of what we have." Tae-yon explained. Yu-ri returned with the items Tae-yon had requested and began setting them up. "Yu-ri if you could bring me some larger diameter tubing, I'm going to need a greater volumetric flow rate of blood between the patients than standard transfusion tubing will allow. After you get that I will need dopamine, epinephrine and please check if the defibrillator works." Tae-yon told her. "If it doesn't then have someone bring us a car battery and some cables. Should work in principle." Lyndsey suggested. "I'd rather not go that route if we don't have to." Tae-yon commented as she connected the needles to Lyndsey and Major Han. Han had lost so much blood that not one drop was spilt when the needle first pierced his vein. Yu-ri quickly went to get the tubing while the other man who brought the surgical supplies volunteered to get the defibrillator. For the mean time the standard sized tubing was used to connect Lyndsey and Han to no discernible effect. Lyndsey nervously watched the still, cold body of Major Han as she anxiously awaited Yu-ri's return. It was difficult to even make out the slight rising and falling of his chest as his lungs were being pumped full of pressurized oxygen. Lyndsey hoped that this would work, that she was strong enough to share enough of her blood with Major Han to prevent death's hands from snatching him away from her.

Yu-ri returned moments later with the larger tubing and assisted Tae-yon with setting it up. "How are you feeling?" Tae-yon asked Sobieski before she restored the blood flow between them. "I'm fine." Lyndsey replied. She felt a little tired but that could be due to the stress and work load of the day. "Yu-ri could you set her up with an IV of fluids please?" Tae-yon instructed Yu-ri before she restored the blood flow between them. Tae-yon had managed to minimize the bleeding from Major Han's wounds but was unable to fully stop the blood loss until she had gone in and sealed the two major arteries from the inside. Doing so would in the short term could cause rapid blood loss that would invariably be fatal until the Major's blood volume and pressure was restored. The man sent to anesthesia returned with the ketamine. "Set that down on the table over there. We may not need anesthesia if he remains in a comatose state, but it never hurts to have it just in case." Tae-yon directed the man. She ran the risk of losing Han either way if we woke up during surgery and went into a deeper state of shock or if she put him under anesthesia and he and Lyndsey's collective blood pressure fell too low. Yu-ri set up Lyndsey's IV and then went to get the other medications Tae-yon had requested. "You still doing alright?" Tae-yon asked. "Feeling a little woozy but still good." Lyndsey replied. As Lyndsey waited the feelings of disorientation and dysphoria increased. The feeling was similar to that of being drunk or when you wake up in the middle of the night not sure of if you are still in a dream. Her body felt heavy and her mind slowed. The second man returned with a car battery and some jumper cables as apparently the defibrillator was burnt out by the EMP. Yu-ri came back with the drugs several minutes after that. Now they waited, hoping that Bremer could find some suitable blood donors soon. Han's condition had stopped deteriorating but still showed little signs of improving. He was alive in a vegetative state and at this point entirely dependent on Lyndsey to stay alive. The major's own weakened, failing heartbeat hardly gave an added push to the blood swirling through his body. Lyndsey's heart was doing the work for both of them. His lungs were aided by the injection of oxygen but still were slow and irregular in their breathing. Lyndsey offering herself up the way she did had bought them precious time but if a more permanent solution could not be reached soon Tae-yon would lose both of her patients and the Fourth Korea would lose two valuable members of their organization. As they ventured deeper into the night Lyndsey began to doze off as she looked over at Major Han. She would have some questions for him when and if he woke up. Why he had left, what he had discovered, she knew that he had done what he did for her. She had thought the things she had refused to accept earlier, that she did love this man. Such was a foreign concept for her, albeit she was in a foreign land. Familiar with lust but never with love it was a shame that she first experienced it teetering on the brink between this life and the next. She regretted the fight they had earlier, though it was necessary for her to truly open her eyes and see what so plainly had been in front of her. Now with her mind dulled by the decrease in blood flow to her brain all the rationale of why she was wrong for having feelings for the man lying on the table beside her seemed to subside. She was afraid to let him get close, afraid to let him wound her. She was not willing to open her heart to heartbreak but her heart had already given itself to him regardless of the objections of her mind. Literally now her heart was given to him, and live or die it was his. She loved him, she truly loved him. Come what may, she would still love him.


	50. Chapter 50: Survive the Night - Part 1

Chapter L: Survive the Night

11 Oct 2201 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Ji-hwan, Jae-sung and So-hyun stood watch on top of an apartment building in the vicinity of the secondary command center. The three of them along with a small detachment had been tasked with securing the northern frontier of the 4th Korea's operation. They had to part company with Shi-woo however, who remained at the hospital due to his blindness. Their team felt like it was simply not complete without him. The day had been relatively quiet where they were but the sounds of battle echoed all around them. Clashes with scouts and foraging parties, other potential allies fighting the aliens in the abandoned parts of Seoul were the assumptions of the garrison here. They stood on guard in case the fighting came closer but were greatly relieved that they had somewhat of a breather today. Periodically Ji-hwan would scan the area with binoculars, sometimes managing to get the night vision ones to work while Jae-sung and So-hyun kept an eye on the area leading to and around their camp. "With all the gunfire in the background today it kind of feels weird now that it's quiet." remarked Ji-hwan as he walked over and sat down in a lawn chair next to Jae-sung. "I know. I had gotten used to it, probably could sleep through it even. I'm a little scared now that it's stopped." Jae-sung commented. "Even aliens need their sleep I hope." yawned So-hyun. "I would say that but the fuckers seem to be more nocturnal than anything." mentioned Ji-hwan. "Never saw a napping bug though so what do we know." he continued. "Just trying to be optimistic boss." So-hyun chuckled. The other two laughed softly. Ji-hwan opened up a cooler and took out a warm bottle of beer. It was a force of habit keeping the beer in the cooler; it wasn't as if the cooler did anything since they had no ice to keep the beer cold. "You sure you want to be drinking on watch?" asked Jae-sung. "Relax, just a little something to take the edge off." Ji-hwan told him. "What are they going to do, court martial me?" laughed Ji-hwan. He swigged down a third of the beer and gasped holding a sour expression on his face for almost a minute. "Nasty, nasty. Rat nasty beer served lukewarm, that's the best we can do these days. Post-apocalyptic living sucks ass." Ji-hwan commented. All three of them laughed at the statement. "Sucks Shi-woo can't be here to enjoy it with us." mentioned So-hyun. "Yeah but what could he do up here without his eyesight. He's safer down there." remarked Ji-hwan. "I hear they've got him helping out with the little kids while he learns to adapt. Shi-woo, as a day care worker, I can't imagine that." remarked So-hyun. "If only they could've saved his eyes." she lamented. "We could always hope for a miracle." commented Jae-sung. "Indeed, maybe he could just get really good with his other senses to the point where he could come out here and keep us company. You know, be something like a real life Daredevil." mentioned Ji-hwan. "Seriously boss, come on." said So-hyun. Jae-sung took out a beer from the cooler for himself and popped the top. "To our buddy Shi-woo, here's hoping on a miracle." said Jae-sung raising the bottle in a toast. "To miracles." affirmed Ji-hwan before he clinked his beer to Jae-sung's. They then chugged them down completely and set the bottles down beside them before they returned to their surveillance.

The still of the night did not last long however. The sky halfway to the northwest horizon lit up with heavy weapons fire. Explosions stripped away the dark veil of night. The sounds of mechs unleashing their arsenal was returned by the roaring boom of what seemed like 105mm howitzers. The flashes of light and fire and constant bursts of gunfire, kept at a safe distance from the 4th Korea's outpost were like fireworks to the observers. "Looks like we're not the only ones taking the fight to the spacemen." observed Jae-sung. "That's good news isn't it?" So-hyun asked. "Looks like these guys have some serious hardware on their side too." said So-hyun after observing a beamer strafing an unseen position towards the horizon shot down by a storm of rocket fire from below. "Sure would like to have some of those Howitzers over here." commented Ji-hwan. A bright flash dwarfed the ground level explosions as a second beamer dive bombed the area; it wasn't a nuclear level strike but enough to take out two or three city blocks. Surprisingly still the beamer was fired upon after the strike was made. Whoever the aliens were engaging to the north were resilient, numerous and well-armed. The beamer swung around further to the north and bombed the area again, taking light weapons fire as it flew low to the ground to make the precision strike. The damaged beamer sped off into the west and climbed, leaving whatever remained behind for the next group of skitters to clean up. "Isn't that how it always goes? You look like you're getting some fight in you and all the sudden something comes and swoops up your backside." remarked Jae-sung with a sigh. "I say tomorrow we head up there and see if any of those howitzers are still intact." Ji-hwan suggested. "One bug's trash is another man's treasure." he continued. "We'll run it by the brass first, not that I care what they think but in case we end up getting royally fucked up there and need someone to come bail out our sorry asses." So-hyun added. The three of them went on with their watch without further incident until they were relieved in the early morning hours.

11 Oct 2203 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Bremer was escorting two Korean soldiers with compatible blood types to Sobieski and Han across the field in front of the hospital from their duty station in the remains of a small building across the street when Vargas and his team returned. The lead vehicle stopped and Vargas got out of the passenger seat when he saw Bremer. After he closed the door and stepped away he waved on the vehicle and the rest of his group to continue on towards the parking garage. As the vehicles drove away Vargas briskly walked up to Bremer to report in. "Chico, good to see you finally could make it." Bremer greeted him as he caught up to Bremer and the two men. "Same here. Been a long day sir." Vargas replied. "How did the operation in the south go?" asked Bremer. "We got a lot of them but not all; I'd estimate enemy forces in Seongnam are down to 30 percent of what they were this morning. In another day or two we could have this city bug free." reported Vargas. "Was hoping it was already bug free but we'll take what we can get." commented Bremer. "We might have underestimated their presence sir. It's no big deal, wouldn't want to hit them too hard anyways, lest they start taking us seriously." Vargas replied in his defense. "So what are you up to sir?" asked Vargas. Me, I'm just getting these blood bags over to Tae-yon." answered Bremer. "For whom? Who needs blood?" inquired Vargas. "Major Han and Lyndsey, he had a nasty run in with some crazy bitch on a supply run today, almost bled dry on his way down here. Lyndsey's hooked up to him right now keeping him in the vegetable garden on the outskirts of Reaperville." Bremer replied. "Holy shit, that's terrible, anything I can do?" asked Vargas brimming with concern. "Not with your blood type my boy, but if you could ask around your unit and see if anyone's rH negative. If so send them down to the trauma center. Anything would be greatly appreciated; my gut feeling tells me we're going to need a vampire's buffet before this is over." Bremer told him. "I'll check with the riders right away, and then I'll wait out here til the infantry gets back and check with them." Vargas replied then hastily parted company with Bremer.

Bremer hurriedly made his way into the hospital with the two soldiers. "Fresh meat coming through!" Bremer called out to clear a path through the lobby and the waiting room to get to the trauma center with the volunteers. After they barged into the trauma center they found Tae-yon already beginning to do what she could to stop Major Han's blood loss. "I've found you two new victims, I mean donors." Bremer said before the doors had even shut behind him. "Thank you." Tae-yon replied then turned to Yu-ri and one of her volunteers. "Set up a saline IV for them and get them ready to take blood." Tae-yon instructed them. "If you would each have a seat over here." Yu-ri directed the two donors to where they would have their blood drawn. Yu-ri helped show the male volunteer with her how to set up an IV and draw blood after the two men had sat down. "They're both A negative so they're good to use on both Lyndsey and the Major." Bremer told Tae-yon. "Good." Tae-yon replied. "Yu-ri draw at least a pint from each of them, two if they can handle it." Tae-yon instructed Yu-ri. "We're going to need more blood, not everyone's psychotic enough to share all their blood with a complete stranger." Tae-yon told Bremer. "I think Lyndsey and the Major were a little more than strangers. Point taken though, I've got Chico checking with the men in his unit and I've still got a couple more floors of soldiers to check in with before I have to start going to the civvies." Bremer replied. "Start with the wounded soldier upstairs and the Turk first; East Asian populations have a lower occurrence of the rH negative phenotype than any other group so those two will be your best bet." Tae-yon advised Bremer. "I'm not sure the one armed bandit's gonna have much blood to spare but I'll check." Bremer told her. "So how are they doing?" inquired Bremer as Tae-yon waited anxiously for the first pints of blood to be ready so she could continue operating on Han. "I've got them both supplied with additional fluids to restore some of the blood volume but I'd imagine their red cell count is very low." reported Tae-yon as she checked the vital signs of her patients while she waited. "It's hard to tell anything without any of the machines working. I'm so used to being able to see vitals right then and there in real time. It's like half my training just went out the window." complained Tae-yon. "In that case it's a good thing you hadn't finished all of that training. Has to be easier to teach a new dog new tricks than an old one, or so the adage goes." Bremer commented. A youthful, dirty faced, Korean soldier entered into the trauma center and stood at the ready. "Corporal Kim Jun-seo reporting for blood donation." reported the soldier. "At ease. What's your blood type kid?" replied Bremer. "O negative sir." Corporal Kim answered. "Ouch, better bank some blood for yourself too while you're here." remarked the male volunteer assisting Yu-ri. "Excellent. If you would see the young lady over there she'll take care of you. I thank you for your generosity soldier." Bremer told the soldier. "I'm heading up to see Prince Aziz and sweep through the rest of the troops. Best of luck to you doctor." Bremer said to Tae-yon on his way out.

Bremer located Hamza wandering around an empty hallway on the first floor of the hospital on the opposite side of the building as the ER entrance. "There you are my Turkish friend; I've been looking for you all over." Bremer called out to him. Hamza stopped, turned around and waited for Bremer to catch up to him. "What is it that you require of me?" asked Hamza. "I've got a man dying in desperate need of a blood transfusion. So I need to know what your blood type is?" answered Bremer. "Does it matter? I will not give of my blood for them, such would contravene the will of Allah, and therefore I cannot give of myself to aid in the healing of the unrighteous heathen." Hamza refused. It was a lie, as it was permissible in Islam as he understood it for a Muslim to donate blood to save the life of a non-Muslim in these types of circumstances. Hamza himself did not wish to do so. To him these soldiers were still the enemies of Islam, the oppressors of his brothers and sisters. Enemies that once the enemy from beyond the heavens had been vanquished would soon again resume their blasphemous crusade against the lands and faith of his people. He could not in good conscience aid in saving their lives. However he could not say his true feelings here for he was under the protection of a false identity so he simply said that it was against his faith and hoped he would not be called out on it. Bremer took the sharp response as perhaps he had come on too strong and disregarded Hamza's sensitivities. While he knew little of the finer points of Islam Bremer knew better not to argue this any further, he had spent enough time in the Middle East to know that when the "A" word comes out it was best for himself as a "dirty infidel" to stay out of the conversation. Sometimes it could get a little touchy. "Sorry I didn't know. Carry on then." Bremer told Hamza, leaving the conversation at that.

After Bremer had left to survey the rest of the soldiers concerning their blood types, Hamza took a stroll outside along the hospital grounds. He walked by the groundskeeper's shed where Young-gi was attempting to make fertilizer bombs to use against the alien mechs. He's doing it wrong, thought Hamza. His proportions are off, those bombs will burn but they will not detonate. They will do nothing against the mechs, and the folly will be on the hands of this oaf. Hamza did not say anything however lest it raise any suspicions among the soldiers concerning his past. Tonight he had twice been tempted to leave the safety of his false face and twice he had resisted.

Bremer returned outside later on that night after completing his rounds inside the hospital and found Vargas with the rest of his unit having just arrived back on foot from their mission in the south of town. "Any luck?" asked Bremer. "Found another guy in the garage and two more so far among the ground troops. You?" Vargas replied. "I got jack shit. I've got a few guys getting with the civvies to test blood types. Tae-yon's going to try to train up one of them on how to do it. She's operating slow and careful as fuck right now to try to keep the blood where in where it's supposed to be." Bremer replied. "Damn. We're trying though. The rest is in God's hands." Vargas said. "I'd prefer to put my faith in something real." Bremer sighed. "Again everyone, if you have blood type AB negative, A negative, B negative or O negative please come and see me or Sergeant Jun before you go in." Vargas turned and announced to the crowd of soldiers behind him. Sergeant Jun repeated his instructions in Korean to ensure all the men got the message. A soldier reported to Jun indicating that they at least had one potential out of the group. Before any new soldiers could step forward the purring of a motorcycle engine overpowered the dull roar of their conversations amongst each other. The outer patrol from the southwest returned on a single motorcycle missing two of its members and three bikes and pulled up on the sidewalk next to Bremer and Vargas. At the same time Ryong-ho and a handful of members of his unit were also coming out to report to Bremer on other matters. "Lieutenant Bu, what's on your mind?" asked Bremer when he saw them approaching him with a clear look of intent. "I was going to tell you we have the prisoner secured in room 24 in the psych ward but that can wait, looks like you've got more pressing concerns at the moment." Ryong-ho answered as a man and woman dismounted from the single surviving motorcycle. "What happened to the rest of your unit?" Vargas asked the scouts before Bremer refocused his attention back to them. Meanwhile Sergeant Jun was handling the sorting out of the soldiers' blood types. "We ran into a world of shit. Wang and Lee were taken out by a missile from one of those walkers, the other one guy was snagged by the bugs before we managed to get away." replied the man. "Sir, there's an enemy force approaching the city from the southeast on a major sweep, about 100-150 bugs and 20-25 walkers from my count. We just hit the vanguard of it, this thing's going to be brutal." the female scout addressed Bremer. "That's a lot of fucking mecha to put down. Oh, I wish I had some tanks right about now." Bremer complained. "We might have been a little too effective today Chico, seems we've garnered a little attention from our new imperial masters." Bremer said turning to Vargas. "..and you said it wasn't enough." Vargas commented. "Tactical blunder on my part I'll admit. We should have just laid low for a couple of days. I got too overzealous with hitting these guys back while we had the momentum I lost sight of what could happen in the short term." Bremer confessed. "What do we do now? With this place all lit up they're smoke us out for sure and if we cut the lights or bug out right now then we're going to lose Han and Sobieski for sure." Vargas asked. "I don't know yet, this might be our time to stand and fight." Bremer replied, only now beginning to conjure up some semblance of a battle strategy in his head. "Sir if I may speak freely." Ryong-ho inquired. "Go ahead Lieutenant." Bremer answered. Sir, you've got to start thinking about the unit as a whole. I know Sobieski and the Major are our friends but we can't sacrifice the entire Fourth to save them. If it comes down to choosing your friends or the lives of everyone here I hope you make the right choice sir." Ryong-ho advised him. "I know, and I will. If I can though I would like to avoid that choice altogether." Bremer replied. "This isn't just about my top guys though, it's about keeping this place, for all of us. Having a fully stocked hospital at our disposal is a great resource for the entire army and the civilians under our protection. I don't want to give that up just yet." Bremer explained to Ryong-ho then turned back to the scouts. "How far out is the enemy force?" Bremer asked the scouts. "8 or 9 miles outside the city limits, they're expected to sweep up first from the south before coming here. At their present rate they'll be here in two, maybe three hours if we're lucky; the bugs aren't trying to exhaust themselves." the scout reported. "Good, that gives us time. We have to divert them away from the hospital, get them to think we're dug in someplace else." Bremer suggested, thinking on the fly. "Chico?" he said looking back at Vargas. "I'm down." replied an exhausted yet enthusiastic Vargas. "I know just the place but I'm going to need about half of the hospital garrison to make this work." Vargas told Bremer as he thought up a strategy on the fly. "Done. Take as many men as you need. Oh, but be sure to leave the ones with negative blood types behind though." Bremer replied. "Take all the smaller vehicles too; the motorcycles, the pickup trucks, the cars. Anything quick and maneuverable that you can mount a gun on." Bremer instructed Vargas. "Don't you think the enemy's recon drones will notice that many vehicles moving altogether at once, oh wait a minute. . ." Vargas started to question the order but caught himself as he realized what Bremer was doing. "I'm sure they will, in fact I'm counting on it. It would be naive to not assume the bugs haven't been keeping tabs on us. The flyovers can't just be for show. These fuckers know we are here, just up until now they haven't had a reason to move against us. So what we've got to do now is show them a large enough movement of our armaments to a new location as to convince them that we've relocated." Bremer explained. "I got it sir. We'll play it as true to life as possible." Vargas told him. "Excellent Chico. We'll black out the windows around the trauma center and cut the rest of the lights here. I'll then pull everyone that stays behind inside building to make it look like we've bailed. Let's just hope the bugs buy it." Bremer said. "Indeed." Vargas said. "Oh and Chico, If you can't stop them send up two flares at once; we'll be watching closely here. In the event you are overrun we'll go completely dark and try to hold down the fort as best we can. We'll fight to try to give Tae-yon til morning to do her thing, if not we're going to have to accept what happens to our friends and move on. Assemble your men and head out as soon as you can. I'll see to things here." Bremer instructed Vargas. "Good luck and God be with you. Vargas said before parting ways with Bremer. "Good luck Chico." Bremer replied.

In the trauma center Tae-yon set down her surgical instruments went over to the sink and removed her gloves. She took out a bottle of pills from the pocket of her jacket hanging on a chair next to the sink and took two of them, washing them down with a small clear plastic glass of water. She noticed Yu-ri looking at her from beside one of the new donors that had just been set up to draw blood. "What?" Tae-yon snapped. "It's almost midnight, my nerves are shot and my eyelids weigh as much as a dump truck. I just need something to keep me focused alright?!" Tae-yon said in a defensive manner. "I didn't say anything." Yu-ri meekly responded and went back to drawing blood. One of the volunteers poured water over Tae-yon's hands to clean them before she put fresh gloves on and returned to Major Han's surgery, now well underway. Bremer then walked in with a small crew of civilians. "Damn girl that operation looks more delicate than the game "Operation." Bremer remarked at Yu-ri as he observed Tae-yon working. "Quiet sir, you might make her touch the sides." Yu-ri giggled. A little light hearted humor was just what was needed to break the tense atmosphere inside the trauma center. Unfortunately Bremer brought more stress than he did laughs to the situation. "Do you think you can move them if you have to?" asked Bremer. Tae-yon stopped and set down her surgical instruments and stood up facing Bremer. "Honestly no, I don't think they would make it. I'm trying my best to contain the blood loss as it is, moving them could undo all the progress I've made." Tae-yon replied, her voice full of frustration. "We've got a few more donors coming in." Bremer told her. "It wouldn't matter. He needs so much and I keep letting too much of it slip out." Tae-yon replied, agitated with both herself and Bremer, herself more so. "It's already a long shot as it is sir." Tae-yon added. "Ok. We are just going to have to do a little work in here and outside. We'll try not to bother you." Bremer said. His crew brought in a few battery powered lamps and thick blankets to cover the windows. Outside he had people spray painting the glass black. "What's all that for?" asked Tae-yon before resuming her work on Han. "Basic security precautions." Bremer replied trying to sound as if it was a mundane evolution. He could sense the level of pressure Tae-yon was under and hoped not to make it worse. The lives of two of his friends relied on her skill tonight; skill he hoped contained enough natural talent to make up for the harsh work environment and a lack of experience. Tae-yon could tell something was up she just had too much in front of her to deal with to concern herself with other aspects of base operations. With Sobieski serving as a life support system for Han's weakened heart and lungs she could only use the blood that was compatible for both of them while having to hold that which would be for Han alone in reserve for when she was done. As she made the delicate stitches and grafted in new blood vessels between the torn arteries they continued to drip and trickle out their precious life-giving contents. If he survived this more than likely his entire blood supply would be brand new by the time it was over, Tae-yon thought.

Elsewhere Vargas had sent for all the available soldiers in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions to assemble in the parking garage within 15 minutes. He himself had just finished suiting up, restocking his ammo and making all necessary preparations. He walked helmet in hand with his trusty .50 caliber anti-materiel rifle strapped to his back down a silent empty hallway leading from the hospital to the upper levels of the parking garage. His mind raced, calculating every potentiality of what was to come and making alternative plans within plans ahead of time so that the moment the first shot rang out his actions would be predetermined and fire off like instinct for at that time there would be no time to think; it would all be down to training and muscle memory. In the still silence between battle plans Vargas gave himself over to a moment of clarity. He stopped in his tracks, went through the finishing touches to his designs and closed his eyes. Vargas knelt down in the empty hallway and set down his helmet beside him. He made the sign of the cross over his chest, silently praying to return victorious and alive. He prayed for God to guide his actions and the actions of his men, and if it was His will to turn back the aliens and see that Lyndsey and Major Han survived the night. Vargas opened his eyes, staring with piercing black eyes at the steel door ahead of him. Behind that door was a trial by fire similar to yet unlike any that Vargas had faced before. He took out the picture of him with his children, looked down at it, burned it into his mind and put it away. He repeated the sign of the cross and then stood up firm and resolute as he started towards the door, making his first steps in the first battle he would lead against the aliens. Vargas then put on his helmet and went through the door ahead of him to join his men as they assembled in the parking garage. By the grace of God, his valor, and that of his men he would see to it that they would survive the night.


	51. Chapter 51: Survive the Night - Part 2

Chapter LI: Survive the Night - Part Two

11 Oct 2358 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Out of the parking garage and out from the adjacent streets a dozen or more motorcycles started up and proceeded onto the southbound street in front of the hospital followed by several cars and trucks, a number of which had heavy machine guns and mortars mounted on them. Vargas himself was riding in the bed of a silver pickup truck with a belt fed, tripod mounted K4 automatic grenade launcher affixed to the roof of the cab. In front of Vargas was a flatbed tow truck rigged with a K6 heavy machine at the rear and a tripod mounted M20A1 bazooka over the cab behind the operator of which sat Ryong-ho and his sniper rifle. The car behind Vargas had the front and rear bumpers wrapped in barbed wire and a soldier with a shoulder fired anti-aircraft missile stood up through the moon roof. At the rear of the motorized column were two vans, one full of soldiers the other full of the explosives that Young-gi had been preparing for them. Behind the vehicles were 160 soldiers and civilian fighters, enough to match the skitters man for bug according to the scouts reports. This left the defenses at the hospital very stripped down indeed, further giving the appearance to the occasional beamer flyover that this was a genuine relocation. If they failed however the hospital was left vulnerable with precious few fighting men and women to fend off an attack. Tae-yang personally led the foot soldiers as they lightly jogged behind the vehicles.

Bremer and a small contingent of soldiers were standing outside the entrance to the parking garage as the vehicles departed. "Give 'em hell Chico! And whatever you do don't come back here. We'll find you." Bremer told Vargas as he passed by. Once the vehicles had left and the troops on foot were passing by, Bremer and his group slipped back inside the hospital, unnoticed by any spying eyes that may have been watching.

"Lights on bitches! We want them to see us." Vargas ordered. One by one the vehicles headlights turned on as they rolled away from the hospital. Above them serpentine threads of smoke drifted into the midnight sky from the burning of fuel oil and solid refuse inside steel drums on the rooftops of the hospital and the surrounding buildings. The setup gave the appearance that the 4th Korea had torched their former hideout on their way out. Just as fate would have it, a pair of beamers, scarcely visible from the ground as two twinkling blue dots were at that time flying at high altitude over the area. They crossed over the hospital complex which from their vantage point would appear to be burning down. The first act of the ruse had reached the attention of the enemy; time would tell if the 4th Korea's theatrics would succeed in deceiving them. The vehicles mustered several blocks to the southeast with the hospital well out of view and waited in formation for the soldiers on foot to catch up to them.

When the foot soldiers arrived Vargas dismounted from the truck and walked over to Tae-yang who was catching his breath. "Don't tell me you're tired already?" Vargas teased him. "Easy for you to say from the back of that truck." Tae-yang replied. "Nah, I'm fine, a little run is good for the soul." Tae-yang said with a chipper sense of optimism. Vargas took a crumpled up street map out of his pocket and unfolded it before handing it to Tae-yang. Tae-yang took the map and looked over it. There was a location circled in pink highlighter and two routes marked in yellow highlighter, one to the location from where they were and one to the location from some ambiguous point to the west of it. "What's this?" asked Tae-yang. "I'm getting to it, but first, take this." replied Vargas as he took the light fifty off of his back and traded Tae-yang for his standard issue K2 rifle. "I've already got a big gun on that rig so you'll need this more than I will. Take care of her for me; I'll want her back in good order when this is all over." Vargas said. "Don't worry about it, she's in good hands" Tae-yang assured him. "Now, here's the part where we split up; take the foot soldiers straight down this road we're on now keeping parallel to the train tracks until the road curves to the west. When you get to the bridge, don't worry about which bridge it's the only bridge you'll see left standing, take the immediate left going southwest til you come two large banks next to a new multiplex theater with an adjacent underground parking garage attached to the second bank. The location is highlighted on the map I gave you in case you have trouble. We'll go on ahead and take the long way around back using the main road on the other side of the train tracks and make sure you're not going to get hit from behind. Once we make sure the destination's clear then we'll meet you on our way out with any surplus weapons we find. After that we're off to fuck shit up ahead of the enemy column. We'll slow them down as long as possible to allow you to get set up. After we give them a little trouble we're going to feign a retreat that will lead them along the highlighted route on the map to your location. We'll make it look like they've got us whipped with our tail between our legs so they'll buy in. Now, on your way to the theater set up your men all along the highlighted route. I need shooters in every building with a clear view of the street. Also the van with the explosives will be staying with you, I want you to set up charges to blow this bridge here once we've lead the enemy across so we can cut the forces we have to deal with in half. It's the only bridge still standing, the bugs bombed the main one so it should be easy to find. If we're good we'll have taken care of the first wave by the time the second half finds its way around. If you have time set up a few more traps as well. I want this street turned into a hornet's nest by the time we get back here." Vargas instructed Tae-yang. "We'll do whatever we can. See you there." Tae-yang replied. He and his men then resumed course towards the ambush location while Vargas hustled back to his truck and departed with the other vehicles to the same location via a more circuitous route.

Back at the hospital two twinkling blue lights were sighted in the distant northwest sky by one of the guards tending the burning barrels. One of the lights turned towards them and accelerated to supersonic speed. The light turned into a beamer quickly following the sonic boom. There was no time to react, only to wait and see what would happen. The beamer dove down towards the hospital as if it was about to make a precision strike. It leveled off and cruised through the intertwining ribbons of smoke from the fires burning below. Soldiers waited on the second level from the top of the parking garage with shoulder fired missiles aimed at the alien craft. They held their fire per Bremer's orders as the beamer passed over them and then without incident or hostile action it turned to the south and ascended. The controlled burn on the rooftops had worked it seemed; the beamer was blinded to the presence of the people inside. Assuming the hospital complex was a smoldering ruin it soared off towards the southern horizon and faded away into the night. The firepots had proven themselves to be worth the effort; at least the enemy would have to put a little more effort in smoking them out of their hiding place now.

As the fearful garrison at the hospital entered into the small hours after midnight Williams sat down in one of the pews in the hospital chapel and bowed his head silently. He clasped his hand together with his hook and looked down silently as Father Yang was reading words of encouragement from the Bible to those who had come here for comfort in this desperate hour. This was the first time he set foot in a church since he had joined the army, back when he was still living at home with his mama. His mother was an outwardly religious woman, shouting amen and singing joyfully with the choir. She was probably someone who would be more at home in a boisterous southern Baptist congregation rather than the small community church situated in the heart of Atlantic City, the Sin City of the East, that Williams' family went to. Though she had passion for the word, she hadn't succeeded in instilling the deep roots of faith in Williams and his sister. Church was something like a hobby to him, like Taco Tuesdays or Fried Chicken Fridays, it was just something he did out of habit, a habit he put aside when the rigors of army life seemed to edge that time out of the schedule. So even though he was a professing man of faith, it startled him when he came across people like Vargas or Hamza who took their faith more seriously as the central focus of their lives. Korea seemed to be a more devout place than the largely secular world of New Jersey even before the world ended. Even still the churches and temples of Seoul were sparse in their attendance in better times. Such was not presently the case; the small chapel was a full house tonight. The heat from all the warm bodies packed together caused sweat beads to form on Williams' skin. "Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me." Father Yang read from the Gospel of John. Williams honed in his words and pondered them all greatly as Father Yang expounded upon them in an effort to grant courage and comfort to those in attendance who were facing a night that could be their last upon the Earth. Williams wondered if God would indeed shield them from the alien hordes; would there be divine intervention or the good fortune of providence that would give timely rescue to these dangling in front of the jaws of destruction? Could it be that Hamza was right, and the alien apocalypse was indeed God's judgement upon sinful humanity? Williams did not have an answer and he found none in Father Yang's words. What seems right to a man may not be the case with God, for it would stand to reason that the eternal, timeless, all knowing creator of the universe would see things from a far larger a different perspective from mankind, mere ants marching along the surface of a stone adrift in an endless sea of stars. This could be all part of the grand design, for what purpose only God would know. Yet there was still hope in him, hope but not certainty that God was not finished with their lives in this world, that there were still deeds yet undone in this life before He would call them up into eternity. This was probably the deepest reflection Williams had ever undertaken in trying to discern the mind and nature of God. It wasn't so much of a hobby now. Desperation, he thought, made him turn back to his faith and the coming fire would test if it was genuine or just an act of bargaining to escape the blaze. "Therefore do not be afraid of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Father Yang closed the service with a reading from the Gospel of Matthew.

He then led the congregation in prayer, earnestly seeking divine protection for themselves and those who had gone to protect them. Williams along with the others bowed his head and closed his eyes as Father Yang prayed aloud. "Heavenly Father, please watch over our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, friends and acquaintances through these dark trials of the night. Watch over our soldiers Lord as they go out as a shield between us and our enemies. Protect them and keep them safe from harm. May your mercy be their armor, your wisdom their shield, and your strength their sword. Send back the creatures that seek our lives and our world to whatever foul pit of creation they came from and restore mankind to peace and comfort, not as the world we used to know, but as the world you wish us to be. Watch over our commanding officer and chief maintenance officer and grant them a longer stay among us. Hold close the children and let not one of them fall into the hands of our dreadful foes. Give wisdom and foresight to Major Bremer, though he may not know you, to understand your will and lead us into your protection. We ask these things in the name of your son Jesus Christ, amen." Father Yang prayed. "Amen." the congregation resounded afterwards. Many remained behind to personally comfort one another and talk to Father Yang further, while others left the chapel and returned to their duties.

Bremer passed by the chapel, stopping momentarily in the doorway to watch as Father Yang prayed over the men and women gathered together. This time he did not think to scoff at the foolishness of the exercise but rather found it beautiful. These people had something to hold to, something that would not fail them inside. Regardless of the fact he believed that something was no more real than a giant three horned rainbow shitting tuna fish flying around the third moon of Uranus that granted wishes to small boys who ate between 2 to 6 ounces of creamy, not crunchy peanut butter on the third Tuesday in September, he still found it fascinating that they could hold on to hope like that. From a utilitarian perspective he admired their courage; whatever gave it to them, it was good. They would all need that courage before the night was through. Before the prayer concluded he continued on his way down the hall so that no one saw him there.

After returning to the emergency room waiting area Bremer called together a portion of the fighters and able bodied civilians who were left behind to ready their defenses. "Alright everyone, settle down." Bremer announced as he climbed up onto an oval shaped table full of magazines so that they all could see him, silencing the mutterings and sidebar conversations of the men and women gathered around. "As you are probably well aware of my boy Vargas is out there leading a motorized company to draw the bugs away from us. We can't however put all of our faith in his success; we have to turn to our own defenses as well." Bremer addressed them. "First of all I want the bus, the two ambulances and the delivery truck ready for a quick getaway." Bremer instructed a handful of civilians in the back. "Miss Do, I want you to get all the children onto the bus and be ready to leave." Bremer turned and addressed her specifically. "Any patients not in critical condition should also be taken to the bus or one of the ambulances as well. I want to keep one ambulance open however to move my two critical patients into if necessary." Bremer told a pair of ladies who he had seen previously volunteering to help Tae-yon with minor tasks earlier. "As for the rest of you, we're going to be working on some ghetto stealth technology. We don't know exactly in what ways these things "see" per se. We've been able to hide from them in the past but that's because they weren't looking for us then. We can't say that's the case this time." Bremer addressed the group. "We've seen evidence that the walkers are drawn to motion, sound and heat. It would be safe to assume the zoomies have infrared sensors as well. That's what the dumpster fires on the roof are for. It would also be safe to assume these things have X-ray capabilities as well." Bremer explained. "Radio waves too. I've noticed some odd interference on my handheld sometimes when I've gotten to close to the bugs on a run." mentioned one of the experienced scouts in the group. "Good that you should mention that, radio silence is a must tonight. If you've got one turn it off now." Bremer urged the group. "You five guys over there, yeah you, go up to radiology and bring back all the lead drapes, vests and anything else that would do a decent job attenuating X-rays and plaster them all over the walls of the trauma center. We can hope twenty something odd floors of hospital will do the trick from above we've just got to make the side views look solid as well." Bremer directed a group of disinterested men in the back of the crowd. "You three, the fat one, the goofy one, and the Asian guy, wait that's all of you but you know who you are." Bremer addressed another group with some humor attempting to lessen the gravity of the situation. "I need you to go down to the lower level maintenance room and bring a up few rolls of that pink sheet insulation. We're going to wrap the engine compartments of the remaining vehicles with it in an effort to retard their heat signatures." Bremer instructed them. "You over there, I need you to set up some flood lights and batteries in the trauma center. When we get the signal we're going to cut the generator and I want to give Tae-yon as long as possible to save our people." Bremer ordered yet another group. "The rest of you follow me outside." Bremer said then got off the table. He led the remnant of the group outside while those assigned to other tasks went off to complete them. "Give me a ring of dry trash around the hospital and soak that shit with the leftover JP-8. That should give us enough smoke for complete cover should we need it. I want to keep the drums burning up on the roof as well. If all goes to hell where Chico can't hold the line and the bugs show up here we'll give it a controlled burn to keep the zoomies off our backs. Might confound the bots a bit too. The heat from the fires should help mask our body heat and cloak us from visual detection as well." Bremer instructed the men outside as he pointed to where he wanted to build his final smokescreen. "Once you're done get your asses back inside on the double." Bremer told the men before they turned to their preparations. He then went back inside to quickly check in on how Sobieski and Han were holding up before going back to coordinating the operation.

Vargas' convoy was now nearing the east side of the proposed ambush location. "Turn at the next street." Vargas instructed the driver. "I found this location earlier when I was out on search and destroy orders and vaguely remembered the place from before. I was surprised it was still standing." Vargas remarked. They approached the area and saw the two broad, stocky bank towers with the upper portion of the parking garage exposed with a theater complex sandwiched between the second bank and a commercial building containing a coffee house and several nice restaurants on the ground floor. To the south of the first bank was a collapsed hospital tower that obstructed the roadway to the east. The large mounds of rubble would act as a wall to hinder the advance of the aliens into the location. South of the hospital ruins the ground was embedded with fragments of an alien airship that had previously crashed through the tower and brought about its collapse. The fragments were quite small as the ship had exploded inside the tower as it passed through and contained nothing of real value that could be salvaged. To the north of the first bank building was a demolished tower that had contained a church. The rubble from the church formed an incomplete impediment to alien advance and also offered a clear line of sight from the bank tower to the only surviving bridge across a small creek in a ravine. The location was a little over two miles to the south of the hospital so Bremer and company would be able to see the flares sent up if the mission had gone awry. Vargas hoped it was still far away enough to shield his friends from the fighting that would so soon be upon them. "What's so special about it? Looks like a movie theater and a couple of big banks to me." asked the soldier in the passenger seat of the truck Vargas was riding in as they turned the corner and crossed the train tracks. Exactly, what's a more impregnable civilian structure than a bank vault and what's a more innocuous structure than a movie theater." Vargas replied. "There's no evidence of military activity here but believe me we would have been well entrenched on our southern border if the alien assholes had given us more time. You see we we're setting this place up as a secondary command post before Seongnam fell. Colonel Cho expected to receive more civilians than we could handle with the area we had already secured so we started preparing to expand, never actually got the area manned and operational though. Early on during the attack enemy air power cut off this area off from our reach so most of its arsenal remains untouched. If there was somewhere we wanted to trick the enemy into believing we had a new base of operations this is the place to do it." Vargas elucidated. The vehicles parked and Vargas and Ryong-ho dismounted and were joined by eight soldiers debarking from one of the vans and a flatbed farm truck. Vargas directed the others to follow him into the entrance to the bank's parking garage.

Inside the parking garage Vargas, Ryong-ho and their men descended into the lower levels and discovered the weapons cache, still untouched from the previous Battle of Seongnam. It contained sixteen assorted Chiron and Stinger missiles, one javelin missile launcher, a crate full of American made anti-tank mines, two dozen M67 recoilless rifles, seventeen K6 heavy machine guns, eight cases of M371A1 HEAT rounds along with a handful of M72 rocket launchers that were stored in the bottom floor of the bank's underground parking garage along with a generous number of K1 and K2 rifles, grenades and ammunition. On the first floor below ground level in the garage there was also a more massive wheeled, tripod mounted M40 next to a couple military Humvees that presumably were operational. "Everything looks in good order here." Vargas declared feeling quite proud of himself. They checked out the Humvees and made sure they still ran after looking over the newly discovered weapons cache. "We'll leave these here in case we have to make a retreat." Vargas stated. "Retreat where? You heard the Major; we can't go back to the hospital." Ryong-ho inquired. "Due west to the hills, we'll try to swing around them to the south if we can. We'll lead them as far away from base as possible." Vargas answered. "You eight guys stay here and wait for Tae-yang and his company to arrive. While you're at it move the M40 to the top floor of the parking garage and set it up between the open portals facing the debris wall blocking the main road." Vargas instructed the other men before he and Ryong-ho departed. They came around a side road that bypassed the collapsed buildings and emerged further north right next to the bridge. There they sighted Tae-yang's men approaching. "I've got guys waiting for you. Pick up the pace!" Vargas teased them before his unit crossed over the bridge and turned to the south.

As Vargas continued on a southbound trajectory three beamers were sighted flying above the column. Vargas signaled to the car behind him which then broke off from the main formation along with the 7 other vehicles behind it. Some of the motorcycles at the head of the column also branched out in a different direction hoping to draw away the flyers. The beamers continued straight on their course above Vargas' group for a while before speeding up and continuing on their present course ahead of and away from the vehicles. They passed the southern edge of Seongnam proper now and entered into the neighboring city of Yongin. If not for the still extant signage however they could hardly tell where one city ended and the next began. Aside from a flyby from a beamer heading from the west to the east there was no sign of the enemy. "We should have seen something by now." Vargas mumbled to himself. Having calculated the distance the scouting party had sighted the alien unit along with the time elapsed and estimated speeds of both his vehicles and the enemy Vargas knew that one of their units would be making contact with the alien force very soon. In fact, within a matter of minutes Vargas believed that either he or one of the advance scouts would be in for the fight of their life. Any second a motorcycle could come zipping out of one of the adjoining streets with alien walkers hot on its heels, or worse the scouts could have been cut down and the enemy would be coming at them full force with not a moment of advance warning. The anticipation and the dread was palpable, it was almost indescribable to someone who had never faced combat before. The closest mundane experience he could relate it to was the feeling you get as you ascend to the top of a rollercoaster only ten thousand times more intense. His stomach tightened and his hairs stood on end. His grip was firmly on the vehicles mounted weapon, while his rifle remained loaded and ready strapped to his back. The steady growling of the engines faded into background noise as his hearing was sharpened to detect even the slightest of sounds arising from outside the convoy. Ahead of him, Ryong-ho looked remarkably calm but Vargas knew better. He had to have been at full alert, ready to spring into action the moment the first bug or walker was sighted. The point of impact drew near, it was only a matter of who would be first to experience it.

The motorcycles that branched out looped around and split off even further into groups of three and four. These smaller groups scouted ahead to locate the enemy which they anticipated to be nearby. They fanned out into the southeastern quadrant of Seongnam and the hilly terrain around it as well as going further into Yongin ahead of the main motorized force. Four of the bikers that had turned to the east into a residential area nestled in a valley that was closed in by wooded hills on the north were the first to make contact with the enemy. When this group of scouts heard the hallmark sounds of nearby mechs they parked their bikes in a tight alley and slipped into a three story housing unit. One of the soldiers waited by the entrance to cover their escape route while the other three made their way to the third floor window in the rear room of the domicile overlooking the next street down. There they sighted a portion of the enemy army. It appeared to be even larger than they had anticipated. The mechs alone numbered nearly fifty, and among that number were a handful of mechs of a new design that the soldiers in Seongnam hadn't encountered before. They were the same design as the armored patrol mechs that had recently been seen near the industrial areas of Incheon. Of all the members of the Fourth Korea only Williams had even caught a vague glimpse of this model of walker as made his journey from Bucheon to Anyang. Even he knew nothing of their capabilities, which could only be assumed to be superior to the standard walkers. The soldiers here would soon come to use the term "pancake walkers" to differentiate them from the common smaller, more agile "egg walkers" that they had experience fighting. It wasn't just the mechs that were more numerous than expected, the ranks of the skitters were legion as well. The two scouts could see hundreds of them passing through the street and over adjacent rooftops further to the south, giving indication that the alien army encompassed several streets side by side. "We were told there would be 150 bugs, you heard that too right?" one of the scouts asked the other, standing in disbelief at the size of the forces arrayed against them. "Yeah." the other scout whimpered. "150 bugs huh? It looks like our recon boys forgot to add a few zeroes." the first scout cynically remarked. "Relax guys it's not "that" many; we can take 'em" a third soldier chimed in sarcastically from behind the two at the window. "Holy shit, that is a lot of bugs." the third soldier said after he saw what the other two had seen. "We can still take 'em." the third soldier repeated with faux confidence. He placed a hand on each of the other two soldier's shoulders and shook them gently. "Stop standing around guys, we got to report back to the convoy." the third soldier urged the other two. The three soldiers walked away from the window and went back downstairs where the fourth soldier was guarding the door. The soldiers quickly got onto their bikes and sped away, vanishing through the meandering residential streets before the sprawling mass of skitters crawled over the building they had just inhabited and continued on the very same course, mere minutes behind the scouts.

After the scouts had caught up to the main force and appraised them of the situation Vargas' column quickly doubled back to intercept the alien army. The scouts were sent into Yongin to pull back the other scouting parties that were heading away from the enemy with orders to return to the ambush point on a wide sweep in case the enemy had broken up their force and were coming at them from multiple directions. The main group accelerated northward once the entirety of their company had gotten turned around. It didn't take long before the enemy had taken notice of them. Ryong-ho was the first to spot a trio of beamers closing in on their position from the west. He motioned back to Vargas who looked over and spotted the distant blue lights approaching as well. "We've got zoomies incoming! Wong, Lee, Hyolyn, Light em up!" Vargas commanded. A man and a woman riding in the back of a flatbed produce truck with wooden side rails and a soldier in the back of a jeep took aim with shoulder fired Chiron missiles and fired once the craft were near enough. Two of the missiles completely destroyed the beamer on the left of the formation in mid-flight, hitting it head on while the third missile struck the center beamer on the right side of the craft as it began to take evasive action in the wrong direction. The center beamer dropped out of the sky gradually with a flaming trail behind it before it crashed into the city streets several blocks away. The third beamer escaped the attack and opened fire with white hot plasma bolts incinerating the flatbed truck and two cars as well as devastating the buildings on the eastern flank of the column. Another missile was fired at the beamer after it had passed over them and continued on eastward. The missile completely missed the craft and the beamer did not turn around and attempt a second attack, instead it flew over the eastern mountain ridge beyond the city and vanished into the night.

A few minutes after enemy air power had attempted to deter their attack Vargas' company came upon the vanguard of the enemy ground forces. A row of twenty or so mechs followed by innumerable skitters filed onto the main thoroughfare several hundred yards ahead of Vargas' unit. Oblivious to the threat to their rear the alien force turned and marched northwards. Their arrogance was Vargas' opportunity. The moment the full complement of mechs came onto the scene every man with a rocket launcher, bazooka, .50 caliber rifle or machine gun opened fire. The unsuspecting machines, packed into a tight linear formation across the street were easy targets. Many of them along with droves of skitters fell during the opening salvo. Those that survived scattered, some went back the way they came or down nearby side streets. Their ranks were soon replenished by ten mechs racing out into the street in a loose formation, arm cannons blazing as they emerged. Many defunct abandoned vehicles were mistakenly blasted apart by the second wave of mechs as they first came into view. A van to the left of the three motorcycles leading the column became the first true casualty. It was laced full of holes across the front and down its length along the left side. The van decelerated abruptly at the death of its driver into coasted into a prolonged rolling stop. The surviving soldiers inside the van hopped out the back door as the van drifted ahead and opened fire on the skitters issuing from the alleyways, leaving the wounded behind until it was safe to go back for them. Nearby a rusted blue pickup truck carrying two soldiers fielding K3 machine guns in the bed was struck by a mech's rocket through the front of the radiator grille. The rocket detonated amidst the engine and caused the truck to flip forward and land upside down as secondary explosions in the fuel tanks were spurred on by the initial blast. The motorized column was now left with a pair of old style jeeps sporting K6 machine guns at the lead, with Vargas and the others following some distance behind them. A band of motorcyclists covered the left flank of the jeeps gunning down skitters with K2 rifles and shotguns as they rode past. Another van with a K6 machine gun positioned in the open space where the now removed left side sliding door had been swung out in front of the onrushing throng of skitters. It opened fire spraying a hail of bullets at the skitters until heavy fire from a group of mechs destroyed the vehicle. The jeeps managed to light up a couple mechs as they swerved back and forth on their approach to evade the weapons fire from the machines. They did not pursue any mechs that went down smaller connecting streets for they knew that the mechs superior maneuverability would win out over their speed in those confined areas.

Even in the broad open spaces of the main thoroughfare the jeeps would quickly find themselves outgunned as the vanguard of the new design of mech lumbered out into the open accompanied by a pair standard mech and several skitters. The first two jeeps took the larger mech head on while the bikes led the skitters away down a side road to the south. The other armed pickups engaged the standard mechs with their machine guns roaring and mounted rocket launchers thundering. The mechs opened fire at the same time causing the vehicles to swerve out of the way in multiple directions. Some glancing blows and minor damage to the vehicles occurred during the exchange but they took no further losses. "Fucking A! Watch yourselves guys! The god damned pancake walkers can just shrug off the .50 cal like it was nothing." shouted one of the soldiers from a jeep at the lead of the pack after his barrage from the K6 glanced harmlessly off the patrol walker's armor. "Pull away, I've got something stronger for this bitch!" Vargas commanded. The two jeeps parted to the right and left, thinning out a horde of skitters closing in on them from both the left and the right with their machine guns. Vargas cocked back the grenade launcher and opened fire. "Let her rip!" Vargas exclaimed as the rapid fire barrage of 40mm grenades streamed towards the heavy walker as it obliterated one of the two jeeps with its shoulder mounted weapons turrets. The grenades impacted all over the mech, each blast flaking off more of its seemingly impervious exterior. The sustained barrage succeeded in blasting apart the mech's outer shell and bringing it first down to its knees then collapsing entirely as secondary internal explosions ripped the monstrosity apart. The whole of the mech blew apart before it had completely struck the ground sending sheared off, charred fragments hurtling into its own ranks. The explosions from the grenades also left many skitters in the vicinity slain or maimed and dispersed several more. The motorized unit sped up and looped around another city block to get out of the line of fire of the remaining standard mechs which had just been joined by 16 more of their kind.

The mechs gave chase while the skitters opted to take a more circuitous route to envelop the cars and trucks as they were not fast enough to catch them on the open road. The vehicles whose mounted weapons could be turned to the rear and those with guns mounted on the rear attempted to fend off the mechs as they at least maintained their distance with the vehicles as they meandered around all the disabled cars in the smaller side streets. They took several turns until they managed to start heading north again. They were unable to gain much ground in that direction before a flood of skitters obstructed their path and forced them to turn east at a shopping center. As they made the turn east a beamer raced towards them at a frightening speed from above the distant mountains. The soldier standing through the moon roof in the white sedan with the barbed wire bumper fired his missile at the approaching beamer as it came in on a strafing run. The beamer nimbly twisted on its horizontal axis allowing the missile to pass harmlessly by it while continuing uninterrupted on its present course. It fired two bolts of bluish white plasma over the sedan, vaporizing a jeep behind it into ashes and demolishing the storefront that the vehicles had just turned in front of. The beamer doubled back towards them forcing the convoy to take evasive action heading north, keeping close to the approaching skitters and thus making it difficult for the beamer to strike them without taking some of its own with it. The beamer seemed to be content with letting the skitters finish off Vargas' forces as it ascended back into the skies to the west, though it was not leaving the field of battle yet. Vargas' men fended off a salient from the skitters before they turned east again and went under a major highway overpass. At the same time the beamer in the west circled back towards them and the mechs at their rear were starting to catch up to them.

A pair of bikers streamed onto the scene from the highway as the main force passed underneath it. An enemy airstrike foolishly demolished the overpass, squashing one battered car tailing behind underneath it while at the same time forcing the alien ground forces to go around thus allowing Vargas' men to gain some ground on them in the short term. One of the bikers was cut down on the off-ramp by concrete debris flung outward from the bombing of the overpass. The chunk of concrete struck the back of his helmet and launched him forward off his bike. The biker landed on his chest and stomach and slid for several yards, leaving behind a trail of blood and torn clothing like streaks of bright red paint on the asphalt. His body stopped when it struck the guardrail which bent his head unnaturally to the side moments before his bike slid into him from behind. The second biker raced ahead without looking back and pulled up alongside Vargas. "There's a second enemy battalion heading up from the south along the highway!" shouted the biker. Before Vargas could respond the second enemy force was sighted coming down another off ramp to the south. A quick burst of mech fire scattered the bikes away from Vargas' vehicle before another truck swerved in front of Vargas and headed for the mech. Vargas' vehicle turned sharp left to avoid the truck and by chance happen to evade a rocket fired from another mech. The soldiers on the back of truck that had crossed in front of him opened fire on the mech with their rifles and the mounted bazooka whose blast opened a fierce gash in the front side of the egg walker effectively taking it out of the fight. The crew on the truck did not have time to reload against the additional mechs rushing into the street though. A horde of skitters coming at them from the side seemed to appear out of nowhere in the chaos and leapt upon the truck. The three soldiers in the back of the truck refocused their efforts and fired on the skitters at the moment they were being rushed upon. It had little effect, other than wounding a skitter that had jumped onto the left side of the truck. The wounded skitter snatched one of the soldiers with one arm and pulled the man forward and over the side of the truck before the other two hit the creature with enough rounds to cause it to lose its balance and fall off as well. The skitter was almost instantly replaced by two, then four more. The second soldier was pushed backwards over the right side of the truck joining his comrade as they were torn apart by the horde of skitters on the ground. The last soldier, who had formerly manned the bazooka had his arms ripped off by a skitter before another one picked him up and tossed him into the crowd of skitters behind them. Another skitter reached through the windshield and seized the driver as he slammed into a few skitters in front of him that brought the truck to an abrupt halt. The impact pulled the skitter that had took hold of him off from on top of the cab and sent it flying forward with the driver in its grip. The driver was pulled through the windshield as it shattered completely and hit the ground several meters away. The skitter and the driver rolled along the ground several times before coming to a stop. The skitter, although scraped up and disoriented for a time got up, leaving the driver lying dead upon the ground. The sedan covered in barbed wire suffered the same fate as the truck as the flanking skitters crawled all over it like ants over a piece of food.

The rest of the motorized force managed to complete the next turn towards the north and increase speed enough to avoid being swarmed by the advancing legion of skitters. They weren't far from the ambush point now; they just had to avoid being outflanked before they reached the last bridge. The soldiers on the vehicles kept a steady stream of fire directed at the skitters to their rear as the distance between them and the enemy widened. They also screened attempts by the advance forces of the main alien army to send skitters over the rooftops on their left flank. A pair of rockets whizzed by a pursuing mech and hit a crowd of skitters instead. The mechs closing in behind them quickly increased in number. Two mechs hopping down from the roof of a shopping center ahead and to the left of Vargas' force were met with a barrage from Vargas' grenade launcher that took out the legs of one walker and obliterated the central "egg" portion of the other. The mechs opened fire at the same time as Vargas and managed to put a few holes in a couple of the vehicles and take down one of the bikers on the flanks of the cars and trucks who was preoccupied with shot gunning skitters behind him at the time. The beamer made a freakishly abrupt midair maneuver to allow machine gun fire to pass harmlessly in front of it and rotated on its axis to face the Vargas' unit form the rear. Meanwhile Ryong-ho was handed one of the last few stinger missiles they had with them by the man in the passenger seat through the back window of the truck. He coordinated with another soldier in the back of a convertible and fired both missiles at the beamer. One was easily evaded and the second missile struck the edge of the craft, jarring it a little and causing mainly superficial damage. The beamer fired upon them, incinerating the convertible and two motorcycles. Skitters poured out onto the road in front of the convoy but were scattered by seven of their returning scouts sending grenades and bullets the skitters' way. Ryong-ho's driver managed to pull far enough to the left to escape destruction. After a brief clash with a team of mechs and skitters before reaching the bridge claimed another of their vehicles, a few bikes and several men, Vargas' force was now down to his and Ryong-ho's truck, five motorcycles and one unmodified jeep.

They were on the home stretch now. The surviving vehicles turned to the southeast onto the intact bridge, narrowly missing being blasted apart by a volley of mech rockets and gunfire. As the vehicles crossed the bridge the beamer dropping down to strafe them into oblivion was greeted by a flurry of Chiron missiles coming from the first bank and nearby buildings of which were too numerous for the beamer to evade them all. The beamer burst apart in a spectacular fireball, raining down burning flecks of its composition onto the ground like sparkling glitter on the breeze. "Blow the bridge!" Vargas shouted as the twenty or thirty mechs pursuing them along with a throng of over a hundred skitters started to come across. Tae-yang activated the detonator which was supposed to bring down the bridge and the enemy army along with it but there was nothing. Tae-yang tried the detonator again and again to no avail. There was no boom; the explosives didn't do the trick. Vargas looked behind him to see fires burning on the support beams of the bridge and beneath the roadway but that was it; the bridge was still there. The flames below the roadway reached up around the sides of the bridge and spooked some of the skitters on the flanks. A few startled bugs was a poor consolation prize for an alien battalion at the bottom of a ravine. Just when it looked like an alien drone would dive bomb the bridge it pulled up, having only momentarily been deceived by the high thermal readings below it. They couldn't count on friendly fire either. The drone was paid for its disservice by a pair of Stinger missiles striking it fore and aft to bring it down in pieces. Vargas ordered his truck to circle around while the rest of his men fled towards the second bank's parking garage via narrow side streets immediately south of the bank. The structures along this narrow streets were lined with gunmen in case the aliens decided to pursue them this way instead of heading straight for the "front gate" so to speak. Meanwhile Vargas opened fire on the mechs with the automatic grenade launcher as they were crossing the bridge while at the same time the soldiers within the first bank and nearby structures overlooking the bridge fired upon the packed in alien force with all the weapons they had at their disposal. Vargas' truck went into reverse and backed away amidst the crossfire. A mech round sliced through the side of his right arm, taking off his clothing, body armor and some of his skin. Another round struck the truck through the passenger seat, passing out of the cab close to Vargas' right thigh. It was enough to scare the driver out of the vehicle and send him running for shelter within the bank. Vargas too was forced to flee before more mech rounds pierced through the skin of the truck, rendering it an inoperable hulk of metal riddled with holes. Vargas managed to make it around the corner behind the first bank as the frontline soldiers covered him. "Stay near the sides! Don't go in the middle of the road!" warned the soldiers waiting behind piles of rubble between the bank and the collapsed church building as Vargas retreated towards them. Vargas heeded their warnings and kept tight to the rubble and the wall and made it around the small mounds of rubble unscathed. He joined the soldiers nestled there in firing upon the advancing army of skitters crossing the bridge. While the enemy losses were grievous as they crossed the bridge their advance was not stopped. The dead skitters and ruined mechs piled up on parts of the bridge forming defensive walls of their own. Once the first wave of the aliens were out of the bottleneck they fanned out. The skitters scurried around both sides of the bank building while the mechs continued firing upon the soldiers inside, blasting chunks away from the structure in the process. They focused their fire on the upper floors where the soldiers could shoot over the walls of the dead and defunct shielding the second wave of aliens from street level gunfire. Bit by bit, brick by brick the building was being torn apart. Its walls offered no protection for the soldiers hiding within. The mech rounds penetrated them with enough force remaining to effortlessly rip through soldiers' flesh and body armor. Occasionally a mech rocket or energy bolt would be fired into an area of particularly intense gunfire or where a .50 caliber machine gun or other weapon not as easily mobile as handheld small arms were in place. Two pairs of beamers bombed the buildings along the narrow northern route around the bank where intense gunfire had been focused on the aliens as they stepped off the bridge. The beamers lost one of their number to anti-aircraft fire and the other three sped away. The beamers, while taking out a fortified position and several fighters had now blocked off the alternate route to the second bank and the theater where Tae-yang's main force waited for them. This forced the enemy army into a full frontal assault. Careless mechs stomped down on rather obviously laid out anti-tank mines, which of course to extraterrestrials could have just appeared to be bits of debris scattered about. The mines blew off the legs of several mechs and sometimes demolished the entire machine with the blast. The explosions also ripped apart clusters of skitters darting towards the first bank. Vargas led the men behind the ridge of church ruins in a retreat over the massive wall of hospital debris guarding the path into the kill zone while the remaining fighters in the first bank covered them. The first of the skitters were now reaching the ground floor of the first bank and with the help of the mechs blowing holes in the structure entered inside and started to engage the soldiers at close range. The fighters shot at the skitters until they came too close or they ran out of ammunition then resorted to their bayonets, if they had them, or using their gun as a bludgeon to defend themselves against the long armed, clawed hands of the skitters. As the defenders fought valiantly for their lives the skitters continued to pour in through the openings on the ground floor. Others scaled the outer walls against the efforts of men and women shooting downward from the windows and exposed rooms blasted open from the mechs' assault. Several skitters were gunned down and peeled off the sides of the building before falling down onto their brethren in the street. The flood of skitters could only be slowed down by the efforts of the entrenched defenders, it could not be stopped. Eventually skitters rushed into the openings on the higher floors of the bank and overwhelmed the defenders. A pair of beamers returned from the west and buzzed by the battle scene but they did not attack, for their own forces were too intermingled with those of the humans.

Vargas made it inside the parking garage just as the first skitters were coming over the wall behind him. Shooters in a hotel across the street and a pizzeria next door took out the first trickle of enemies that crested the heap of concrete and mangled metal. One of the soldiers trailing behind Vargas was clipped in the ankle by a spray of bullets from the first mech over the ridge before a blast from the M40 burst apart the central egg-section of the machine. The soldier fell forward onto his hands and chest, leaving his severed foot inside his laced up boot a couple meters away. Vargas and another soldier rushed to help the soldier back up and carry him to safety in the parking garage. Vargas set him down on an ammo crate while the other soldier worked to apply a tourniquet to the wound. A third soldier ran out to collect the lost foot and returned under a rain of gunfire from the next two mechs over the ridge. The sounds of combat intensified as a new wave of skitters joined the mechs coming over the wall. They just kept coming, no matter how many they killed it seemed like there was no end to them. The M40 and several well positioned machine gun emplacements focused in on the mechs, making their devastating punch a short lived one but could not keep pace with the skitters. The movie theater doors opened at the end of the street and two machine guns blared from behind the concession stand on the far wall. The new barrage tore into the skitters' ranks and drew a number of them away from the bank and pizzeria. The breakaway skitters were then flanked by soldiers within a shopping center and coffee house between the bank and the theater. Three more mechs, which soon became nine, then twelve pulled the firepower away from the skitters and onto the robots. The mechs lit up the pizzeria, shredding the building apart, killing and wounding many inside. Those fortunate enough to survive were forced out of the fight long enough for the skitters to storm the building and overwhelm it as they had done with the first bank. With overwhelming numbers of skitters flowing over the wall Tae-yang activated the third trick in his arsenal. A stream of flames spewed forth by the ignition of combustible gases and liquids buried beneath the rubble with dispersal lines threaded between them. The fires caught onto some of the unsuspecting skitters who fled in various directions, though few of them remained on fire when they were clear of the source of the flames. The skitters' exoskeleton proved to be rather flame retardant after all. Something else was noticed by Tae-yang as he fled down the back alleys into a restaurant next to the hotel. The armor of the mechs' that had been held up in the flames looked a little squishy and less firm as it usually did. He set down Vargas' light fifty and took out his pistol in order to test a theory. He fired and sure enough the .45 magnum round penetrated the softened armor and did damage to the mechs internals. Such must have been the tradeoff for the light bulletproof metal which coated the machines. All along it wasn't the kinetic force of their weapons that penetrated the mechs, it was the heat from the explosions, or the intense friction generated by higher caliber munitions as they crumpled against the metal. This knowledge now gave them an advantage they could exploit, but had this discovery come too late? While the flames burned off the rest of their fuel the mechs fell far more easily than they usually did allowing for a brief refocusing of firepower against the skitters, now approaching the bank and hotel. Tae-yang picked up the light fifty again and sniped at a couple mechs, it was so fulfilling how easily they could be brought down now. He soon had to turn his attention to the skitters however as they were near to storming his own keep.

As the mechs disintegrated amidst the heavy weapons fire from the parking garage and bank a duo of heavy walkers lumbered over the de facto wall accompanied by a fresh contingent of skitters. The flames that had weakened the armor of the last wave were dying down to nothing now. Instead the defenders had to rely on more conventional means to defeat the giants. One of them was by a round from the M40 which poked a hole through one of the pancake walkers only to draw it's ire towards the parking garage. It fired a plasma bolt which liquefied the M40 and instantly turned the rear loader to smoke and ash. The surrounding crew was left incapacitated with severe burns as the blast tore straight through the parking garage. The soldiers within the bank countered with a full volley of HEAT rounds from their M67s that peppered in enough damage to dismantle the untouched heavy walker. First its outer frontal armor plating fell off then one of its disproportionate arms was severed. Several chunks were blown from its sides and back. Its right turret was destroyed yielding a ferocious secondary explosion that fried half of its internals and brought the entire thing down as the remaining few rounds impacted into the goliath as it collapsed in a few large pieces. The second heavy walker turned towards the bank and brought the entire building into collapse with a few rounds from each turret. Another HEAT round struck the mech on the side doing some minor damage and yet another jarred it's left knee joint, as the building began to come down. The mech turned away from the building and approached the parking garage that was still mostly undamaged. While the upper floors of the bank had completely caved in the first two floors had remained predominantly intact, save only for the front of the building facing the street. There were a couple of fire escape doors along the sides and back of the building yet through the fighting they remained closed; the fate of the humans and skitters trapped within the bank remained a mystery. The wounded soldier was carried deeper into the parking garage as fresh troops came up to fight off the swarm of skitters converging on the entrance. "Give it hell!" Vargas screamed from the top floor above ground as he and six other soldiers unleashed another volley from M67s and rocket launchers that hit the patrol mech on the top shoulder portions, disabling the right turret as it was about to fire upon them. As they retreated to reload Vargas caught a glimpse of both buildings across the street being swarmed by skitters. Tae-yang continued to try and fight them off leaning out of a 5th floor window but had to withdraw inside as two standard mechs opened fire on his position. Vargas launched another HEAT round towards the heavy mech, hitting it square in the front and damaging a region close by the puncture that the m40 had produced. It fired back at their position, bringing down a corner of the parking garage but harming no one in the process. "I think we may need to think about hopping on those Humvees." Vargas told one of the soldiers next to him. Two soldiers fired off their last rockets at the heavy mech and fled downstairs to get the Humvees. Vargas himself went to the roof after a plasma bolt incinerated two of his soldiers leaning out one of the portals preparing to fire. He had a round loaded in the M67 he was carrying and two more in his bag. Along with a couple more HEAT rounds still sitting on the lower level of the parking garage these were the last weapons capable of dealing damage to the pancake walkers. The pancake walker beneath him repeatedly into the ground floor of parking garage obliterating skitters and humans alike. While it was preoccupied Vargas lined up and fired at its operational turret. The mech moved and the round blasted a hole next to the turret instead. The damage however interfered with the mech's targeting system enough so the return fire missed him. Instead it destroyed part of the outer railing the force of which knocked Vargas on his back.

Meanwhile the rest of Vargas' force was inside the parking garage being forced underground by the increasing tide of skitters. Behind and beneath them they heard the revving of the Humvee engines as the soldiers sent to retrieve them had reached their objective. They loaded the wounded soldier in one of the Humvees, grabbed their pick of the weapons they could carry and drove up the winding exit ramp of the garage. As the dwindling defenders seemed overwhelmed by the skitters a friendly flurry of honks from behind prompted them to scatter as the mounted machine guns on the two Humvees mowed down and cleared the legion of skitters in front of them. Sensing the shift in the tide of battle below Vargas got up, ran to the edge of the roof and fired another round from his M67 at the heavy mech, chipping further into it and turning its attention away from the ground floor. As the mech returned fire at a fleeing Vargas on the roof the Humvees loaded up what soldiers they could fit onboard while the others were sent down below to protect the weapons cache while the vehicles planned to draw enough of the enemy away from their position. Their hope was that they could convince the skitters they had abandoned it and then double back once they had dealt with the enemy outside. From the first Humvee two HEAT rounds were fired striking the body and the damaged knee of the machine. The knee snapped and the mech fell over on its side, crushing its functional turret on the way down. The first Humvee opened fire with its mounted .50 cal, taking out and damaging several standard mechs as it made a hard turn towards the movie theater. A soldier from the second Humvee lobbed several grenades into the disabled pancake walker, which finally succeeded in destroying the infernal machine. Fifteen skitters raced over the mech, some of which caught the tail end of the explosion while others were cut down by machine gun fire. The rest of the skitters that came over the wall passed by the collapsed bank and the parking garage and pursued the Humvees as they joined with the remaining vehicles from Vargas' column which were parked along the street behind the movie theater. Seeing the skitters completely swarm the buildings between him and the movie theater Vargas was in essence trapped on top of the roof. His and Tae-yang's forces were a shadow of their former selves while there were easily a hundred plus skitters to contend with. He made the determination to prematurely signal their defeat to Bremer now. He reached down and set down the M67 before removing the pair of flare guns strapped to his ankle. He fired both into the air, giving the agreed upon signal. He knew they couldn't win here, but he and his men would give the enemy hell and with any luck buy their friends in the hospital enough time to do what they had to do.


	52. Chapter 52: Survive the Night - Part 3

LII: Survive the Night - Part Three

12 Oct 0333 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Bremer stood looking out a window on the top floor facing south anticipating the worst while hoping for the best. He could see the hazy glow from the burning machines and buildings in the area where he knew Vargas and Tae-yang were fighting. Bright flashes of light from the explosions routinely banished the dark and streaks of stray gunfire and rockets could be seen going up into the air at a low angle. The glow of the fuel drum fires still burning like candles on the rooftop cast their own warm light down on the hospital from above. The hospital and the battle zone were like islands of vermillion light in a city awash in the ocean of night. "Come on Chico, I know you can smash these buggers. Fight on, my brother, fight on." Bremer whispered softly while watching the fighting from the periphery. The intensity of the flashes made it seem so close, yet it was far enough away that the sounds of the fight were toned down to a dull roar in the background before they reached Bremer's ears. Elsewhere in the hospital the people took notice of the sights and sounds coming from the south and were all too aware of what was going on. Their fear swelled inside them filling them with dread. Those of the 4th Korea that had been left behind had tensed up like a man expecting a strong punch to the gut.

Upstairs from his observation post Bremer sighted a pair of flares shooting up into the night sky to the southwest. "Oh shit, looks like we're going to have to pack out before we had a chance to get comfortable." Bremer grumbled. "Tae-yon you better be finishing up." Bremer muttered as he quickly ran out of the room and down the stairs to raise the alarm. He alerted those who were waiting on his call to light the rest of their smokescreen as he rushed around the downstairs perimeter of the hospital. "Smoke it up! Ignite!" commanded Bremer repeatedly as he passed by the lower level watches. A handful of men ran outside the hospital and tossed torches onto the flammable ridge they had built around the hospital which went up like a powder keg. The burning fuel and refuse produced billowing blanket of smoke to obscure the hospital and its surroundings as it was carried away by a soft easterly wind. They were now reasonably hidden away from enemy's view from the air and had enough strong heat sources enveloping them to throw off their infrared sensors. The smoke and fire had its drawbacks however. Those near the entrances to the outside had to put on breathing masks to screen out the particulates and hope that the wind kept up so that the smoke wouldn't settle onto the ground and choke them out.

Fortunately Han and Sobieski were both hooked up to oxygen tanks to saturate their bloodstream so they would be protected from asphyxiation for the time being. Tae-yon also ordered the remaining blood donors to put on oxygen masks to increase the quality of their blood. While she was nearly done with the operation the blood supply for both Han and Sobieski was dangerously low and she feared having enough blood to save them both. The blood for Sobieski, the type A or AB was marked distinctively and was the only blood given to either of them while they were connected together. The other bags of blood were held in reserve for when the two would be separated. After making his hasty rounds Bremer entered into the trauma center to check on Tae-yon's progress. "We've just got to close him up and we're done." Tae-yon told Bremer soon after she heard the door open. She then directed Yu-ri and the other volunteers to bring her the sutures and stitches she needed to close the wounds after she had finished operating on Han's insides. "Alright, we'll give you all the time you need." Bremer told her before quickly exiting the room.

Vargas peered over the rooftop of the bank's parking garage. As the fighting had begun to slow down the blackness of night reclaimed the area from the flames and bright flashes of war. Steady streams of machine gun fire coming from the theater were broken to be replaced by intermittent bursts of light weapons fire as the K6 operators reloaded. A lone rocket issued from the theater, illuminating the backs of the skitters as it passed over them. The mech that was its intended target dodged the attack which exploded on the rear of the debris wall behind the alien horde. At the same time they held back the advancing skitters at the theater many of the soldiers inside quietly evacuated out the back door and boarded the vehicles awaiting them in the alley. Occasionally a skitter or two would sneak around there but they were easily dealt with before they could do much harm. From Vargas' position however the situation was far more dire. A hundred or so skitters stood between him and the hotel towers at any given time with between seven mechs spaced out amongst them like large rocks poking up through a river. Vargas had one HEAT round left in his M67, Tae-yang's K2 rifle strapped to his back, two grenades, a combat knife and his own pistol on his waist. Even with all that gear he didn't stand a chance of getting out of the parking garage. Fortunately for him the aliens were not trying to come in after him, instead they were rushing towards the theater and storming the hotel towers across the street.

Tae-yang on the other hand was not so lucky. He had now retreated to the 6th floor of the hotel tower containing the restaurant. There he regrouped with others in his unit as they attempted to keep the skitters from climbing up the walls and entering into the tower at higher floors. So far they had been successful with the skitters focus divided between them and the theater. The suppressive fire from the mechs that forced them inside actually aided them in keeping the skitters from advancing too high as the creatures would not pass close to an area where their machines were firing upon. So when the mechs stopped shooting, Tae-yang and his men would take over and resume firing upon the skitters on the tower walls. The first and second floor His soldiers had been forced into the stairwell on the 3rd floor where they had contained the skitters in a bottleneck. A mech rocket smashed into the other tower near the 4th floor, taking out several men as they gunned down skitters on the street. Tae-yang knew he had to find some way to deal with the mechs. He had left Vargas' gun on the 5th floor when he was forced to retreat and his pistol and the K2 rifle he salvaged off a dead solider would have no effect against them. To his knowledge his men had no rockets or grenades; all of the weapons that could do damage to the mechs were in the theater or the parking garage across the street, and both locations had a river of skitters standing between them. He then remembered what the intense heat from his flame trap had done to the mechs as he noticed the orange glow from the embers on top of the debris ridge dotted with small flames where there remained solid material that would sustain the flame. There was still a slight trickle of skitters coming over the ridge as well, most likely those who had exited the ruins of the first bank and surrounding buildings that were coming to join the rest of the army. Tae-yang quickly pulled away from the window after he emptied his magazine and hid behind the bathroom wall of the room he was in to reload. He wondered if he could soften these mechs armor in the same way as he did before, but where would he find something that would burn hot enough? The pressurized gases he had used for the booby trap burned at nearly 2000 degrees Celsius, over twice the heat generated by the burning of gasoline. Tae-yang had seen the mechs shrug off Molotov cocktails before so he knew he would have to duplicate temperatures close to what he had generated through the punctured gas line. If he could manage to find a heat source of that magnitude he had no idea how long the effects would last.

Tae-yang hid in the darkness of the bathroom and watched the flickering light from the dying fires outside dance on the wall beyond the bathroom door. He could hear the fighting downstairs intensify while he remained frozen in fear and lost in thought. The gunfire now mixed in with screams as the skitters closed in and engaged Tae-yang's men in the stairwell. As the soldiers with flashlights in hand or mounted on their rifles were killed or forced back, total darkness enveloped those fighting in the stairs. The skitters, who had better eyesight in low light conditions than the human soldiers were unaffected. This only added to the casualty count the 4th Korea suffered in the stairs. A couple crisscrossed flashlight beams on the ground gave only brief glimpses of the skitters' feet as two of the soldiers trapped in darkness were dismembered by the clawed hands of their attackers. The rest of the soldiers fled onto the 4th floor; one of their number was snatched by the shoulders from behind and pulled back into the darkness where he was butchered. Skitters now started coming in through the windows of the third and fourth floors and rushed the Tae-yangs men two floors beneath him from two directions. Tae-yang mustered his courage and returned to the blown apart windows now widened into gaping holes in the walls due to the actions of the mechs below. Tae-yang swept the side of the building with an intense spray of bullets that prevented the skitters from reaching the 5th floor windows and completely enveloping his troops. Another pack of botched explosives ignited at the base of the other hotel tower setting it alight as that position was abandoned by the few remaining soldiers inside. While the survivors of the adjacent tower made a run for it to the next structure to the north the flames spread up the tower, scattering the skitters who were fine so long as they didn't remain in the fire for too long. At the same time the building went up in flames Tae-yang stumbled and fell backwards onto the ground seconds before mech fire shot through the window he was in and blasted holes onto the ceiling. Tae-yang got up and ran to avoid large chunks of the ceiling falling down upon him and when he hid he tripped and fell into the mini kitchen area when he stepped on a loose pot on the ground. He looked around before standing up to make sure he didn't trip and fall again. He saw a few forks and spoons, a shattered bowl and a box of aluminum foil. Aluminum, that was it! Tae-yang knew that aluminum and magnesium burn at high temperatures. If he could get it to ignite then the foil should burn hot enough to affect the mechs. He would have preferred magnesium powder but the aluminum foil was what was readily available at the time. The burning building next door should be capable of igniting the foil if he could get it down there, which was a problem in and of itself. That would only be the beginning though, the real problem would be that he would have to get the burning aluminum to make direct contact with the mech which would require him to physically go up to one of the machines and shove the burning metal onto its skin. Tae-yang grabbed the roll of foil and stood back up. He reloaded his weapon and prepared to fight his way downstairs. He exited the room and turned down the hall towards the stairwell passing through the shadows of the night that existed between the opened or blown apart doors and the bullet holes in the walls beaming in the faint flickers of light from outside. Beneath him he could hear shouting and bursts of gunfire followed by an explosion. Tae-yang turned into the stairwell and descended into complete darkness. He held his weapon out in front of him to make contact with any potential skitters coming up before it could throw a blind swipe at him. The sounds of combat increased in intensity and proximity as Tae-yang crept his way down the stairs. As he felt his way around the corner and onto the last flight of stairs between the sixth and fifth floors he could see a slight glow of illumination coming from the 5th floor entrance to the stairwell. As he stepped into the light, only a dim reflection of a dying fire coming from a nearby room where a grenade had gone off in an effort to clear the room of skitters and ignited some of the linens and drapes. As all the men's eyes had dark adapted as well as was humanly possible to the low light conditions this faint firelight might as well have been the morning sun. Tae-yang ran into the hallway and opened fire on a skitter rushing in from a room down the hall. The creature fell taking twelve rounds only to be joined by a second skitter coming out of the same room.

Tae-yang's attack was joined by two soldiers racing out of the stairwell, making short work of the skitter. Outside the hotel tower the skitters had reached the 5th and 6th floors and were now entering through the windows and blown out sections of the outer wall. "Cover me!" Tae-yang told the soldiers with him as he ran to the room he had left Vargas' rifle in. Six more soldiers were forced up the stairs in advance of several skitters. The first two skitters coming up the stairs were killed by a steady barrage of bullets, slightly slowing down those behind them while four of the soldiers reloaded. The other soldiers continued firing on the skitters taking down a third and then a fourth with the other soldiers resumed firing in order to give those two a chance to reload. The two soldiers in the hallway took down a third skitter coming out of the same room as the first two. One of them ran out of ammo and had to reload as a fourth skitter ran into the hall. The second soldier got a few rounds into the fourth skitter but ran out of rounds before killing it. The wounded skitter charged the soldiers who were saved by one of the soldiers in the stairwell coming to their aid, gunning down the skitter and allowing the two in the hallway to reload and resume firing by the time the fifth, sixth and seventh skitters came through the same door. The soldiers in the stairwell had kept the ascending skitters blocked off by forming a wall of their dead and firing in pairs in order to maintain a continuous stream of fire against the skitters crawling over the dead and along the ceiling. In the hallway skitters began to emerge from a room behind the three soldiers forcing one of them to cover their rear as they were being enveloped. Tae-yang entered the room where he saw Vargas' rifle leaning against the inner wall next to a blown out section of the outer wall. He slowed down to a walk when he got close to it because an irregular section of floor had collapsed near the opening that had been previously blown apart after Tae-yang had first been forced to flee. He was almost to the rifle when a skitter crawled into the room behind him. He fired off the last of what he had in the magazine of his K2 and brought the skitter down with hits to the neck and shoulders. He had no more spare magazines left on him so he discarded the rifle and headed for Vargas' light fifty. A mech sighted him as he leaned in to pick up the rifle and fired a flurry of heavy rounds into the room. The rounds missed Tae-yang and struck the wall, ceiling and floor all around him. Chunks of the ceiling collapsed and struck Tae-yang, knocking him from his footing as the floor collapsed beneath him. When the ground Tae-yang had landed on snagged against a horizontal support beam he watched Vargas' rifle slide off the tilted floor and fall into the sea of skitters on the street below. He hefted the chunks of wood and plastered ceiling tiles off of him and got up before skitters started crawling into the room after him. He ran into the hallway with two skitters in hot pursuit. He drew his pistol and shot a skitter in between him and his men in the back of the head four times. One of the soldiers gunned down one of Tae-yang's pursuers before Tae-yang reached his position and assisted his men in holding down their position.

Tae-yang could now hear gunfire and explosions coming from above him. He was now surrounded; outside the skitters had reached the roof of the tower and were coming in through the windows on all levels. Tae-yang turned and ran back towards the stairwell. "Sir, you can't go back down that way." warned one of the soldiers inside. They were now facing enemies coming from both upstairs and downstairs now. A grenade exploded on the upstairs stairwell blasting off several legs of three skitters and more importantly lighting the carpet and wallpaper to provide greater visibility in the dark. Tae-yang fired off a couple of rounds that did little more than annoy a skitter before he stopped to reload. Tae-yang then went back into the hallway as the aliens closed the snare around them on all sides. Two of the soldiers in the hallway were now on their last full magazine as there seemed to be no end to the skitters. "Head for the fire escape at the end of the hall!" Tae-yang ordered all of the soldiers. The man in front of him was clawed through the stomach and groin before Tae-yang could finish off the skitter he was fighting. Tae-yang took out the front two legs of another skitter ahead of him while the rest of his men held back the foes at the rear. Two of the soldiers were brought down and mauled by the convergence of skitters in front of the entrance to the stairwell. Tae-yang turned back around and stopped a third soldier from being brought down by firing the final shot into a skitter bearing down on him from a room on the right. One of the soldiers ran ahead of Tae-yang and kicked open the fire escape. He waved Tae-yang on ahead after making sure the fire escape was clear. Three of the soldiers holding back the skitters in the hallway behind Tae-yang now had to resort to their pistols and knives, while two others were overwhelmed and gutted. "Go on ahead! I'll catch up!" Tae-yang told the soldier ahead of him. He then turned back and emptied his weapon to stop one of the skitters mauling his men. The soldier meanwhile obeyed orders and fled down the fire escape, opening the outer door on the 2nd floor on his way down to free another group of soldiers pinned down within. With little warning Tae-yang was attacked from the side as a skitter busted down a door and slammed it against Tae-yang, pinning him to the wall. One of his men shot the skitter in the side of the head making it turn towards the other soldier and momentarily free Tae-yang from the vice before Tae-yang's savior had his head and arms ripped off from behind. The skitter then pursued Tae-yang who drew a knife and stabbed the skitter in the right shoulder as it tackled him and lifted him up. The skitter recoiled and thrust its middle claw on its left hand into the top of Tae-yang's throat. It pulled up and hooked Tae-yang's jawbone all the while opening up his neck. The skitter pulled its left arm back and yanked off Tae-yang's lower jaw as he flailed in the grip of its right arm. The skitter tossed Tae-yang back against the wall as its focus was redirected against a soldier firing on him from behind. Tae-yang lay crumpled up against the wall as he bled to death while watching the remaining fighters in the hallway be torn apart or break away and run for the fire escape. Above him and below him his troops were forced out of the hotel tower as it was completely overrun by skitters. He hadn't even been given the chance to put his plan into action against the mechs and he would die knowing they were still out there menacing the remaining fighters holding their ground in the movie theater and the coffee shop. They had fought valiantly, Tae-yang had given all he had to give, and alone it wasn't enough. The only solace he could take comfort in as he passed was that his sacrifice when added to others might have been enough in time to halt the enemy advance.

Vargas came down off the roof and crept down through the ground floor, illuminated only by the faint flames still burning outside upon the ridge and on the ruined mechs and battered buildings. He noticed the first hotel tower burst into flames and heard the ramped up increase in the firefight within the second tower. He descended into pitch blackness in the lower levels of the parking garage forcing him to fumble for his flashlight and turn it on. A wounded skitter lunged for him in the dark the moment he turned the light on but it's injuries slowed it down just long enough for Vargas to slay it with a couple quick bursts from his rifle. He passed another group of dead skitters and humans cautiously in case not all of them were in fact slain. A demolished mech blocked one of the ramps to the lower levels on sub floor three which forced Vargas to climb on top of parked cars and the mech's legs in order to get over and around it. He then proceeded to make his way to the bottom floor where his flashlight beam crossed with a few others. There were about twenty seven men in all waiting at the bottom of the garage near the weapons cache. "Thank God that you guys are still here." Vargas greeted the soldiers who were happy to see that the light was from him and not one of the mechs. "What's the situation? Report!" Vargas asked them. "Some of the guys took the Humvees and were going to withdraw behind the theater. We couldn't all fit so they told us they would give us an opening later where we could make a run for it. Until then our orders we to wait down here until they cleared the way. The signal is for four long honks to show when they were ready followed by three short honks when the path was clear." one of the soldiers reported. "Ok, we'll stick to that plan then." Vargas said. "Mind if I join you til then?" Vargas asked. "No problem sarge, take a breather and chill." another soldier replied, welcoming him down to what remained of his unit in the underground garage.

Back on the surface the soldiers from the shopping center with the coffee shop in front withdrew behind the theater fighting off the skitters on their heels the entire way. As the last of them escaped the building five of the enemy mechs launched a volley of rockets into the shopping center that brought down nearly two thirds of the storefront. A retaliatory rocket was fired by one of the fleeing soldiers that smashed into the side of one of the mechs, blasting off one of its rear "wings" as the burning central core toppled over sideways. The entire area had nearly been abandoned now, the survivors from each of the fallen buildings had retreated to the north, east and south hoping to escape the slaughter and regroup later. As the fleeing soldiers looked back towards the ridge sealing off the ambush zone from the east they notice there were no more mechs and skitters coming over the wall. On the other side of the wall an advance party of four mechs leading a dozen or so skitters had broken away from the rear of the enemy army and resumed the march north to investigate the presumably abandoned hospital. The remainder of the alien army, nine mechs and an innumerable horde of skitters were now closing in on the last remaining bastion of the human defenses in the movie theater. The stalwart defenders in the theater continued to slow the enemy advance now within five yards of their doorstep. The freshly reloaded machine gun emplacements joined in with the soldiers firing alongside them behind the concession stand and those firing down upon the skitters from the roof. Two rounds from recoilless rifles streaked towards a pair of mechs on the north and south sides of the enemy formation respectively and struck well placed hits that brought the machines down. Ryong-ho commanded the forces atop the roof to focus fire on the skitters' flanks in order to protect the evacuation and the motorized company in the rear. Ryong-ho himself using his high powered rifle focused on dealing damage and diversion to the mechs towards the rear of the enemy army that were shielded from the heavy machine gun fire by the seemingly endless tide of skitters rushing the front door. While those strategically placed defenses slowed the enemy rush the majority of the soldiers holed up inside the theater were being evacuated out the rear emergency exits. Those who could remain with the vehicles did so but most of the men fled into the east. They had fought bravely but there was no way they were going to win here. A few hours were gained for those they had left behind at the cost of many lives. The flanks of the skitter forces started to envelop around the sides of the theater while the center of their formation was cut into by the twin machine guns firing upon them. The soldiers on the rooftops began shooting straight down to knock down skitters that were now climbing the walls. The mechs began firing on the rooftops in order to scatter the soldiers so that they skitters could complete the climb. Ryong-ho was knocked back by a section of wall just below and in front of him that was blown apart. After one soldier on the rooftop had launched a round from his M67 that damaged the hand arm of a mech he noticed the tail end of the enemy formation leaving the area in front of the parking garage and passing in front of the ruins of the shopping centers. "Rope the tail of the dragon! Repeat rope the tail of the dragon!" the soldier ran shouted and started to run back to the opposite side of the roof. "I got this!" Ryong-ho shouted back at him as he stood up and sent the soldier back into the fight. Ryong -ho sprinted to the edge of the roof overlooking the vehicles in the rear of the theater. "Tail of the dragon! Go! Go! Go!" Ryong-ho shouted then quickly whipped back around and shot a skitter that was coming over the wall onto the roof. The soldier he had sent back was now forced to discard his M67 and take up his rifle to defend himself against the skitters that had just reached the rooftop and were coming towards him and his brothers in arms. Ryong-ho hurried to his aid and blasted apart the head of a skitter about to snatch up the soldier and toss him down onto the street. "I owe you one sir!" the soldier called back as he emptied his weapon on the line of skitters crawling up the roof in front of him. Below the fighting on the rooftop the line of vehicles started up and sounded their horns in four long honks before they drove around past the south side of the theater, gunning down a mass of skitters as they passed by. They then gave the second signal of three short honks before they sped away, drawing a quarter of the skitters in the enemy force after them.

Vargas heard the first signal muffled at a distance from deep within the underground garage. "Let's go!" he told his men and they gathered their gear and ran towards the surface. As the last of the alien forces passed by the parking garage one of the mechs stopped after detecting sound coming from within. It turned back and headed into the parking garage to investigate. All the while a beamer was making a flyover from the north over the battle zone. On sub level three Vargas' troops heard the second signal and they also heard something else, footsteps of an approaching mech. Half of Vargas' troops were sent back while a quarter of them sought cover behind the mech. The rest climbed over and went ahead with Vargas. Before they could reach the turn up the ramp to sub level two the mech's spotlights were shining down on the driveway in front of them. Vargas and the other men on point scattered and hid behind parked vehicles. When the mech turned the corner and shined its spotlight onto the fallen mech at the end of the next ramp Vargas popped out and using his last HEAT round blasted a chunk off the side of the mech and damaged one of the "wings" and the fingered arms shoulder joint. Another soldier launched a rocket from behind the ruined mech which hit the robot head on and destroyed it.

This clash was detected by the beamer overhead which quickly made a loop around and came in for a low level bombing run from the north. The beamer fired into the exposed upper level of the bank's parking garage. The resultant explosion collapsed the top two floors, thus sealing off the lower levels underground and trapping the personnel inside. The beamer then slowed down drastically and flew towards theater, strafing the roof with blue energy bolts before it accelerated and ascended back into the night sky. The rooftop of the theater was now thoroughly swarmed by skitters and the flanks of the enemy army were also reaching the rear of the theater as well. The theater was poised to break, the mech's continued to fire upon the rooftop covering the skitters as they tore through the human ranks, now pushed into a complete rout. Back on street level the skitters now had broken through the front door of the theater and split off to the sides away from the machine guns. The other soldiers behind the concession stand protected the machine gunners from a flank attack and scattered the skitters away, sending some of them upstairs where they clashed with more of the retreating human forces.

Amidst the routed soldiers on the roof Ryong-ho ran downstairs to the second floor of the theater and gunned down three skitters adding to a pile produced when the initial wave burst in and stumbled upon a sizeable contingent of soldiers on their way to the emergency exits. He turned back to cover the rest of his men as they fled down into the theater and shot many of the skitters that pursued them. Once the last man was down he tossed a grenade into the roof access door and collapsed it, sealing off the skitters on the roof for a time. Left alone he then resumed his own flight from the theater which soon found itself stunted. Hearing the machine guns exhaust the last of their rounds as he began to descend the main flight of stairs into the lobby he knew he didn't have long before the aliens would be storming up the stairs in numbers he could not possibly repel. He knew the quickness of the creatures; they would be at the base of the stairs before he was even halfway down. Retreat seemed to be impossible in his current predicament and fighting to the death would be futile so he quickly devised a different sort of strategy. Ryong-ho ran towards the pile of skitters and pulled one of those slain down to the level of his shoulders. He opened up the underside of the dead skitter's carcass by slicing it with his combat knife down the middle. He gutted the skitter, removing the soft and squishy entrails beneath what almost appeared to be a translucent second skin under the shell. There was no time for an alien anatomy lesson however, Ryong-ho hastily made enough room inside the skitter so that he could crawl inside of its skin. They seemed resistant and well insulated against fire so it stood to reason that their skin would provide an excellent means to hide his own heat signature from detection. Their ability to thrive in the supposedly irradiated areas of Seoul where they first made landfall also indicated that Ryong-ho should be shielded from other forms of detection. Ryong-ho stuffed the loose entrails beneath a couple of other skitters Once he was inside the skitter he flopped down on the side of the head close to the top but not directly on top as to deter suspicion.

Meanwhile downstairs after the K6 operators exhausted the last of their ammo they abandoned their posts and joined the last remaining soldiers in fleeing out the back of the theater as the skitters came storming in unimpeded. Several of these soldiers were caught around the back by the flanking units in a pincers maneuver and were slaughtered to the last while giving the lucky ones a chance to slip quietly into the night. A few bands of skitters gave pursuit but the soldiers had gained enough ground on them to be able to hide, elude them, or pick them off one by one. Sporadic clashes to the west of the ambush zone would continue until dawn when the skitters would abandon their hunt for the routed remnants of the 4th Korea's main army.

Back inside the theater Ryong-ho got himself adjusted then froze motionless inside his skitter-skin tent. It was cool and slimy inside as was to be expected given the consistency of the stuff he pulled out of the skitter. Surprisingly however it did not stink as he had expected monsters from another world to, or really any dead body for that matter. In fact dead alien flesh was almost odorless, granted it was freshly killed but still if you open up most animals when they are still alive there's bound to be something of a funk, guess he didn't puncture the wrong organ or something. Most of the scent that reached Ryong-ho's nose was that of ash or gunpowder and no eewy gooey skitter guts. These things probably took longer to decompose than most things, they seemed to be resistant to just about everything else, why not maggots and germs, Ryong-ho thought as he remained as still as a statue and waited for the danger to pass. A trio of skitters soon came up the stairs, walked over to the pile of their slain comrades, looked it over for a minute or two then scurried off. He could hear the sounds of skitters moving in and out of the theater for ten or twenty minutes after the last gunshot was fired. The remaining enemy mechs simultaneously produced that eerie groaning noise Ryong-ho had so come to dread in recent days and all the skitters inside the theater and surrounding buildings returned back onto the street. All in all the counteroffensive had now been thoroughly terminated. The what remained of the main bulk of the alien strike force began to regroup outside before they headed north to join their advance scouts.

The hospital was braced for the attack when the mechs footsteps could be heard in the distance. The volume of their robotic footfalls increased with each stomp as the enemy drew nearer. From the outside the hospital looked abandoned. The windows were darkened and empty, the visible hallways were deserted. The rooftop burned like a torch in the wind while a raging ring of fire encircled the hospital from the ground. A group of three beamers made several passes over the structure at high altitude while the mechs were on approach though they made no aggressive actions towards the hospital or its inhabitants. Though it looked dead the hospital was a viper coiled up and ready to strike. Snipers were positioned on the top floor of the hospital directly beneath the burning fuel drums as to mask their heat signatures from the mechs and beamers. Downstairs Bremer and a hand-picked crew of his best fighters were waiting behind overturned tables and the built in desks at check in and the nurses' station in the ER. One of the soldiers had set up a K6 heavy machine gun and another had a K11 grenade launcher. There were also two bazookas with 3 rounds between the two of them. The rest had standard issue assault weapons and shotguns. Elsewhere at the main and side entrances to the hospital they had other units positioned to cover the retreat of the remaining noncombatants into the parking garage. In the parking garage Seo-jun and a team of mostly fresh civilian fighters were assembled near the school bus and one of the ambulances both prepped and ready to withdraw. This team would act as the last line of defense for the children, the elderly and the wounded. Among the children and other noncombatants in the bus were Miss Do and Shi-woo acting as the adult presence to keep them calm and quiet. Father Yang waited by the door to the bus with a shotgun in hand until it was time for them to leave. Inside the ambulance were a couple of badly wounded soldiers, one with both legs amputated and the other recovering from abdominal lacerations dealt by a skitter the previous day. Heading between the garage and the hospital were the last few evacuees apart from Major Han and Sobieski. Williams and a Korean man, a former store clerk were the two fighters assigned to protect the evacuees as they withdrew.

The trauma center looked like the set of a remote archaeological dig site somewhere in the dead of night. Three bright spotlights were positioned around the operating table and chair where Han and Sobieski were. Apart from that area the rest of the room was covered in darkness. The windows were painted black and all the windows and walls were covered with lead lined drapes and vests nailed to the walls and threaded together with staples and surgical twine. The light from the blazing fires outside did not seep through but some of the heat surely did as was evident from the droplets of sweat dripping from Tae-yon's forehead. Already under duress and hopped up on a third dosage of pills to maintain her alertness and focus during the delicate operation. Connecting the three spotlights were rolling foam partitions that separated the operating area from the blackness of the room beyond. Inside these partitions were the remaining bags of blood and saline, the IV stands, the car battery and cables on the dolly, three volunteers standing around and the utensil tray carrying the tools that Tae-yon was using. Tae-yon sat beside Han finishing up the last of her stitches while Yu-ri checked the vital signs on both he and Sobieski. "Alright we're done with that part." Tae-yon declared as she stood up after she finished stitching up Major Han. "Yu-ri, I need you to help me separate these too." Tae-yon told Yu-ri. "You, get fresh blood bags ready for both of them and you over there bring that battery here, we're going to have to jump him once they are split up." Tae-yon instructed two of the three volunteers inside the trauma center. Tae-yon and Yu-ri began to disconnect the tubes conjoining Han to Sobieski while one of the volunteers held the cables just below their bare ends, ready to deliver a shock to Han upon Tae-yon's command.

Moments later on the street outside the emergency room entrance four mechs marched in single file on the side of the street near to the hospital and away from the line of bonfires. The trademark groan of the machines echoed amidst the crackling of the bonfires and the clanging of their footsteps. A small band of skitters was following a short distance behind them. The mechs stopped at a distance in front of the emergency room doors and turned to face the hospital. They stood neatly in a row facing the emergency room entrance and waited. The skitters scurried in behind them and stood to the right and the left of the mechs. The aliens looked curiously at the structure, seemingly desolate but with such an elaborate defensive firewall as to pique their interest.

Bremer stood next to one of the emergency room doors while another soldier mirrored his stance on the other. The mechs stood nearly motionless outside while the soldiers waited on baited breath within the hospital walls. In a silence that seemed like hours the crackling bonfires behind the mechs seemed like a tornado, a storm that would soon be snuffed out as the mechs opened fire. The bullets tore through the walls and the barricades set up inside. Their defenses could not stop the mech rounds but did manage to alter the trajectory of their shots just enough to prevent any casualties on the first strike. Following two, possibly three minutes of continuous fire the mechs ceased their barrage. After the mechs had fired fruitlessly into the ER, revealing they were able to detect the men and women inside Bremer and the soldier next to the opposite door flung the doors open and allowed their own forces a clear line of sight to the enemy. "So much for hiding, now we've got to fight the sons of bitches off!" Bremer exclaimed. The soldiers gathered behind the fortifications released the first volley of heavy weapons fire. The first mech was hit head on with a bazooka blast which destroyed the central core while the second mech was hit by four well placed grenades blowing out its right hip joint, the shoulder joint above its gun arm and the lower portion of the central core rendering it inoperable. At the same time the second bazooka blast struck the left leg of the fourth mech and the machine gun lightly peppered the third mech before refocusing on the fourth until it fell backwards and came apart. The remaining mech opened fire on the defenders in the ER, its shots shredding through tables, couches and desks effortlessly. One soldier was struck in the shoulder, another was clipped in the thigh, a third soldier was shot through the center of her chest and leaned back onto the floor clutching her gaping chest wound as she bled out on the waiting room tile. The grenadier was hit in the abdomen before he could retaliate on the last mech. The other soldiers opened fire as soon as the skitters rushed in ahead of the mech as the mech still sprayed bullets into the ER. Bremer crept up to the side of the opened ER door. Another soldier was shot twice in the arm and in the face as he was shooting down skitters that were coming up the walkway towards the ER doors. Bremer swung out into the doorway and fired his under barrel grenade launcher at the remaining mech, hitting its forward rocket launcher just as it was about to fire. The combined explosion obliterated the mech leaving only a few skitters behind to clean up. Several of the soldiers carried or dragged the wounded out of the combat zone and gathered them together along the route of the evacuation teams so they would get picked up later. A few stayed behind to attempt to administer first aid to those they believed they could save. Tae-yon would have plenty of work cut out for her once she had finished with the Major and Sobieski. "Don't get overconfident guys, that was just a scouting party the rest of them will be here shortly." Bremer told his squad as he reloaded the under barrel launcher following the defeat of the last skitter.

Sure enough within the hour the rest of the enemy army had arrived. This time there were six mechs, spaced further out than before yet still marching in single file followed by at least sixty or seventy skitters thirty or forty yards away. This time the defenders did not wait for the mechs to about face and fire upon them in a neat little row. The last bazooka shell crashed through the top of the second mech to pass by the open doors while the machine gun operator sprayed several of the machines doing minor damage to each while a new soldier who took up the role of grenadier took out the knees of the fifth mech, thereby immobilizing it. A rocket was fired from the rooftop catching the 4th mech off guard and obliterating it as the mechs stopped and turned towards the ER. The rocket attack diverted the attention of two mechs to open fire on the rooftop which knocked one of the flaming barrels down onto the hospital lawn along with an avalanche of bricks and dust. The burning barrel spilled out its contents igniting the grass between the street and the ground level footpath between the emergency room and a second hospital building to the south behind which was the parking garage and further still the loading docks. The other mech opened fire into the emergency room forcing the defenders to scatter. The second grenadier met an fate more unfortunate than the first when a mech round popped his skull open like a balloon. A third man rushed in to assume the cursed position and retaliated against the mech by blowing off its gun arm. While the skitters started to charge the entrance to the ER the snipers positioned on the top floors opened fire on them, thinning out their ranks before they engaged the defenders inside. Two of the mechs, including the damaged one then broke away and headed towards the north as the skitters began to pour into the street where the mechs had once been. The enraged grenadier ran outside and finished off the mech that he had damaged. He was not going to let that son of a bitch get away. Bremer pulled him back and blasted a couple of charging skitters before they could eviscerate the grenadier. "Keep your emotions in check soldier! Get back behind the fortification now!" Bremer commanded the soldier. While he was outside he noticed that the mechs would be passing in front of the trauma center on their way around to the main entrance of the hospital on the north side. He hoped their preparations would pay off and the mechs would simply pass by but his instincts told him he should tell Tae-yon to wrap it up and evacuate immediately. They didn't have the manpower to go after the mechs and the eight or nine skitters that followed behind them. Bremer gathered a few men and ran towards the trauma center while the rest of the soldiers engaged the first wave of skitters.

"Are they ready to move?!" frantically asked Bremer after barging in the trauma center doors with three other soldiers. "Almost." Tae-yon replied. "Clear!" she shouted at the volunteer holding the battery cables. The volunteer shoved the bare ends of the cable onto Han's bare chest on either side of his heart. Han's body jolted upwards with the charge and then the cables were removed. As Tae-yon leaned in to listen for the Major's heartbeat the windows behind her shattered in an explosion. Fragments of glass, brick and wood flew into the trauma center becoming embedded in the walls, foam partitions and ceiling and spreading out like dust across the floor. One of the saline bags was punctured by a shard of brick that slipped between a gap in one of the partitions. A sharp piece of glass sliced Tae-yon's right cheek after she stood up so see what had happened. She clutched the side of her face and leaned down on top of Han to gain cover behind the partitions from the rest of the cloud of shrapnel. Before the dust and flying glass had settled, a mech leapt in through the shattered window panes, knocking over a larger section of the wall to make room for it to pass through. It was followed by a pair of skitters who immediately advanced on the people inside. Bremer and his troops opened fire on the invaders, knocking down the skitters with ease before they could do any harm. "Get them out of here!" Tae-yon screamed at the volunteers as she released the brakes on the table that Han was laid out upon and started to push it away. Two of the volunteers hefted Sobieski onto a gurney and carried her away while the other snatched up the blood bags and laid them on top of Han, steadying them with one hand while pushing his IV rigs with the other next to Tae-yon. One of the soldiers moved aside the partitions to allow the medical personnel to pass. While all this was happening the mech seized a startled Yu-ri with its fingered hand and picked her up. Her screams were silenced by the cracking of ribs and the collapsing of lungs as the mech squeezed down. Bremer fired his under barrel grenade launcher at the mech, blowing apart the front armor casing of the machine at near point blank range. The force of the explosion knocked Bremer over as the mech staggered back and tossed Yu-ri's broken body against the wall, opening cabinets and knocking jars and boxes of supplies off the shelves nearby. Tae-yon stopped, turned back and screamed in horror as she watched her assistant fall limp to the floor like a sock puppet. "Go! There's nothing you can do about it now!" Bremer yelled at Tae-yon while one of his soldiers helped him to his feet. The other soldiers opened fire on the mech, knocking it back through its exposed frontal internals until it suffered enough damage to fall over inoperable, the top of the machination landing right beside Yu-ri's lifeless body. A handful of other soldiers were summoned in just after the medical personnel left to collect the battery dolly and some of the other supplies left in the operating area and cover their retreat from the skitters that were climbing in through the blown open window. They drove back the first wave of aliens, killing and wounding some of them as the cautiously backed towards the doors to the rest of the ER. Bremer and the soldiers withdrew from the trauma center and barricaded the door behind them with couches and chairs as more skitters entered in through the open window.

In the ER waiting room an intense firefight was waiting for them as Bremer's men held back the incoming skitters coming straight through the front door. The soldier with the grenade launcher blasted off the right foot of a mech charging in with the next wave causing it to fall face forward, that is if one could call the front side of the mech it's "face". "That's it boys! Hold them back a little bit longer!" Bremer screamed before spraying a leaping skitter across its underside before it could clear the ramshackle barricade and land on top of his men. Bremer stood firm in the entry to the hallway and aided his troops while the medical personnel, their patients and their escorts fled down the hall. Bremer reloaded and fired another grenade round blasting the limbs off two skitters coming through the doorway and knocking back three more behind them. While he reloaded another round into his under barrel launcher and changed out his magazine the other soldiers popped up and unleashed a ferocious barrage through the doorway and windows capitalizing on the opening Bremer gave them to further push the skitters back.

Outside on the street, another group of about twenty skitters peeled off from the main bunch and went around to the north side of the hospital and another five skitters scurried up the driveway connecting the parking garage to the street. The rest of the skitters charged into the ER waiting room en masse and forced the soldiers inside to withdraw down the hallways. Those dragging the wounded left first with Bremer while the rest of the soldiers stood their ground for just another moment before they too fell back. The soldiers withdrew hastily down the hallway fighting a frantic rearguard action to keep the alien menace away from the wounded being evacuated ahead of them. Bremer sprinted ahead at full speed to catch up with Tae-yon and her volunteer staff wheeling away Lyndsey and Major Han. "Stay with me tank girl, come on!" Bremer encouraged Lyndsey to hold on to life even though she could not hear him. They soon met up with Williams and a handful of other men. "We've just cleared out all levels except for the snipers on top." Williams reported upon seeing Bremer. "Do they know we're pulling out?" Bremer asked. "Yes sir. They said they'll be on their way but they insisted on covering us a while longer." Williams replied. "A noble gesture but they better not take too long." Bremer said as they approached the side entrance leading to one of the walkways into the parking garage. "The gang's on level 4." Williams told Bremer as he looked through the doorway windows before stepping out and clearing his corners. Bremer, Williams and two other soldiers then advanced onto the walkway covering both directions ahead of the Tae-yon and her staff. To the north Bremer saw the supply truck waiting in the loading docks at the far end of the hospital. That would be the last ride out of this place. To the south he saw the grassfire burning itself out between himself and the street. As Tae-yon and her patients were crossing a skitter approached them from the south, climbing along the hospital walls like a spider. Bremer and the other soldiers opened fire on it, speckling the area around the skitter with bullet holes and knicking the alien around the fringes but failing to land any direct hits. The skitter pounced onto a soldier, knocking the soldier on his back and slashing away at the soldier's face and chest. Williams charged at the skitter and hooked it under the jaw with his prosthetic hook. He pulled the skitter close to him and shoved his sawed off shotgun onto the skitter's forehead and pulled the trigger. Not even the skitter's toughened exoskeleton could stop that shotgun blast from cracking its head open like an egg, spraying skitter brains and goo everywhere onto Williams and the ground and walls around him. While Williams helped the wounded soldier off the ground Bremer and the other soldiers opened fire on two more skitters coming for them. After one of the skitters was stopped Bremer ran ahead to catch up with Tae-yon who had now entered the parking garage and was on her way up to the waiting ambulances. Once the second skitter was dealt with Williams and the rest of the soldiers followed suit behind him.

Meanwhile in the main lobby of the hospital Hamza waited with a small contingent of fighters stationed here to cover the flanks. Once again it was not loyalty or common cause that impelled Hamza to stand with the 4th Korea, it was purely self-interest. He would be more likely to survive the night in their company. The alien devils did not differentiate between the faithful and the infidel, they would slaughter all that was man, and therefore necessity demanded that he stand with those who were human tonight. He believed that ultimately the sinful and the unbelievers would be eradicated when the dust had settled though he was not confident in the belief that the faithful would endure on their own. Much as in former times men relied on horses and dogs to prevail in war against those without them now the faithful would have to rely on the damned to persevere against this calamitous judgment upon the whole of mankind. Hamza had been given a rifle like the others, for the 4th did not have the luxury of discriminating between groups of humans as well. He also held onto a pair of hedge trimmers from the groundskeepers shed for when the fighting got too close for a gun battle. He did not have to wait long for a fight. The sound of the snipers on the top floor firing on a mech leading a platoon of skitters was the first sign that trouble was on its way. If that wasn't enough a rocket blasting open the front door of the hospital was a dead giveaway. The mech didn't enter the hospital first, it delegated that task to the skitters. Instead the mech turned its attention to the snipers who were picking off skitters on their way into the main entrance. The snipers engaged the mech in return, some of their weapons offered sufficient power to render damage to the mech, others simply dinged off its armor. Firing downward from twenty stories with the force of gravity offered a bit of an assist too when it came to breaching the mech's skin. The first skitters through the gaping smoldering hole that had been the door and its surrounding wall were met with bullets coming at them from every direction. Fighters were shooting down at them from the grandiose second floor balcony on the far side of the room above the information desk. Other soldiers were sniping from the adjoining hallways and lobby offices. Three soldiers opened fire from behind the information desk thus completing a 180 degree arc of fire onto the onrushing skitters. While the first wave of skitters was reduced to a heap of bodies quickly the second and final wave exploited gaps in the defenses while some of the soldiers were reloading and quickly rushed the information desk and darted down one of the hallways, forcing some of the soldiers to deal with the aliens in hand to hand combat. Hamza was among the fighters in the hallway that the skitters had chosen to go down. The soldier to his left was tackled to the ground by a skitter and the soldier to his right opened fire and stopped another skitter in its tracks. Hamza got a few rounds into the skitter bound for him before the creature slapped away his rifle. The skitter then clasped one of its hands around Hamza's throat and lifted him into the air. Hamza struggled and retrieved the hedge clippers from his belt. As the skitter attempted to crush his neck Hamza mustered the last of his strength, opened the hedge clippers and jammed them into the skitter's wrist forcing it to relax its grip slightly. Taking a short gasp of air Hamza closed the shears and severed the skitter's hand off causing him to fall a short distance to the floor. Before he could finish catching his breath the skitter swiped at him with its other hand. Hamza evaded the strike by rolling towards the skitter on the floor. He then popped up and slammed the tip of the closed garden shears into the shoulder of the skitter in front of him. Blood and black fluid spurted out of the wound as Hamza retracted the shears and then drove them into the skitters throat as it leaned its head back in agony from the first stab. Hamza opened and closed the shears inside the skitter guaranteeing a fatal wound before he withdrew his weapon and backed away. He used the shears once again to deflect an overhead blow from another skitter before it was shot and killed by the soldier to his right. The squad at the main entrance continued to fight a seesaw battle for control of the lobby while skitters flooded in the emergency room entrance to the south and spread throughout the hospital via that route. Soon enough they would be fighting on two fronts and have no choice but to abandon their posts and flee with their lives.

In the parking garage Bremer's team came across Seo-jun and his team fighting a trio of skitters. They were too intermingled with Seo-jun's men to get a clean shot so Bremer and William charged into the melee. Seo-jun jumped on the back of one of the skitters and bayoneted it repeated as it attempted to swat him away. Two more skitters came up the ramp behind them and were shot and killed by the soldiers who stayed back to protect Tae-yon and her staff. Williams slammed his hook down on top of one of the skitters' heads piercing through its shell and skull before it could wrap its long clawed hands around his own throat. Meanwhile Bremer shoved his rifle into a skitters mouth and blew the top of its head off that way. Once the skitters were cleared the team escorted Tae-yon and her patients to the vehicles nervously awaiting orders to withdraw. Father Yang joined Bremer and his men in loading Han, Sobieski and the medical equipment into the back of the empty ambulance. Once inside Tae-yon checked the vital signs of her two patients. Sobieski checked out, still breathing, still had a pulse, comatose but alive. She couldn't detect any signs of life from Major Han however. "I don't hear anything, give him another jolt." Tae-yon told one of her volunteers standing nearby with the battery cables in hand. He shocked Han's chest, jolting him up into the air. Tae-yon leaned down and checked for a heartbeat and again she found nothing. "Again! Clear!" Tae-yon commanded. She repeated the process several times, administering shocks and CPR to Major Han while outside the others were loaded onto the school bus and the second ambulance. "Everyone inside knows to head for the supply truck I hope." Bremer said. "They do. I was very thorough in my rounds. If they aren't here now they'll be heading to the loading dock." Williams replied. Bremer peeked back into the ambulance to see Tae-yon directing another shock to Han. This time Han gasped and spit out some phlegm and blood. Tae-yon leaned in and heard his heart beat start up and his breathing in a steady rhythm. His vitals were weak but he was back among the living now. Tae-yon then prepared to change out Han's blood and saline bags as they were getting low. Bremer's fears were eased for the moment so he now turned his attention back to Williams. "So we've got everyone right?" Bremer asked. "Yes sir. The snipers, the side and main entrance teams and all the civvies." Williams replied. "What about the crazy bitch in the psych ward?" asked Bremer as he himself just remembered she was there. "I didn't know there was one." Williams replied. Honest mistake, Ryong-ho had been pushed out the door on Vargas' mission shortly after he had locked her up. Word probably hadn't had a chance to get around yet. "Shit I'll go get her." Bremer said. "You guys get moving in no more than thirty minutes understand?" Bremer ordered everyone as he started to run off. "I'll head out with the supply truck don't wait up!" Bremer told the others as he sprinted away.

Bremer took the enclosed fifth floor walkway between the parking garage and the hospital. He looked out the side windows as he crossed over the grassy area separating the two buildings. The living skitters and mechs were now all gone which meant they were now inside the hospital. He was walking straight into the tiger's maw alone. Elsewhere in the hospital the snipers were fighting their way down and Hamza and his team pulled back to the cafeteria and joined with the defenders from the side entrances who had seen little to no action so far. The last orders they had received were to hold out for up to an hour if at all possible until the last of their forces met up with them at the supply truck. The loading docks were not far from the cafeteria, just down the hall and around the corner from the kitchen's walk-in freezer. Bremer managed to reach the psych ward with only one skitter encounter along the way which he handled with minimal difficulty, catching the alien off guard. The psych ward was in a remote part of the building compared to the rest of the 4th Korea's forces so Bremer was far from any reinforcements if he should stumble into a more significant enemy presence there.

"There it is, room 24." Bremer said, correctly identifying the squiggles on the door. "Hot damn, I'm actually picking up this fruity shit." he commented to himself. It would only stand to reason since most of his scouts notes came in written in hangul that he would learn to pick some of it apart without assistance from Han or one of his aides. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and dug around in his pockets. Bremer then found the keys Ryong-ho had given him and opened the door. There he found Jin-shil tied up and terrified in the corner of the room. "Get up! We've got to get you out of here!" Bremer ordered the young woman. "Fuck you!" Jin-shil shouted back as she stood up and backed against the wall. "Listen bitch, you shot one of my officers who may not live to see the dawn so you're lucky I don't just leave you here for the bugs to chew on." Bremer snapped back. "Good. I hope he dies." Jin-shil retorted and spat in Bremer's direction. "I don't have time for this shit; you can come with me or I'll lock you back in here for the bugs to find." Bremer growled as he took Jin-shil's bound wrists and led her out the door. Once she was into the hallway Jin-shil tried to twist and get away from Bremer. When Bremer held onto his grip she tried to shift her weight and pull him down to the ground. Bremer adjusted for that move and found himself and Jin-shil staring face to face. She thrashed and kicked to try to get away. Bremer wasn't about to just let Han's potential killer simply escape into the night. He gave her two choices, she would face the 4th Korea's justice or she would face the bugs'. Jin-shil landed a strong kick to Bremer's groin which had anticipated effect on the male anatomy. Bremer clutched his groin with one hand in pain as Jin-shil twisted and escaped the grip of his other hand, pulling Bremer onto the ground in the process. Bremer drew his backup pistol and shot Jin-shil in the right ankle causing her to trip and fall face forward onto the floor. He got up and hobbled into a brisk jog towards her. He holstered his pistol and looked down at Jin-shil, still lying on the ground. It was a minor wound, she could get patched up and be fine in a day or so Bremer reasoned. He picked her up seeing the look of shock on Jin-shil's face that he actually shot her. "You're fucking desperate to keep your pets aren't you? Kwang-su's not giving you enough is he?" Jin-shil sassily remarked. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about lady." Bremer said. "Whatever asshole, he's just going to fuck you over in the end you know that, but go on, live it up while you can." Jin-shil said to Bremer while he pushed her forwards through the halls to the stairwell. "How about you just shut up and move. We can talk later when there's not bugs around every corner waiting to rip us to shreds. "Then let them." Jin-shil said before she attempted to scream. Bremer thought ahead of her though and took out a roll of gauze from his pocket, stuffed some in Jin-shil's mouth and wrapped the rest around her head to gag her. "I'm sorry I've got to be this rough with you but I don't want to die. You're not exactly helping either." Bremer said. "You'll thank me when you're still alive." he added. Bremer managed to get Jin-shil downstairs to the 5th floor of the main building, hiding from a few skitters passing by in a hallway. It was too late for him to return to the parking garage, they should be leaving now Bremer thought as he approached the 5th floor walkway. He turned away and started towards the loading docks to catch the last ride out.

Back in the parking garage Father Yang and Williams waited patiently by the bus and first ambulance respectively. It was already past the time Bremer told them to leave but none of them wanted to go without their leader. "We've got to get moving corporal. Hop in." Seo-jun told Williams. "Just give me a few more minutes." Williams replied. Time ticked by minute by minute and still there was no sign of Bremer returning. "He said he would find another way out. We've got to get these people to safety." Seo-jun urged Williams. "I know, just give him a little more time please." Williams pleaded. More time passed and still Bremer did not come. Some gunfire was heard from within the main hospital building followed by an explosion and more intense gunfire. "I see bugs!" announced Father Yang after sighting a skitter scurrying up the ramp onto their level of the parking garage. Williams shot at the skitter but it jumped up and clung to the ceiling to avoid the attack. The skitter then dropped back down onto the floor and raced towards the bus. Father Yang blasted the skitter headed towards them with his shotgun and Seo-jun leaned out of the ambulance and fired two quick bursts to knock a pair of skitters climbing in from outside off the outer wall of the garage and down onto the grass below. One of the skitters got back up and attempted to climb back up again. They could see another skitter coming up the ramp from the lower levels and they knew this one wouldn't be the last. "Alright, let's go." Williams said reluctantly as he accepted the inevitability of the situation. If Bremer wasn't dead then he can get out with the supply truck, which by his estimation was about to leave as well. Father Yang shot and wounded the skitter coming up the ramp before he got into the bus and started it up closing the doors behind him. All the vehicles then followed the bus down the ramps and onto the side street heading east, away from the direction the aliens had come from.

Bremer and Jin-shil met up with three of the snipers on their way downstairs and they all proceeded towards the loading dock. When they passed the kitchen the snipers gave Bremer and his captive cover fire from the skitters lingering in the area. Once they were clear all of them ran around the corner from the freezer and reached the loading dock. Behind them the last mech, riddled with holes but still functional stomped into the cafeteria. It hunched over and crept through the hallways and pursued its quarry towards the loading dock. Bremer tossed Jin-shil into the supply truck. "Hold onto her and don't let her get away. She's the one that shot the Major." Bremer instructed the soldiers. Bremer then got into the truck after the last of his men made it in. Hamza was positioned behind a salvaged minigun mounted at the end of the trailer, just behind where the roll up doors would close if they weren't left open. "You know how to work that thing Turkish Delight?" asked Bremer. "I'll manage." Hamza replied. As the truck started up Bremer heard the sounds of the mech behind them and saw a handful of skitters turn the corner into the loading dock staging area. Bremer fired off his last grenade collapsing the dock on top of them and sealing away the enemy's avenue of pursuit as the truck sped away. When the truck turned onto the street heading eastbound a fresh group of about twenty skitters came running out from between the parking garage and the hospital building. Meanwhile the other vehicles leaving the garage were just pulling out ahead of them. "I told them not to wait." Bremer grumbled. The supply truck got in the rear of the motorcade and sped away. As they retreated Hamza opened fire with the minigun mowing down the skitters in droves, leaving behind scattered limbs, heads and bodies from the pursuing skitters strewn all across the street heading away from the hospital. They quickly turned away from the hospital and vanished into the side streets before any of the aliens inside the building could come out and give chase. As the motorcade fled into the east the remnants of the Fourth Korea watched the first light crack over the mountains on the horizon ahead of them. They had suffered grievous losses through the night, many of their brothers and sisters would not see the rising sun this day but the unit as a whole remained. Battered, bruised but still alive, the Fourth Korea had survived the night.


	53. Chapter 53: War Stories

Chapter LIII: War Stories

10 Oct 1858

Incheon, South Korea

That evening at the fire station a banquet of seven different varieties of kimchi was served in honor of the boys' mostly successful mission. They had two working vehicles now, and enough food to get them through the end of the day tomorrow. They had arrived too late to warrant Ji-hye leaving without a meal so the decision was made that she would join Sergei and the kids for dinner. It was still uncertain whether she could leave at night or wait until morning, but they could decide that on a full stomach. At dinner, Sergei and Ji-hye noticed the difference in how certain groups of the boys and girls handled the aftermath of the day's battle. The boys who survived the trip were excitedly telling war stories to impress their friends while another group centered around the girlfriend of one of the boys who that had been lost during the supply run were somber and expressing feelings of sympathy. One of the boys in that group even seemed as if he was subtly jockeying to replace the grieving girl's fallen boyfriend. "Hindsight. Every one of those boys was ready to shit themselves when we were out there; now look at them, all so stoked on themselves." Sergei laughed. Ji-hye looked over at the boys to whom Sergei was referring to. "This mecha came up on us and it was like "Boom!" the freaking gas tank smashed that thing and carried it through the next building." one of the boys in the first group was excitedly telling his friends. "Yeah man, It was badass, like something out of a movie." another of the boys bragged. "And Seok-min here, this guy took out at least a dozen spiders." the second boy turned to give credit to his new friend. "It was more like ten." Seok-min modestly corrected him. "Still man, the Russian dude only got seven." the boy said. "I bet that Russian dude was like some secret government assassin too." another boy who had not been a part of the mission commented. "You've been playing too many video games." remarked Seok-min with a spattering of laughter among them. Back at their table Sergei was trying to stomach down some of the kimchi while observing his fighters. It was apparent that some of these kids knew each other, whether as friends or just as faces from school while others we simply strangers to them. Sergei reasoned that the boys they lost today weren't exactly known or liked by the other boys in the team he assembled for they all seemed to treat what they had been through as some sort of game. It did not appear to be a coping mechanism to Sergei as was his own jovial attitude tonight, more that they actually thought that the killing and dying out there was pretty cool. Was there ever a time in my life that I thought like that, wondered Sergei. Perhaps he had seen too much killing and dying in his time that he couldn't remember. Nonetheless the boys seemed to handle themselves well for now. Eventually he knew that reality would strike them, whether from this run or from another one in the future. Eventually something would happen to someone they care about or they would see something that they simply couldn't unsee. When that happened they would have to find a means to cope with it or it would destroy them for there was a lot more killing and dying ahead of these boys. If pretending this all was a game worked by no means would Sergei discourage it. These kids had the potential to be molded into good soldiers, but only time and the fires of battle would prove it to Sergei.

"What is this stuff anyway?" Sergei asked Ji-hye after swallowing down some of the kimchi. "Pickled cabbage mostly." answered Ji-hye. "So that's why it tastes like shit." laughed Sergei. "But you're still eating it." chuckled Ji-hye. "Lady literally I am so hungry I would eat shit out of my own asshole." Sergei joked. "Give me shashlik and a piping hot bowl of beef stew or borscht over this stuff any day." Sergei commented. "The man likes his meat, what can I say?" giggled Ji-hye. "Yes, yes, you got it. Meat makes you strong." Sergei said while flexing his muscles. The two of them shared a laugh while the children carried on with their dining and various conversations amongst each other. "In all seriousness though, with our numbers now we will have to make food runs every other day. I don't know how we are going to sustain this if we lose 3 people every time we want a bag of chips." Sergei confessed. "We'll get better at it. We'll learn the alien patrol routes and find places to go where we won't be hit so hard or not at all." Ji-hye told him. "The kids will get better at it too, a little on the job training goes a long way. They're not like us remember." Ji-hye assured him. "Like us? What do you mean? I am pilot, you are police officer. You are the one with the skill for danger not I. Is more like they are not like you." Sergei corrected her. "You know what I mean." Ji-hye replied. Her detective's instincts kept nagging at her that there this "I am just a pilot" routine of Sergei's was a lie. There had to be more to this guy, something he couldn't say for whatever reason. It was of no importance, she felt she could trust Sergei. The feeling just kept nagging at her though. "So have you given any thought to leaving tonight?" asked Sergei. Ji-hye stopped to think as she finished chewing her food. "Well, come to think of it I might be better off in the morning. The aliens like to step things up at night and they always see you before you see them." Ji-hye answered. "I see your wisdom in that. We would not want you to get killed." Sergei replied. "We better hope that Leonid hasn't burned the place down by the time you get back there." Sergei commented. "He's probably passed out now anyways." Ji-hye said. "It takes a lot for that man to pass out; he has liver like iron." Sergei commented. Both of them laughed and resumed their meal. After a day of relative safety Ji-hye was nervous to go back out there. Every day since they had been dislodged from the police station was like swimming with the sharks; the danger never relented. Having a little bubble, as illusory as it was where she did not have to live in fear was nice. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to slow down and enjoy life, rather than just sustain it. A couple of hours of peace would be all she would have however. She knew the task had to be done though and that she was the best one to do it. As the meal concluded the children split off into their assigned duties. Some of them cleaned up, others went to stand watch and the rest settled down for the night. After making one last set of rounds to see that the place was secure and under control Ji-hye and Sergei went to their respective rooms upstairs. Ji-hye quietly walked in as to not disturb the girls who were already sleeping. Hyo-ri waved at Ji-hye as she entered from her stool by the small window where she was standing guard. Ji-hye smiled and waved back. That girl carried a presence about her, something that told Ji-hye she would make a good leader. She was respected by her peers, but not arrogant. She was still a child but there was so much potential there. In a way it was like looking at a younger version of herself, not in appearance, Ji-hye acknowledged was never that pretty in her teens, but in attitude; there was strength and compassion there, with a sharp intellect to boot. Someday, Ji-hye thought this young woman would rise to the occasion. As she sat down on the floor and pulled the blanket over her thoughts shifted back to the current occasion. Tomorrow would be another test of her perseverance. One more night, and then she would leave, Ji-hye thought as she closed her eyes.


	54. Chapter 54: The Frayed Ends

LIV: The Frayed Ends

11 Oct 0609 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Ji-hye started out towards the hardware store bright and early the next morning. She had loaded the Volkswagen with some rifles and a few boxes of ammunition to arm the crew of Flight 1437 when she got there. It seemed that right around dawn must have been a shift change or something for the alien patrols because she saw very few crabs wandering the streets at this time. She reached the northeast edge of Incheon without a single engagement with the enemy. As the faint light which preceded the rising sun began to draw back the curtains of night Ji-hye found herself in a mostly residential area with a few modest shops sprinkled into the houses and apartment complexes in the area. She came onto an intersection just south of a public library and a group of tall apartment towers when something caught her eye to the north. She saw a light on in the third floor window of an office building. Amidst the silver sunlight of a new dawn the dull yellow artificial light shining out in a grid of darkened grey squares stuck out at her. For there to be a light on someone had to have been around here recently to have replaced the light bulb, and provided a source of power for it. Whether there was anyone still there or not she couldn't say from this distance. Whoever left this light on must have had a reason worth the risk of exposing themselves to the aliens, Ji-hye thought. Either that or they were just fools; in that case she was looking upon a gravesite. She thought positive this time and assumed whoever left it on was still alive. This meant it was left on as a distress beacon to signal for help or she was walking into a trap. The trap could be set for the aliens though, Ji-hye told herself, again trying to put a positive spin on things. Ji-hye drove towards the light and found herself blocked off by a row of disabled vehicles clogging the intersection. At the heart of the intersection there were three or four wrecked cars from an accident that had taken place just as the aliens had immobilized them all. Ji-hye backed up and casually parked the Volkswagen on the side of the road.

Ji-hye got out of the car and walked around the disabled vehicles on foot to investigate the area ahead. She took care to ensure the weapons were hidden from sight before she left and took with her one of the K2 rifles and her service pistol. After getting around the car wreck she got onto the street leading towards the office building. Along the way she passed what seemed to be a disabled IFV parked on the curb a block away from the building with the lit window. Army patrols had been commonplace since the aliens had started coming down into the atmosphere so this was nothing special. What was unique about it however was that it hadn't been destroyed by alien airstrikes or stripped down by marauders and carried away. Ji-hye would make a mental note to return and check the IFV for any useful gear such as grenades and gas masks after she finished investigating the light in the office tower. She made it about half a block from the IFV to the tower when she was stopped in her tracks. "Hey lady! Hey you! Look over here!" a voice shouted from across the street. "Huh? Who are you? What do you want?" Ji-hye turned around and called out. The hatch on the IFV opened and a lone soldier popped into view pointing a pistol towards her. Dangling from the bottom of the hatch was a long white sock with a goofy face painted on it with permanent marker. "That's good, and least you respond like a human. That means I won't have to kill you right away." the soldier said. "There is no need for you to kill me. I don't want to hurt you; I don't have anything you want." Ji-hye told him. "Enough talk! Now turn around, slowly; show me your back." the soldier ordered her. Ji-hye did as she was told and turned around with her back facing the soldier. "Ok, now walk over here backwards." the soldier ordered and directed Ji-hye to come over to the IFV. "Show me your arms and legs. Lift up your shirt, not trying to be a pervert here just checking for bite marks." the soldier ordered her. Ji-hye followed the commands cautiously. He never once told her to drop her weapon, which either meant he didn't view her as a threat or there was at least some level of preexisting trust there, or perhaps she was just hoping for too much. "You haven't been bitten by anything have you? Wild animals, dogs, birds, mosquitos, people?" asked the soldier. "Haven't swallowed a bug, or had one get into your eye or ear or anything like that?" the soldier asked before Ji-hye could respond to the first question. "No." Ji-hye replied. "Good." the soldier replied and lowered his pistol. "Sorry for being so harsh there, got to make sure I'm dealing with the real deal here. Can never be too careful, not with all the alien ghouls out there." the soldier told her. "If you don't mind me asking what's a young lady like yourself doing wandering these streets alone?" the soldier asked. "I saw the light on in that building over there and thought someone might have been signaling for help so I came to investigate. I'm a police officer so it's basically a force of habit." Ji-hye answered. "Oh, don't worry about that. It's just a battery and bulb trick I set up to lure the space goons away from their routes. If I catch a few of them alone and without the robots I'll pick them off and take their weapons. Was feeling a little low on ammo last night so I went fishing." the soldier explained. "Weapons? I thought the spiders don't carry weapons." Ji-hye inquired. "It's not the Geomis you really have to watch for; you can see those sons of bitches coming half a kilometer away. It's the humans you should really be afraid of, and not just the bad ones, the thugs, killers, all the rotten scum that think just cause aliens took out the man that they've become king of the world. The ones that get you are the ones that only look human though they aren't quite human anymore. Some of them you can spot, the ones with those things on their backs, the ones they've transformed, but then there are the ones that look normal but their minds are gone, as if they've been hollowed out inside, those ones are the worst. You can't even tell who's pulling the strings with those ones." the soldier explained. "I know what you're talking about; I've fought several of those people, if you still want to call them people. You're still paranoid my friend." Ji-hye responded. "You've got to be paranoid if you want to survive this for long." the soldier rebuffed her. "...and I'd only call them people if you can bring them back and as far as I know no one's been able to come back once they've been. . .compromised." the soldier continued. "Well I'm certainly thankful you gave me a chance to prove I'm a "real" human." Ji-hye told the soldier. "Don't mention it. The way you were walking gave me enough reason to believe that there was still something going on upstairs, that and you were by yourself. If I was wrong I still could have taken you." the soldier replied. "So you were going fishing then? You get any bites?" Ji-hye asked, changing the subject. "Not one. Could have really used some rounds for my rifle though. This little fellow here doesn't pack enough punch to get through the shell of one of those eight legged freaks in one shot." the soldier replied jiggling his pistol in his hand. "I see." Ji-hye replied. The man climbed out of the IFV and onto the street. "Well I better shut that thing off for now. Want to come with? I'll show you its all bull up there." the soldier offered. Ji-hye and the lone soldier then walked towards the building together. "So you've just been camped out inside of an army vehicle all this time? What happened to the rest of your unit?" Ji-hye inquired. "We got separated early on, they went to help direct foot traffic out of the area and told me to wait here and guard the IFV til they got back." the soldier said as he opened the ground floor door to the building for Ji-hye. "One of them got his head taken off by a crazy guy that he was trying to help. Hell everyone was a little bit crazy that night. The rest of them I never saw what happened to them." the soldier said as they walked into the building and started up the stairs. The building was immersed in shadows punctuated by the gray morning light peering through the windows and glass doors. "So yeah, I've been waiting for them ever since." the soldier continued. "Wow. So what have you been doing for food all this time?" Ji-hye asked. "Plenty of houses around here, not hard to get by when you've just got to take care of one person." the soldier told her. "Ah, I see. I'm a group of people that survived a plane crash when this all went down. We could use someone with your background if you'd like to come along. We've got hot food and other real humans to talk to. Probably beats talking to a sock with a smiley face painted on it." Ji-hye offered. "Oh you saw that." chuckled the soldier. "It might be safer if you had people looking out for you too." Ji-hye added. "I'll go with you. I guess if my unit hadn't come back for me by now they simply aren't coming." the soldier said letting out a deep breath as they reached the third floor. When they got into the room where the light was it was revealed just to be a couple battery packs wired to a long fluorescent light bulb. There was nothing else in the room besides a desk, a few chairs and dead batteries lying all over the floor. "See? It's all bull." the soldier told her. The soldier switched off the light and he and Ji-hye started back down the stairs. While it was a simplistic design the soldier had to have known a few things about electrical circuits in order to make it work, Ji-hye presumed. "Does that armored vehicle of yours still run?" Ji-hye asked. "Yeah, I think so. That thing's hardened to withstand a North Korean H-bomb going off so I'd assume it's still good. I haven't tried to start it since that night though. I figured the moment I got it running some streaker would come in and blow me to kingdom come." the soldier explained. "I know what you are thinking and the answer is no. We are not taking it to your friends. I will lock it up and if you people are too weird for me I will come back to it. Besides my unit may still show up." the soldier replied. "Too weird?" Ji-hye chuckled softly. "I think we don't have to worry about that." Ji-hye said. The two of them went downstairs and back outside to the IFV. The soldier climbed in, got a few items and sealed up the vehicle. He left a note inside the vehicle telling his fellow soldiers should they return that he was alive and well and to wait there for him as he intended to come back in a few days. Ji-hye and the soldier then went back to Ji-hye's car and continued along the way to the hardware store.

They passed around the ruins of the old Gimpo International Airport on their way out of Incheon. The alien presence was heavy here. There was a large contingent of mechs standing around the buildings and spaced apart on each of the various runways. Alien fighters were both positioned within the squares of mechs on the runway and docked with lightly illuminated, branching mushroom shaped towers constructed around the main airport buildings. "We shouldn't have come this way." grumbled the soldier. Ji-hye turned south before the aliens turned any attention towards her and proceeded off on a tangent away from her destination until she was sure she wasn't being followed then she resumed course towards the hardware store.

Ji-hye pulled up to the gas station across the street from the hardware store that Flight 1437 called home. She parked the car next to one of the pumps to make it look like it was abandoned while fueling. Ji-hye and her new companion exited the vehicle and Ji-hye led him to the rear entrance to the store. She knocked on the door and a voice with a mild Australian accent spoke from behind the door. "Who is it?" the voice asked. "Detective Chae, Incheon PD. I went out with your co-pilot, Sergei Kaverin." Ji-hye answered. The door creaked open and Sam Harrison peeked out while pointing a rifle barrel through the slit of the door. "Don't worry about the guy behind me he's a soldier I picked up on the way back here." Ji-hye assured him. "Where's Sergei?" Harrison asked. "He's alright. We brought a lot of people into our fold and there was no way we were going to fit them all into this little shop so he stayed behind to look after them." Ji-hye explained. "Alright, alright, come on in. We don't want to get found out with you standing at the door." Harrison said before he opened the door. Yulia and Dr. Klauss approached when they saw the light come in from the back door opening. "You're alive." Klauss said in awe when he saw Ji-hye. "Who's this?" asked Yulia referring to the soldier. "This is umm..." Ji-hye began to say. "Corporal Ryu. ROK Army." the soldier introduced himself. Sounds like he just made that up, thought Dr. Klauss, wonder if he has a brother named Ken. "She said they found more people than they expected and Sergei's back with the rest of them." Harrison explained. "They're at a fire station in north central Incheon; we're holed up pretty well there. I was sent here to let you know we're ok and make sure you were as well." Ji-hye explained. "We're getting by." Harrison said. "We've got a few new additions to the team as well." Harrison told Ji-hye pointing towards the members of the new group that made it back. "That's great to hear." Ji-hye said. "Say where's the pilot? This place seems a lot quieter than I remember." asked Ji-hye. "The old drunk's asleep, don't jinx us." Yulia answered. "Well don't just stand there by the door you too, you must be hungry. Come on we've got some leftover bacon jerky and peanut M and M's for breakfast. We'll talk more at the table." Dr. Klauss invited the two of them to come in and relax, smirking as he mentioned what exactly the breakfast that they had prepared was.

Ji-hye and Corporal Ryu sat down at the table across from Klauss and Yulia. Lei Zheng, the Chinese man who had devised the phalanx strategy was also seated at the table where Yulia and Klauss sat down. Harrison's oldest son was also at the end of the table along with a couple of the other members of the group. Klauss had not been lying about what they had for breakfast either; there were several half eaten bags of peanut M and M's lying on the table with a few small bits of bacon jerky from a pouch. Corporal Ryu immediately snatched up the bacon jerky and ate what he could. Ji-hye didn't eat anything at the moment, chocolate wasn't exactly a craving she had this early in the morning. "I'm shocked to see you back here; pleasantly shocked but still shocked nonetheless." Dr. Klauss commented. "So if you don't mind me being frank, what took you so long?" Klauss asked. "Incheon's basically been overrun with aliens and their allies. We found what was left of the Incheon PD minutes before they would've been annihilated, and then we just kept getting pinned in by their patrols and couldn't get very far. To make a long story short after that we ran into some crazies, lost the jeep, rescued a couple hundred people, took refuge in a fire station, found a new car and got up here as soon as we could. It wasn't easy; we lost more than a few people. The Frenchman, Alfonse was one of those we lost. A new kind of walker that could just blow through solid steel was what got him." Ji-hye told them. "Great as if the normal walkers weren't hard enough to stop as it is." one of the new arrivals at the end of the table complained. "Sorry to hear that about Alfonse, none of us here really knew him except maybe Grigor. I talked to him for about four seconds on the plane. He asked if anyone was sitting there and I said "some blonde lady" and he went on about his business. I can't really say I knew the guy, I feel for him as a human being though and everyone else we've lost." said Klauss. "We've been beat a little too, over getting some wheels as well if you'd believe it. Seems like cars are a hot commodity these days. Cost more than an arm and a leg too, got to throw in some hearts and brains too along with the occasional liver." remarked Harrison as he walked up to the table after one of the Russians had took his place guarding the back door. "Oh, speaking of that, I've brought some weapons back in the car. I didn't know you already found some of your own." Ji-hye said standing up. "We have a few but not enough. We could always use more." Harrison commented. The two of them then went outside along with a couple others to gather up the guns. "So you're with the army?" Klauss asked Corporal Ryu. "Yes sir. Was assigned to keep the peace while the ET's were pulling out of the atmosphere and we all know how it went down from there." Ryu answered. "How have you been getting by all this time by yourself?" asked Yulia. "Good question, just luck I guess. Found plenty of scraps to keep me going and the spiders don't seem to mind one person here or there from what I've seen. It's the groups they go after." answered Ryu. "The humans are the other way around." remarked Shin Joo-won, one of the de facto leaders of the new group that Harrison brought in. "Seems like the roaches might have been doing you a service keeping the thugs away from you." remarked Klauss. "If that is what you want to call it." said Ryu. An empty silence then fell over those gathered at the table as they waited for Ji-hye and Harrison to return.

A little bit later Ji-hye and Harrison came back with the guns and ammo. "Hunting rifles, not exactly what I had pictured in my mind but we'll take them." Klauss said after coming over to help bring them in. Together they distributed the gun among several of the people who didn't already have a weapon. Harrison gave one of the rifles to his oldest son and set down the box of ammunition he was carrying underneath the table. "Now I'm trusting you to look after your mom and your little bro." Harrison told him. "What about Mindy?" the boy asked. "Your sister can take care of herself." chuckled Harrison. "Just remember what I told you. This is not a toy so don't mess around with it. Don't you point it at anything you don't intend to shoot and when you aren't using it keep it unloaded with the safety on ok?" Harrison cautioned his son. "You still remember when I took you hunting in the bush right so you know what these things are like to shoot?" Harrison asked. "Yeah dad. I didn't get anything that day." his son answered. "You don't have to bag a trophy every time, it was fun though right?" said Harrison in a chipper voice. "It was." his son replied. Meanwhile Ji-hye offered a pair of rifles to the two British ladies who were chatting near the front of the store. "We'll only need one of those dearie, Jenny would probably scream if one of those went off near her." said Alice, the older, slimmer, and slightly taller one of the two ladies with long straight pale blonde hair. "How would you know Alice, I've never even held one." argued Jenny, the shorter, youthful looking, slightly chubby lady with golden blonde hair a that was a couple inches shy of shoulder length. "My dear you shriek and run away when you see a dead spider in the kitchen and you keep screaming until I come over and dispose of it. You're scared of everything." Alice replied. "I'll just leave this here with you and be on my way." said Ji-hye dismissing herself from the conversation. She then went and offered the other rifle to Melissa who was heating up a cup of cold coffee with a fire in an ashtray kindled with wood shavings and torn bits of paper. "I couldn't take that; I would be afraid to pull the trigger." Melissa told her. Ji-hye retracted her arm and pulled back the rifle. "That's fine; there are plenty of others that could use it. Thanks for being up front with me." Ji-hye replied cordially although inwardly she was frustrated that she was having difficulty giving away a rifle in this type of situation. It wasn't exactly like selling ice to Eskimos, more like warm blankets. "I see you've gotten sick of the terrible coffee they make around here too." Ji-hye remarked. "You mean the brown water? Yeah, I'm trying to make it a little more palatable." Melissa replied. "Personally I would rather just eat the coffee grounds that drink that stuff." Ji-hye said. "If you had to yeah, but it just wouldn't be the same." Melissa said. "Well I'll see you around, got to go find this guy a home." Ji-hye bid farewell to Melissa and went to find one of the flight crew that would take the rifle.

She, Harrison, and Klauss finished up distributing the rifles and went back to the table. "We've just hardened the place a little more. Send Sergei my regards." Klauss congratulated Ji-hye as he sat down. Ji-hye remained standing at one end of the table while Harrison joined his son at the other end of the table. "You are going back I assume." added Klauss. "She's just got here doctor; you can't push her out the door like that." Yulia interjected as she stood up and walked over to Ji-hye. "I honestly haven't thought it out that far. I was focused on getting here first, and now my mind's drawing a total blank." Ji-hye answered. "Stay here the night. There's no need to worry about getting out there again so soon. You've earned a rest." Yulia softly told Ji-hye, laying a hand gently on her left shoulder. "Fine." Klauss grumbled. "So what is the plan?" Klauss asked. "If you ask me the good doctor has a case of cabin fever." commented Lei Zheng. "I'm worried something bad is going to happen if we just sit here. It feels like we're standing around here waiting for the sky to fall." complained Klauss. "If you do have to get out of the house so to speak don't go over by Gimpo whatever you do. The aliens have that place fortified to all get out." remarked Ryu. "Duly noted." Lei Zheng replied. "I think I will head back to the fire station later on and let everyone there know that you're doing alright here." Ji-hye told them all. "At least stay the night, please." Yulia tried to coax Ji-hye into staying longer. "By then we might have more for you to take back to Sergei than just the fact we're alive and well." Yulia added. "Yulia needs a friend eh?" Petrikovich spoke up, stammering about as he approached the table from his hiding spot. "She gets so lonely now doesn't she?" Petrikovich commented as he leaned forward and put his arms around both Ji-hye and Yulia and pulled them close together. "Eww Leonid, your breath smells like a sewer, go away." Yulia complained and pushed Petrikovich off of them. "Well, well, well, we were talking about going north were we not? Might want to tell ol' Sergei what he thinks of that no?" Petrikovich remarked. "We scouted up and down the riverbank and couldn't find any place to make a safe crossing. I don't think that idea will get us very far." Lei Zheng answered in rebuttal. "I think maybe we should look for more survivors. Each of us has found a new group, what's to say there aren't more in between us and where Sergei's at." mentioned Harrison. "I second the motion. We need everyone we can get. Alone we're just going to get picked off by goons and spiders one by one until we're no more." Ji-hye affirmed. "I guess it's as good of a plan as any. Make sure you don't draw any attention to us when you're doing it though. We've been lucky enough to be tucked away in the belly of the beast here without getting swarmed for as long as we have. I think we would all appreciate it if we didn't have spiders storming our castle anytime soon." Klauss cautioned them. "If they wanted to they would have done it by now. These guys have the technology to cross the vastness of space, I'm sure they've got the technology to see through walls." Ji-hye assured them. "Point taken." Klauss said. "As long as we don't make any hostile moves towards them or get in their way I think they'll ignore us." said Corporal Ryu. "Easier said than done. The problem is we don't know how to stay out of their way. Just going across town we seem to cross these things' paths over and over again." Ji-hye added. "So you'll be heading out this afternoon towards Sergei?" Klauss asked. Ji-hye noticed Yulia frowning at Klauss when he said that. "I think I'll stay the night here and then head back over there in the morning. There are a few choke points between there and here that I wouldn't want to try and run later in the day. A few days of trial and error has taught me bug activity in these parts seems to slow down between 0530 and 0730 in the morning." Ji-hye told Klauss. While there was some speculative logic in her statement she basically was attempting to placate both Yulia and Klauss. She did not intend to remain idle in the interim though. "In the meantime I think it would be a good idea to send out more than one party to survey the area around us and recruit if possible. You said you've scouted out along the river but I'd wager that beyond the riverbank you've pretty much stayed indoors the whole time." Ji-hye proposed. "Guilty as charged." Lei Zheng spoke up. "Pick me up a few bottles of good stuff when you go out. Am almost bone dry here." Petrikovich added. "Fine, we'll get you some liquor though I really don't think it's a great idea to be feeding your habit like this." Ji-hye reluctantly agreed. "I wouldn't worry about that. He's been sauced ever since he got back. Yeah it's not the best thing for him but it keeps him quiet" Yulia remarked. "Some food would be nice too, real food, not a bunch of sugar and salt." mentioned Klauss. "We can do that." Ji-hye said. "So who all's going?" asked Klauss who was clearly not wanting to leave the perceived safety of the hardware store. "I'll take my car and go southeast. I remember seeing some shops over there the first time I came up here. We should be able to find both your food and your liquor out that way." Ji-hye was the first to volunteer. "Southeast? Looks like you took the long way up from Incheon." remarked one of the people standing around. "Not quite, we made several side trips going totally in the wrong direction until we finally got our bearing." Ji-hye replied. "Hey, hey you! I gave good directions you just follow them wrong." Petrikovich spoke up. "We should go in teams of two or three to stay off the enemy's radar." suggested Ji-hye. "I'll go with you." Yulia offered. "Ok, you're with me, grab a rifle and wait by the door." Ji-hye told her. Yulia smiled and went off to get armed and ready. "I've already been out there so I should lead one of the teams." Sam Harrison volunteered. "That's a good idea; each team should have one person that knows their way around in case you need to get out quick." Ji-hye added. "We'll be going west along the river. I'll take any one of the nubs so long as they can run and shoot." Harrison continued looking around for a partner. "Be sure to stay away from Gimpo." warned Ryu. "I heard you the first time mate, we'll be heading up and around same as last time." Harrison replied. "I'd do best on foot if the bad guys got a base over there. A running engine's something they'd care not see I'd bet." Harrison remarked. "I'll head south and see what I can find that way. I've got a few things I'd like to pick up from where I had been staying too." Corporal Ryu said, offering to lead a third team. "This guy's brand new; we can't give him the car though. No offense but it was a nightmare to obtain our wheels so I'd only feel comfortable lending it to someone who's been with us from the beginning." Klauss objected. "None taken. I'm heading around Gimpo too so like the Aussie said it'd be best we not show the spiders we've still got working tech around here." Ryu replied. "I'll go with him." offered Joo-won. Though he was new to the group as well he had already proven himself and no one, not even Klauss would dare question his motives. "I'll keep an eye on him." Joo-won whispered to Klauss as he passed by him on his way towards the door. "Three teams should be sufficient don't you think?" asked Harrison. "Yeah, looks like you've got all the bases covered. We'll keep our car here just in case then." Klauss answered. "That'll work. We'll head out in a few." Ji-hye said. "Good luck. Be seeing all of you back here this afternoon." said Klauss before they all got up and went to tend to their business.


	55. Chapter 55: Buried Alive

Chapter LV: Buried Alive

12 Oct 0640 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Buried under tons of rubble Vargas and his men had waited patiently as the battle wound down on the surface. Even if they could've made their way out earlier their window to escape would have been lost and they would be running straight into a slaughter. So they decided to wait it out. They extinguished their lights and waited for the sounds of battle raging above them to die down into nothing. The faintest flecks of light beamed into the pitch darkness at the bottom of the garage from above, indicating that there were gaps in the rubble. At least the collapse wasn't airtight and they weren't at risk of suffocation in the near future. Still the exchange of oxygen between the surface and the space below the collapse would be insufficient to sustain them indefinitely. The air entering in wasn't exactly pure either; the smell of smoke, charred metal and flesh accompanied the fresh air from the surface. Eventually the concentration of carbon dioxide would become too great and those entombed within the parking garage would start to succumb. Nevertheless, a couple of hours at the most shouldn't be more than they could handle, Vargas reasoned. When the surface world fell silent for some time and the first rays of dawn shone down through the cracks in the rubble like laser beams replacing the flickering flashes of the dying fires Vargas assumed the time was right to reemerge. "Alright let's go." Vargas whispered to his men. They turned on their lights and grabbed what gear they could before starting the climb up the winding ramps around the perimeter of the parking garage. "How do you suppose we are going to get out?" one of the soldiers "I saw the ground floor of the bank still intact when the building fell. The back doors remained unobstructed." Vargas explained. "There has to be something connecting the bank to the garage, no?" Vargas presumed. He hoped the designers weren't lazy when they constructed this and expected the customers and employees to simply walk around the outside on the surface to get into the bank. "Here's to lazy patrons and fastidious civil engineers." Vargas whispered encouraged his team as he led them upwards. "Here's to hoping that such a thing as fastidious civil engineers exist." Vargas whispered sarcastically to reassure himself.

They reached the ramp leading into the first sub level where they encountered some of the first of the rubble that had fallen down from above. It was an inconvenience to climb and crawl around but it did not stop them from proceeding. Sure enough there was an adjoining corridor between the bank and the garage on this level. Unfortunately the door connecting the underground garage with the bank was obstructed by mounds of rubble. "Anyone bring the C4?" asked one of the soldiers. "Wait one on that." Vargas ordered. "If we just start blowing holes in that stuff we could bring the whole place down on top of us." he explained. Vargas surveyed the debris that blocked their way forward. "The middle section right over there could be removed and everything above it would still stand. The load bearing objects are there and there." one of Vargas' troops walked up and told him after examining the debris for himself. Vargas looked over at the man, from his observation it didn't look like anything there was simply laying around loose. "It's basic physics man. I used to do construction before the spiders came so I'm not just making this up. Those long vertical pieces act as the load bearing members and that large slanted hunk there acts as a cross member between them, it's basically a very crude arch. It doesn't look like it because everything's so tightly packed together but trust me it will hold." the soldier explained. "Anyone have any better ideas?" Vargas turned around and asked his unit before he consented to the idea presented to him. There was some grumbling between a few of his soldiers but no one spoke up. Looks like they would have to try and clear out the middle section of the debris. Not like they had much to lose; worst case scenario they were stuck between risking a cave in crushing them instantly or waiting until they exhausted all their breathable air and died a slow agonizing death. "No one?" asked Vargas again after five minutes had passed. When no one responded he turned back around towards the ruins again and placed his hands on his hips. "Alright then, let's do this." Vargas declared. He turned back to his men and pointed out a few cars and medium sized chunks of material lying loose on the ground around them. "Move those cars over here and use columns and the rebar to try and brace that slab above us." Vargas directed several of the soldiers noting a single large piece of concrete that covered the majority of the way up to the next level. He sent two of his men back down to retrieve the charges while he and the rest of his unit prepared the area around them.

When the soldiers returned and they finished bracing the concrete slab above them Vargas directed his most capable soldiers to plant the necessary charges into the debris. "Everyone get back!" Vargas ordered. He then unwound the fuse and walked it back as far as he could go. He took refuge behind the rear axle of a parked car, waited a minute and then he blew the charges. The detonation produced a cloud of chalky dust and sent bits of concrete flying out in every direction. The fragments broke car windows, punctured tires, dented in side panels and turned to dust as they struck the solid walls of the garage. Vargas and his men waited a while before peering out from their hiding places. One of them shined a flashlight through the dust and revealed a 4 foot wide by 3 foot tall rectangle filled with large stones punctuated by open spaces that had been cut through the debris. Vargas and his men got up and carefully removed the large stones and loose debris from around the door until they created a crawl space through to the steel door behind it. Vargas volunteered to be the first person to attempt to crawl through. He squeezed his way into the opening, knocking loose a few bits of concrete that broke away from the larger chunks above and below him. He reached out and found the door knob, turned it and gave it a push. Thankfully the doors swung inward instead of outward allowing Vargas to crawl through the hole they punched through the rubble and enter the corridor connecting the bank and garage. Once he made it to the other side he helped his team cross through one at a time. The last few soldiers passed through the larger pieces of gear through the hole before going through it themselves. They passed through the corridor, up a small flight of stairs and entered into the ground floor of the bank. The area to their right which had contained the elegant foyer and customer waiting area along with several offices sealed in Plexiglas cubicles was now buried under rubble. To their left were the teller booths and around them an inconspicuous steel double door painted the same color as the walls that had been blasted open. Another similar door was behind the teller booths but was untouched and remained unnoticed by Vargas' team. The stairwell leading up at the other end of the room was full of debris from the building collapse above them. Blood stained the outside of the Plexiglas window of the tellers' station and the bodies of four dead skitters were laid out on the ground and another was mashed against the outside of the tellers' booth. A human arm extended out from beneath some of the rubble to their right reminding the soldiers that the skitters weren't the only casualties here. They looked above them at the intact portion of the ceiling and the immense mounds of debris to their right. Being aware of the tons of material that was ready to come down at any moment above them Vargas led his team through the back door past a few offices where it dead-ended at a hallway reinforced with steel bands and structural tile going to the left and right. The hallway on the left ended at the main security hub for the bank and the hallway to the right led to a flight of stairs leading down into the main vault and the area where the safe deposit boxes were kept.

"Be you human or alien?" a voice called out from downstairs when the soldiers' footsteps had attracted unseen attention. "The kind with two legs!" shouted back one of the soldiers. "They're human! I'm heading up!" the hidden voice shouted down into the vault. Vargas' men shined their lights in the direction of the stairs. The steel bars rolled away from the entrance to the stairs and a couple of rifles poked out and pointed around the corner before a flashlight beam shone out from behind them. Two soldiers then came up from below followed by a third female fighter with a flashlight mounted on her rifle. They lowered their weapons after seeing Vargas and his men. Two more men with flashlights and pistols emerged from below behind the initial group. "They're our guys!" one of the second group's men shouted down the stairs. "Good to see you survived Sergeant." the soldier turned and greeted Vargas. "Likewise. How many of you are there?" Vargas replied. "About twenty something; those of us that survived took up refuge inside the bank vault when the building fell." the soldier reported. "Always wanted to blow a bank vault and get away with it." kiddingly remarked Seung-hyun, one of the first two soldiers to come up the stairs. "I wouldn't guess there's a way to the outside down there is there?" Vargas asked, almost certain that no self-respecting bank would put their back door right next to the vault. "Yeah, the secret tunnel that the burglars dug between here and the Italian restaurant a few blocks away." Seung-hyun told Vargas in all seriousness. "Whoa, really? What luck!" Vargas replied. "Yeah, we were just waiting for the fighting to die down out there before we escaped." Seung-hyun told him. Vargas motioned for his team to follow him and they walked towards the stairs. "Well then let's get going." Vargas told everyone. "Wait up, wait up!" Seung-hyun called out as Vargas started down the stairs. Vargas stopped and turned back as Seung-hyun ran to the top of the stairs and stopped. "I was just messing with you guys, there's no tunnel." Seung-hyun told him and then began laughing hysterically at how gullible Vargas was. Vargas glared back at him and looked over to the others who were standing around him with a look that could only be interpreted as ". . .and you knew?" Perhaps he was overly optimistic that he was willing to believe the most cliché of circumstances had aligned at just the right time in the right place to give them an easy way out. "Oh, I can't believe I fell for that." Vargas laughed it off and walked back up the stairs. He gave Seung-hyun a stiff punch in the arm as he passed by. Seung-hyun winched for a bit but couldn't stop laughing. "Honestly, we haven't even started looking for a way out. We're still too scared the enemy is out there in full force or the building is going to collapse. Our plan was to stay put and wait for a rescue." explained SSGT Yi Yeon-woo, the soldier that was leading the squad hiding out in the vault. "I wouldn't bet on a rescue party showing up any time soon. We were over in the parking garage and haven't heard much noise from outside for a while so I'd say it's a safe bet that the enemy has moved on for the most part." Vargas told them. "You're in charge mister. Whatever you decide to do, we're with you." Yeon-woo replied happily handing command back over to Vargas.

"Let's get everyone together and start looking for a way out. You guys go upstairs and check for anyone else that might still be alive, trapped or otherwise. We'll head down below first and then meet back with you in the lobby." Vargas instructed the fighters. A group of his men went back upstairs and another group went to check the security offices and the area down the hall. Vargas and the rest of both groups went downstairs past the rolling barred gate and onto the mezzanine in front of the main vault. The outer vault door had the locking mechanisms carefully blasted open; it appears someone among them had some skill in doing this for there didn't seem to be much excessive damage due to trial and error. In all likelihood it wasn't unrealistic that they had a couple demolition experts or someone that worked bank security in their ranks and if there was any truth in bank heist movies that would probably be common knowledge. "It was a little easier than we expected with the power being out." commented Seung-hyun. "The bank should have backup generators you'd think but for whatever reason they never came on." Yeon-woo added. "I heard the ones in the hospital needed some work before they were operational again, probably the same situation here, or they just ran out of gas." Vargas suggested. They entered into the outer vault where most of the fighters that fled downstairs were gathered. A few more came out of the inner vault and the adjacent rooms within. "Get up and get your stuff, we're heading out." Vargas told them. The fighters got up, woke the ones sleeping on the floor and gathered together their gear. Some of the soldiers then ran into the vault and returned with their bags stuffed with various denominations of currency. "You do know that stuff isn't worth anything anymore." Vargas informed the soldiers. "It's still money isn't it? Once we get society fired back up again, even before the war is over people will start taking it in exchange for goods and services again I'd assume." one of the soldiers rebuffed him. "Yeah and when that happens we're going to start out billionaires!" another fighter jubilantly chimed in. "I don't think it works that way." Yeon-woo muttered to himself. "It's paper, colored paper that's all. That's all it ever was; don't make me explain the difference between fiat and hard currency right now." Vargas corrected the soldier. "He means the money only has the value people place upon it. Most currencies weren't backed by jack shit before the attack happened. This is the collapse the alarmists were warning us about." Yeon-woo elaborated. "Backed by jack shit government debt is more like it." Vargas sneered. "Leave it all behind; it's not useful as anything but kindling for the time being." Vargas told the soldiers packing the paper money. "When society gets restarted again there's no guarantee we'll be using the same debt notes issued by the same governments that existed before the war, in fact I'm fairly sure we won't." Vargas explained. "Now if you found any silver down there hold onto that, we can still use it to repair some of our electronics." Vargas told the soldiers as they were going to put the money back into the vault. A few other soldiers heard him and searched through some of the safe deposit boxes they had pried open for gold and silver items. Anything that could bring them a little closer to the world they used to know was welcome and electronics were a huge part of that world.

Vargas led his reconstituted unit along with a few more men and women that were found in the security room upstairs into the lobby where they met back up with the team that was searching the upstairs. "Didn't find any sign of survivors up here." one soldier reported. "Not as much as a peep from under the rubble." added a middle aged woman. "We found this door to the back though." a third soldier called from behind the teller station. Vargas and his combined forces then went through the newly discovered door, past the employee lounge, restrooms and several other ground floor offices and reached the rear loading docks. Vargas kicked open one of the double doors and two soldiers quickly cleared both corners then entered out onto the street behind the bank. The soldiers signaled that the street was clear and Vargas waved on the rest of the unit to follow him back into the outside world. Vargas deeply breathed in the fresh air; it was tainted with smoke and the stench of charred flesh but it was the open air nonetheless. His unit was free of their tomb and was now walking into a graveyard.


	56. Chapter 56: What Doesn't Kill You-Part 1

Chapter LVI: What Doesn't Kill You

12 Oct 0727 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

The hospital evacuees continued to flee east to southeast away as the morning sun continued to banish what remained of the horrible night. They drew ever nearer to the mountains buttressing the city on its eastern extremity entering into the long shadows they cast. Inside the supply truck Bremer and his men dozed off, only to awaken momentarily when they hit a bump then fall back into a shallow slumber. Fatigue had finally caught up with them; even adrenaline and fear could no longer keep them out of the arms of sleep. Hamza sat along the wall of the truck near the rear edge and meditated on various things silently. The stinging of the wounds on his arms shoulders and back kept him from fully settling into sleep. He saw many of the other soldiers totally knocked out and snoring. He wondered how the driver was doing; it would be a pity for them to have made it through the wringer last night only to perish in a car wreck because their getaway driver dozed off at the wheel.

Inside the ambulance Tae-yon awoke from a jolt from the road to find herself passed out on top of Major Han when she had last checked his vital signs. His troubled breathing and weakened heartbeat had become a soothing lullaby. With glazed over eyes she glanced over at Han's blood and saline IVs; they were nearly empty. She sat up straight and looked over at the reserves of blood she had left. One pint, one and a half if she counted the one hooked to Sobieski. She envied the couple, in their comatose state they were the only ones who could truly rest among the company of the Fourth. She reached into her pocket and took out a small bottle of pills, opened it, took two of them out, chewed them up and swallowed them. The taste was horrible but in powdered form they would enter her bloodstream quicker and stave off exhaustion for just a little while longer while she gave her all to seeing her patients through. She found a nearly empty bottle of water on the floor and drank the last of it down. When she had awakened enough to have sufficiently precise control over the movements of her body she stood up, feeling like a corpse on puppet strings. She changed out the blood bags with extreme difficulty then checked the Major's vitals again. Still struggling to cling to life, she noted. He hadn't slipped completely off the mortal coil yet and she presumed they were now over the hump so to speak. She would need more blood when they stopped; hopefully the potential donors were still alive and viable, that they weren't all severely wounded and in need of blood themselves. She checked over Sobieski as well and then sat back down beside Han. Even with her heart racing and the pharmaceutical stimulants coursing through her veins the soothing ethereal grip of fatigue was overwhelming as she watched the mountain shadows recede behind them through the rear window of the ambulance.

The vehicles came to a stop outside an outdoor concert venue at the foot of eastern hills surrounded by a multitude of restaurants, novelty shops, a motel, and expansive city parks. Beyond this little enclave of civilization were the woodlands that divided the cities of Seongnam and Gwanju to the east. The area was but a little pocket of urbanization extending into a patch of wilderness in all directions. It was sufficiently removed from the greater Seongnam area that Bremer felt it they would be safe for the time being. It didn't look like a place that would sustain them for long, most of the structures were not very spacious and the available pool of supplies, despite the numerous tiny restaurants, was quite limited. After he got out and surveyed the area they drove a short trip north to the motel which was the tallest building in this quaint little area. He ordered lookouts posted on the roof of the motel and among the trees to the north and east while everyone else was spread out between the nearby stores and the motel.

Sobieski and Han were left in the ambulance parked outside the motel and kept under Tae-yon's watch as moving them was not advised unless it was absolutely necessary. The rest of the wounded were in the motel lobby where Tae-yon routinely checked in on them and helped any volunteers tending to them with their tasks. She was as overworked as always but thankful that many of the soldiers at least knew how to provide basic first aid. With limited supplies of water and nowhere in the immediate vicinity to gather pharmaceutical supplies the risk of infection was immense and there was likelihood that some of the wounded would end up with amputated limbs, hands, fingers and toes. There was a convenience store that had a little bit of peroxide, hand sanitizer and band aids but it wasn't enough. Still Tae-yon did whatever she could and worked diligently throughout the morning though her body was beyond spent.

As his bloodied and exhausted fighters were looking to bed down and tend to their wounds Bremer knew that their task was far from done. Vargas, had he or any of his force survived was still out there and waiting for them. "Alright everyone I know we would all like to stop and get some rest but someone's got to head out there and find the rest of our boys and bring them back here." Bremer announced. "I'm personally heading out with the supply truck to check out the area where Chico said he was going to be. I need a few more volunteers to come along and I need at least three more teams to fan out due west and to the southwest and north where any remnants would have likely fled." Bremer declared. "I'll come with you sir." Williams volunteered. "I'll go with the northern team into the hills on foot." said Hamza as he stepped forward. A couple other soldiers offered to trek into the west where they would look for vehicles and then split up. It wasn't quite the turnout Bremer had wanted, there needed to be more than one person on each team so he was forced to randomly assign some of the healthiest looking fighters to each of the teams until there each soldier was paired up with someone else. Bremer's own team consisted of three men; himself, Williams and another soldier to man the rear gun. All of the other groups went out in pairs. The remainder of the soldiers were left with orders to rest up, secure the area and scavenge together some sort of meal once everyone had returned.

12 Oct 0826 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Ryong-ho woke up from a short catnap and peeled away the skitter skin blanket he was wrapped up in. He crawled out of the skitter's shell, wiped himself down with his hands to remove as much skitter fluids from his clothing as possible then picked up his weapons and cautiously made his way downstairs. The theater lobby was fully of the corpses of the slain. Dead humans and their abandoned weapons along with a great number of fallen skitters and skitter parts littered the floor, and the booths and the remnants of the displays. Ryong-ho walked out of the theater and into the light of the morning sun. Outside a throng of deceased aliens formed a veritable river of corpses with the disabled mechs rising up amongst them like islands in the stream. The hotel towers on one side of the street had now collapsed as they had burned throughout the night. In their place stood a partially extant framework extending two or three floors high surrounded by a smoldering pile of scorched rubble and bodies, both human and alien. On the other side of the street the coffee house, shopping center, bank and garage were also demolished each leaving behind a mangled, disfigured reminder of what they once had been. Overhead a single beamer crossed over the sky towards the north. No among of bloodshed it seemed would ever stop the damned aliens from having their presence felt. Amongst the dead were a handful of survivors combining through the wreckage. Ryong-ho was not alone among those who were left behind. He prayed that those who had fled the area survived as well and in greater numbers.

Ryong-ho hadn't gone too far down the street by the time Vargas and the survivors from the bank complex had emerged from around the block. "Sergeant Vargas." Ryong-ho plainly greeted him. "Lieutenant Bu." Vargas replied in the same manner. The survivors from the other buildings now began to gather around the two of them. Ryong-ho looked over all present on the street now and surmised that they had around fifty or sixty men in all. They had left with 160 foot soldiers and 62 men dispersed among the vehicles, which meant three quarters or more of their company was either dead or unaccounted for. He knew a decent number of them had fled into the east but far greater were those that had fought to the end here. Ultimately he hoped their effort had not been in vain and that those in the hospital had also endured the fierce trials of the night before.

There was little spoken between Ryong-ho, Vargas and the others for several minutes as they all walked around the area taking note of the aftermath of the battle and gathering up what they could still use from the hands of the dead. There was little that needed said, they were both fighting men and both knew that this was the fruit of war. They internalized and compartmentalized what they needed to and moved on, another chip in the back of their psyche was sealed away and like the morning sun climbing its way up the sky today was a new beginning for them too. After some time of scavenging and mourning in silence Vargas doubled back to the ruins of the hotel towers. At the edge of one of the mounds of rubble outside of the hotel Vargas found his .50 caliber rifle. Looking a little further into the ruins he came across Tae-yang's body. His face was brutally disfigured; his clothing was singed and torn. Four soldiers drew closer to Vargas and looked upon the remains of their fallen leader. Ryong-ho remained away from the ruined towers and continued looking around the ruined mechs and slain skitters in the street. "What a way to go." mumbled one of the soldiers as he bowed his head down towards Tae-yang. Another let out a long sigh. "He went out fighting, just like any one of us would in his place." Vargas said. "Why does he have aluminum foil on him?" asked one of the soldiers after noticing it shining out through a burnt off patch of Tae-yang's outer shirt. "Maybe he didn't want the aliens to read his mind?" presumed another soldier. The soldiers shared a brief laugh as a spot of morbid humor helped deescalate the potency of the things they were seeing in their mind. As they were talking Ryong-ho noticed that the thin armor plating on some of the ruined mechs lying about appeared that it had been molten and re-solidified, leaving it in thicker bulges further down like water droplets frozen in steel. "He was going to try and use it to make some kind of low grade thermite." Ryong-ho mentioned. "He was making it for the mechs most likely; the bugs don't catch fire easily." Ryong-ho postulated while he moved his boot over the surface of one of the disfigured fallen mechs. "I wouldn't be so sure on that last part, I've seen those things burnt to a crisp before." remarked one of the soldiers near Vargas. "I didn't say they won't burn I said they don't catch fire easily." Ryong-ho clarified his statement. "Well buddy, looks like you might have contributed more than you know to the war effort." Vargas said looking down upon Tae-yang. "Sleep well my brother; I will see you whole in heaven." Vargas said, holding in a tear and fast regaining his composure. "So you suppose we should go looking for the ones that got away?" Ryong-ho asked Vargas. "No, not now. Major Bremer said he would come find us when it's all over. He knows where we are so it'll be easier for them to regroup with us if we stay put right now." Vargas answered. "We should thoroughly search each of these buildings from here all the way back to the bridge. Check for survivors first and then we'll come back and salvage supplies. There's bound to be someone still alive trapped under all this." Vargas instructed the others.

After about an hour of digging through rubble and going house to house in search of survivors Bremer drove up to the front street near the bridge where Vargas and some of his men were working. He parked a block away from the obviously planted minefield of which there still were a few remaining that had not been triggered during the attack. Bremer got out of the truck and ran towards Vargas. "Chico!" he called out. Vargas turned and approached him. The two men hugged each other firmly and pulled their heads back in relief upon seeing each other's faces again. "Thank goodness you're alive man!" Bremer exclaimed. "Your mystic Mexican voodoo god must really like you!" Bremer joked with Vargas as they broke their embrace and Bremer tousled his hair. "You too bro, science be praised!" Vargas chuckled back while giving Bremer a light tap in the side of the arm. Vargas wrapped his arm around Bremer's shoulder and the two of them walked back down the street towards the supply truck. "Be careful, there are land mines over there." Vargas pointed out to Bremer as they passed the minefield. "So how did you guys fare last night?" Vargas asked. "They came at us hard, but not as hard as they would have if you hadn't stood between us and them. We had to abandon the hospital and we lost more than a few good men but we're going strong." Bremer replied, noting the massive numbers of enemy casualties in the area. If a greater portion of the enemy force had reached them, especially more of the mechs or even worse had the heavy mechs survived they would have been completely annihilated at the hospital. "We did our best sir, there were just too many of them and a few things didn't quite go off as planned." Vargas explained. "See that bridge? It's not supposed to be here." Vargas said as he removed his arm from Bremer's shoulder and pointed towards the bridge to the north. "Sorry we couldn't hold them." Vargas apologized. "No need to apologize Chico, I know you did what you could and so did we. We've got a black eye and a busted lip but we're still in the fight, that's what matters." Bremer told Vargas. "What about Sobieski and Major Han? Did they make it?" Vargas asked. "We don't know yet. Tae-yon fixed up Prince Won Ton and pumped them full of fresh blood but they're both still unconscious. Last I heard Sobieski's stable and the Major is still in critical condition." Bremer answered. "Oh." Vargas said with his jubilation turning to sorrow. He had hoped to hear better news concerning them, or at least more definite news. Alas, in this case uncertainty may still be better than failure. "Not to worry Chico, we've got it taken care of. They'll be alright. A speedy recovery would be asking too much considering we brought him back from less than an inch away from death. He's breathing, I'd call that a victory." Bremer said, trying to convince himself as well as Vargas that all their efforts were worth it. "What about the dumb bitch that shot him?" Vargas asked. "We've still got her under lock and key. She's not saying anything that makes sense right now and honestly we haven't had time to deal with her shit." Bremer replied. "Don't worry Chico; there will be a time for justice. As much as I would have liked to have tossed her to the bugs last night I would like more to see us behave as civilized people and at least hear her out when we aren't under the threat of immediate annihilation." Bremer replied. Vargas nodded in agreement. It's been barely over a week since the world fell, civilized man should be able to go on without civilization a little longer than that. At least this is what Vargas hoped, the reality of the world was anyone's guess.

"We're still trying to dig out any survivors and salvage what we can from the wreckage." Vargas explained. "Find anyone yet?" Bremer asked. "No not yet, but we'll keep looking so long as there's a chance someone's still alive." Vargas replied. "Bravo Zulu my friend, keep up with that. Do you want us to stay and help?" Bremer asked. "Actually sir, Lt. Bu informed me that some of our people had fled towards the hills into the east and southeast. If you could go and start looking for them that would probably be more helpful than three more guys digging around here." Vargas answered. "Say no more Chico my boy, we'll go sweep to the southeast and later on we'll send more men up here to relieve you in your efforts so you can get some well-deserved rest." Bremer said before he climbed back into the drivers' seat of the supply truck. Vargas then turned back to the rescue effort while Bremer drove off seeking other survivors on his way back to camp.


	57. Chapter 57: What Doesn't Kill You-Part 2

Chapter LVII: What Doesn't Kill You - Part 2

12 Oct 1153 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Vargas and his men had worked throughout the morning sifting through rubble looking for survivors. They uncovered several of the dead but so far had found no one else alive. It was getting to the point that this would soon shift from a rescue operation into a salvage operation. Such was it now that Vargas had permitted some of the soldiers to take naps. There was only so hard he could push them before their usefulness was severely diminished. Those left on the job combed through the most likely areas where any survivors might be as their optimism faded with each discovery yielding only the lifeless remains of their fighters. Nevertheless the soldiers worked diligently in hopes that some of their brothers and sisters in arms would be alive and well beneath the debris.

One of the soldiers sifting through the ruins of the bank tower closest to the waterway heard what sounded like tapping coming from the ground at his feet. He knelt lower to the pile of rubble which he was standing on and heard the tapping louder, click, thud, click, thud, in a continuous steady pattern. When he heard someone cough from under the steel and concrete it removed all doubt in the soldier's mind. "I need some help over here! I found someone!" shouted the soldier. Vargas came running along with about a dozen others to assist. Together they hefted away several fractured slabs of reinforced concrete, piles of ceiling tiles and lengths of twisted rebar. Underneath it all the soldiers uncovered a woman coughing and gasping for breath along with the unconscious bodies of two men. Vargas offered the woman his hand and helped pull her out of the hole. The woman left her rifle behind and climbed out into Vargas' arms which guided her onto the surface. "Well what do you know, Hyolyn made it!" commented Seung-hyun as he helped her walk away until she regained her balance. Another soldier hopped down into the hole and checked the other two men. He couldn't hear or see them breathing nor could he detect a pulse. There was a mild chill in their skin like that of the autumn air outside. "They're gone." the soldier looked up and told Vargas and the other men standing around. Vargas sighed, looked down and shook his head. They weren't fast enough; Hyolyn had nearly suffocated herself and that could've been the fate of the others with her. They were trying their hardest but it wasn't enough; they had limited manpower and could be digging in the wrong areas. He believed the front street buildings had the greatest promise to find survivors for they had already thoroughly searched the 2nd bank and its garage from within and the hotel towers had gone up in flames leaving less of a chance that anyone would still be alive at this point so Vargas refocused the rescue efforts on these buildings. He now went off to catch up with Hyolyn if she knew where any other troops would have been during the collapse of the building she was in.

Vargas walked by the truck that brought him to this battle on his way back around to the inside of the "fishbowl" as some of his men were now calling the principal kill zone of last night's combat. The truck had been smashed up by the actions of a mech stomping over it and the front of it was all shot up. However he noticed that the mounted grenade launcher, aside from two of the tripod stands being twisted, was still intact and appeared fully functional. "When any of you get a second can you pull the gun off this truck?" Vargas asked the nearby soldiers. "Will do Sergeant." two of the soldiers replied. After making his way down a narrow side street into the fishbowl he caught up with Seung-hyun and Hyolyn. "Ma'am if could ask you something quick?" Vargas spoke up stopping the two of them. She turned around and looked at him, waiting for Vargas to catch up. "Can you recall where any of the other fighters where when the bank went down so we can narrow down our search?" Vargas asked. He should have asked her when she was first recovered but the thought had slipped his mind. "The two men with me were knocked out when a mech grenade hit the floor beneath us. There was another team above us on the west side of the building that was still firing when everything gave way. I don't know how far down but below us were most of the guys fighting the bugs. They hadn't got to our level by that time though. That's all I can recall, things were happening so fast I didn't really pay attention to anything that wasn't in front of me." Hyolyn replied. "Thank you, that helps." Vargas replied. "For future reference though, a good soldier is aware of her surroundings at all times. It's the stuff that's not right in front of you that's usually what gets you." Vargas told Hyolyn while placing a hand on her shoulder. "Glad to see you made it." Vargas smiled and said to Hyolyn before he left.

"Everyone working the bank head to the east side of the building. That's our best bet right now." Vargas commanded the rescue teams when he returned back to the front street to assist. He sorrowfully accepted the fact it was too late to do anything for the ones buried further down. If they had already perished by now without heavy machinery there was no way they could safely reach them. Those men were embroiled in hand to hand combat with the bugs at the time the building fell which further diminished their likelihood of survival. If they had withstood the collapse then so would the much more resilient bugs who would in turn make short work of them. Vargas' unit had explosives which were just as likely to kill anyone down there as they were to save them. If they started blasting down to the bottom of the debris pile they could unintentionally collapse any pockets on the upper levels that may also be holding survivors. The bombs were also a valuable resource, too valuable perhaps to expend on a gamble that was unlikely to pay off. These explosives too were their only weapons against the mechs should the enemy come back to finish the job. Vargas was forced to make the difficult decision to abandon the rescue of those on the lower levels for those on the east side. In the end after a couple of hours of searching they recovered three men, one with a broken elbow and knee, one with a broken thigh bone and one with both his legs broken below the knees. His men helped them up and got them to safety where they rendered what aid they could to their injuries while they waited for Bremer to return and pick them up. As they worked into the afternoon, now dividing their efforts between the rescue and salvage operations, another alien craft made a flyby over their location. "That gives me a bad feeling." Vargas muttered as he looked up and watched the craft zoom off.

Late in the afternoon Bremer rolled up in the supply truck as promised with a convoy of several other vehicles behind him. The driver of the truck shook him out of a nap in the passenger seat when they had stopped and straightaway Bremer got out of the cab to meet up with Vargas while the soldiers on the ground first carried the injured to the back of the supply truck and helped them get in. "So you found the others?" Vargas asked Bremer noting the extra vehicles that came with him. "I found the main group with the vehicles fighting a platoon of bugs in the Gumi neighborhood. There are still stragglers on foot all over the place from what I hear. We dropped them off at camp and took the vehicles here to load you boys up." Bremer replied. "We found a handful of survivors here, most of them will live but are going to be out of commission for a while." Vargas reported. "Better than nothing. You guy's sure took a beating out here, and I thought we had it bad." Bremer remarked back. "We've got guns sir, lots of them." Vargas added on a positive note as they headed back to help load up the vehicles. "We'll need them. Focus on the people first, then we'll come back to get the weapons if we have to." Bremer replied. They continued to load the wounded onto the vehicles and afterwards the able bodied got on board until they were full. Some of the guns, bullets, grenades and heavy weapons were loaded into places where a human being could not fit. Bremer escorted Vargas to the passenger seat of the truck and abdicated his seat to him. "You go on Chico, I know the way. I'll take the rest of these boys on foot." Bremer instructed Vargas. The convoy backed up, turned around and departed for the 4th Korea's makeshift camp on the edge of town. Bremer mustered all the remaining soldiers and led them away on foot via a different route hoping to pick up a few more stragglers along the way back.

Meanwhile in the hills north of the 4th Korea's temporary base of operations Hamza and his partner wandered on in search of any of their people who fled into the area. They encountered no humans nor aliens so far as they went through a wooded area and then past a prep school and research facility then back into the woods where they turned towards the east and went back south again after reaching the limits of the destruction from the scouring of Seongnam a few days ago. After crossing over the mountains into Gwanju Hamza and his teammate came across a small house in the where a woodland trail reconnected with a paved road. Having hiked for hours with no success this seemed like an ideal place to take a breather. "We would be wise to rest our eyes so that we can see clearly what we are looking for." Hamza suggested. The other soldier nodded, he was too tired to object. They first tried the front door which was locked so Hamza threw a stone into the living room window, cleared away the broken glass and both of them climbed inside that way. Hamza broke away from his partner and made a quick survey of the house. "It's clear." he reported coming back to find his partner standing guard on a couch facing the broken window they came in. "The bedrooms are all exposed to the outside so our best bet is the kitchen unless you would rather sleep in the bathroom." Hamza told the soldier. "Grab some pillows from the rooms if you'd like I'll meet you there." he continued. Hamza then entered the kitchen from the dining room. There was only one small window in the kitchen over the stove which was easy to hide from any prying eyes peering in. The door to the dining room and the rest of the house could be easily secured. Several kitchen utensils could also be used as weapons should the need arise and would be more effective than the plunger and fuzzy toilet brush in the bathroom.

Once the soldier came in with an armful of pillows Hamza tied a string to the door handle and looped it around several pots and pans on a nearby stainless steel prep table. This would serve as an alarm in case anyone tried to enter the kitchen while they were resting. He then directed the soldier with him to go to the far right corner with respect to the door while he sat down in the near left corner behind an extension of the countertop which obscured his view from the outside. He extended his legs, yawned and closed his eyes though he was still awake. If he did sleep it was in short spurts, for the most part he could just feel his mind decompressing and sorting itself out while his consciousness remained active, a half-sleep of sorts. As the time passed he heard the soldier snoring across the room and later the droning call of an alien walker. "Why do those things give off that horrid mating call?" wondered Hamza as he drifted between dreams and reality. All it did was warn its enemies that it was coming, totally eliminating the element of surprise. Combined with its loud footfalls it was no surprise that the human resistance had managed to get the jump on these machines so many times already. With the aliens' technology it could stand to reason that they could easily silence the mechs' footfalls and blaring a siren before it turned a corner was totally unnecessary to begin with. Perhaps that was the point, intimidation; perhaps the aliens believed that if their foes knew they were coming they would get on their knees and surrender rather than resist. These aliens were more arrogant than both the Americans and the Russians combined when it came to underestimating the determination of an entrenched underdog to fight. Hamza opened his eyes and remained alert until the mech passed. He could not go back to sleep however. A quick nap and a dose of fear was all it took to purge the fatigue from his mind and muscles. He reckoned the time to be close to that of midday prayer so in passing the time while his partner slumbered he gave praise to Allah, making additional supplications that he should not fall to the alien conquerors so soon and if that meant working with the infidel he prayed for forgiveness in doing what he believed must be done and prayed for strength to face death without concession should that be Allah's will.

That evening Bremer returned to the 4th's encampment in the small enclave of restaurants and entertainment venues on the eastern fringe of Seongnam. After dismissing the troops to attend to their business his first stop was the motel. The ground floor of the motel had been converted into a field hospital with the 2nd floor rooms used to house the less critical patients. Major Han and Sobieski were both still unconscious and hooked to IV's in the ambulance parked outside. A man kept a vigil over them and would routinely check their vital signs. "How are they doing?" asked Bremer as he walked by. "They're warm with a heartbeat. Wish I could say more." reported the man. "I'll take anything but a cold corpse from them right now." Bremer replied. At least something was going right after all the chaos and loss that had been suffered. He hadn't bothered to take full measure of just how much had been lost in a battle that could have potentially been avoided. Those who had died of their injuries were laid out in rows in front of the motel for friends, family and colleagues to pay their respects and attend to in what manner they saw fit. Some of them had made the final noble sacrifice of donating their blood and usable organs to help save the others as their own death was imminent. These corpses were noticeably more pale and withered than the others and were marked with a sign indicating which ones had not been harvested yet. They had little means of preserving donated organs and tissue however so the offers of transplantation were little more than token gestures unless they could be performed almost immediately upon passing. A mini fridge from the room hooked to a car battery provided an extended shelf life for donated blood however. Bremer paused and paid his respects to the fallen before he continued on his rounds.

He entered into the hotel and found a large number of wounded fighters laid out and propped up in various places. The carpets and upholstery were stained red with blood and in places black with bile. Trash bags filled with biological waste, including lost organs and limbs were set outside the back of the hospital after it was cleaned up. Thankfully amputations had not occurred to the scale that Tae-yon had predicted and the presence of a nearly empty box of antibiotics, sterile gloves and gauze indicated that someone had managed to procure her some badly needed supplies throughout the day. There was also a plastic wash basin and several jugs of distilled water, some liquid soap and rubbing alcohol over by the sink to aid in reducing the risk of infection. Most of the wounded fighters had minor to moderate injuries which the soldiers and volunteers tending to them could handle. Cuts, lacerations, broken bones and burns were the most common injuries. The bugs either scratched you or they ripped you into pieces, their seemed to be no middle ground among the fighters here. A few men patched up from taking mech bullets to non-vital areas were among the more severely wounded Bremer saw. Despite their best efforts infection and fever due to infection was still prevalent among the wounded fighters here. Several others had joined Han and Sobieski in receiving donor blood and fluids throughout the course of the day. Fortunately the more common blood types among the Korean soldiers made it easier to locate a viable donor however blood, being the lifeblood of life was still in short supply. The use of a battery rigged ghetto defibrillator had also seen usage beyond Major Han throughout the course of the day. Tae-yon was slumped against the wall next to one of the couches in the lobby. A wounded soldier was lying on the couch also fast asleep while other soldiers and volunteers were checking on the patients and treating those they could. There was still an immense work load ahead of the medical team and not all of their patients would in the end live to fight another day. Tae-yon had given it her all and then some until nature finally won through and claimed her. From her appearance she was in the middle of placing the soldier next to hers's leg in a cast when she lost consciousness. Apparently afterwards someone else propped her up and finished wrapping the soldier's leg but left the materials still in Tae-yon's hands. "Oh my dear sweet lady you push yourself too hard." commented Bremer as he knelt down in front of her. She had a big heart and couldn't stop so long as there were people suffering around her but in eventually her limitations had to kick in. Bremer felt proud for having someone like her in their company but felt sad for her at the same time for he knew that no matter how well she performed it would never be good enough in her own eyes. This was a failing he was starting to realize in himself after his first real taste at command. Both of them made the big decisions that mattered, that had lasting consequences for many if they screwed them up. Both of them felt they were the final word, the person whom the ultimate burden and responsibility for all mistakes would come to. He sympathized with her, lying conquered by a deep sleep before him, physically manifesting the way he himself felt inside. Bremer picked up Tae-yon off the ground with surprising ease and carried her to one of the empty motel rooms on the 3rd floor. These Korean women were much easier to carry than a 200 pound soldier up the stairs Bremer thought as he made his way up the stairwell. After he jimmied open the door to the room he laid Tae-yon down upon the bed and carefully rearranged the sheets to tuck her in, all the while Tae-yon remained sound asleep. He went back downstairs and instructed the medical volunteers not to disturb her except for in a real emergency. On his way out he congratulated the man watching over Han and Sobieski on a job well done and to keep up the good work and report to him if there was any change in either of their conditions. Bremer would then continue on his rounds checking in with the rest of his unit.

The rest of the 4th Korea not resting or in the de facto infirmary were sitting down for a late lunch or early dinner after a long night of fighting. After most of the unit managed to grab a couple hours of sleep this was the first meal they had since the previous evening or afternoon. The search parties that had been sent out earlier that morning were just now starting to return along with those they found and those who had just happened to stumble into camp on their own. Even after much of the day was spent between search and recovery missions and tending to wounds there was still much left to be done. Though exhausted and beaten it wouldn't be done on an empty stomach though. The ramshackle buffet was essentially breakfast, lunch and dinner all wrapped into one. Miss Do, Father Yang and a handful of the fighters and non-combatants not busy in the field hospital had cooked some canned sausages, sliced spam, meatballs, dumplings, powdered eggs, noodles and assorted vegetables gathered from the nearby stores and restaurants. There was a wide variety of foodstuffs available from the multitude of restaurants in the area but the choicest ingredients were all rotten and decomposing by now. There were battery operated work lamps hanging from the nearby powerlines around the buffet table that would do the job the defunct street lights used to do if the sun went down before they had secured for the night. With any luck they wouldn't have to use them lest they draw attention from the skies.

The fighters and civilians stood in a single file line to receive a generous allotment of food. "You think with all the restaurants around here we could cook up some better grub." remarked Father Yang as he scooped some meatballs onto his plate while standing behind a soldier whose expression indicated that he expected more. "Beggars can't be choosers I suppose." he continued with a smile. The soldier smirked and continued down the line scooping up a couple dumplings and eggs. It was the little things that helped make the fight a little easier, something as simple as a smile could change someone's day. After a brutal 24 hours a little humor could go a long way. Father Yang and the others left the serving line and went to sit down on the sidewalk to enjoy their meal while new people filed in behind them.

Hamza and his partner returned empty handed from their expedition and got in the rear of the line; both of them were starving; rested, but hungry. Hamza got some noodles, skipped past the spam and looked over the sausages steaming in the foil pan. "Do these contain any pork?" Hamza asked one of the men who was setting out the food. "Beats me, it's all mystery meat from a can as far as I know." the man replied. "Should probably avoid it then, I suppose." Hamza said. He would have really liked some warm meat today but pork was expressly forbidden to him. "Is it just a taste thing with the pork or are you Jewish or something?" the man asked him curious as to why pork content would be an issue for him. "Do not say that to me again." Hamza sternly warned the man. His countenance and tone were deathly serious. The "J" word was one of the gravest of insults when applied to him. If there was one thing he despised more than aliens it was Zionist Jews. "Alright, alright, suit yourself, there's some beets down at the end of the table if that's more to your liking." the man replied as he backed away from Hamza. "No pork in those." the man quipped, unsure of why Hamza became so agitated. "Asshole." the man muttered as he walked away. Hamza indeed took a helping of beets and asparagus and went to the sidewalk with a rather vegetarian looking dinner.

After the entire unit had eaten their fill and plates were taken to those in the field hospital Bremer went through the buffet line himself. He took two paper plates, one for himself and one for their prisoner whom he intended to visit after dinner. He gleaned the scraps from the serving trays before the cleanup crew took them away. "The dumplings are delectable, Father." Bremer praised Yang when he saw the pastor pass by. "Thank you." Yang replied. He couldn't tell if Bremer was being serious or sarcastic but true to his nature he took Bremer at face value. Bremer sat down with some random conscripts on the sidewalk as Vargas was nowhere to be found. These men and women, who were quite green and not soldiers by trade were a bit awestruck to have their commander eating with them. They didn't speak to him and Bremer only gave the generic pleasantries to them as he quickly finished his meal. The gesture that he was willing to come down and be among the lowliest ranks of the unit stuck however and Bremer earned respect from his men for this act.

After dinner Bremer at last had made it a point to properly interrogate their prisoner to find out why she had shot Major Han. Last night's tirade seemed to make it clear that it wasn't an accident where she mistook the Major for an alien coming around the corner. She had made it clear that if given the chance she would have shot him again. Jin-shil was being held in one of the female dressing rooms at the concert venue under guard. Bremer passed the armed man guarding the door to the dressing room and entered where he dismissed the woman keeping watch over Jin-shil from within. Jin-shil was handcuffed with her hands in front of her and was tied to the dressing room table multiple times with electrical cords and twine allowing her some freedom of movement but holding her in an awkward position to escape. "I brought you something to eat." Bremer said as he set down her plate of food in front of her. Jin-shil ferociously kicked the food away, scattering it across the ground. She was aiming to kick Bremer but failed to make contact. "I see they got your foot wrapped up nicely now." Bremer commented on Jin-shil's bandaged ankle from where he had shot her as he stood back up and backed away. "Cut the crap asshole! Just have your way with me and leave! That's what you came here for right?" Jin-shil snapped at him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa missy, hold up! I do believe you have me all wrong." Bremer exclaimed in disbelief. "Whatever, I know the drill; I don't need some bullshit act. Get on with it!" Jin-shil snarled. "Listen I only dance with a willing partner and we haven't even been properly introduced. Then you know I'm supposed to buy you a drink, take you to a fancy dinner or some lame movie I'm probably going to hate, then you tell me some shit about yourself and I pretend to listen, I tell you you're pretty and a bunch of other mumbo jumbo that you want to hear and then and only then do the clothes come off." Bremer told Jin-shil in a dismissive nonchalant manner as he mocked the standard procedures of Western dating rituals. Jin-shil just glared at him, completely ignoring his attempt at humor. "Anyways bitch your attitude is totally unsexy so not even a train load of Viagra is going to make that happen." Bremer said pulling up and chair and taking a seat across the room. "What I'm here to discuss is what you were doing when you shot my second in command." Bremer stated now shifting to a more serious manner of speaking. "He was coming to take me back and I wasn't going to let him. It's that simple. I don't want to go back. I'm done being property of the resistance or the new empire or whatever the fuck you're calling yourselves now." Jin-shil replied. It wasn't like arguing with them was going to do her any good, her fate was sealed. She had nothing left but to face it until she could end it all. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you this before it sinks in but we do not know you!" Bremer said raising his voice to drive home the point. "Trust me; I would remember a salty bitch like you." Bremer demeaned her. "So how about we do this, let's pretend I'm a freaking idiot, you know a real dumb dumb and I don't know jack shit about anything. So what you're going to do is explain to me how you got from whatever mental institution you escaped from to the street where you shot my second." Bremer said. Jin-shil groaned in disgust. Might as well play along, she reasoned, every minute she was playing into their game was a minute they weren't raping her or beating her. "You were moving me and the other girls from Songpa district to Gangnam district when the Geomis attacked the convoy. I survived the attack and managed to get away. I was doing good until your goons caught up with me and that's when I shot the guy you're getting so worked up about." Jin-shil explained. "You guys kill each other all the time over stupid shit and it's only when someone who's not part of the privileged few gets a shot in that you get pissed." Jin-shil snuck in an aspersion at Bremer before he had a chance to reply. "We don't kill humans, our own or otherwise." Bremer replied. "Don't play dumb, you guys dress up like army men, or cops or doctors but you're not. You claim you're the human resistance but you're really just about taking power for yourselves. You just want to dominate whatever the Geomis leave behind. You're rapists, thieves and murderers, that's all you are. Anyone pledging loyalty to Kwang-su is a scumbag or a coward." Jin-shil snapped in riposte. "I seriously think you are mistaking us for someone else. I've never heard of a Kwang-su. Seriously lady, I'm not even Korean. I'm an American soldier in an American uniform; kind of a lame disguise if I want to pretend I'm something I'm not. My hair is blonde by birth not by bleaching the shit out of it; I'm speaking to you in English, not won-ton-ese, what more proof do you need that I am not with these men you speak of." Bremer said, trying to gauge if perhaps society had broken down so badly in such a short time in Seoul proper that rape and pillage was the new norm or if this woman was just insane. These men she spoke of might not even be real; her actions so far had been rash and impulsive like one suffering from severe psychosis or delusion. "You really don't get it do you?" Jin-shil inquired as suspicion begin to creep into her mind that this was a group on the outside of Kwang-su's empire. She wasn't going to give into them and go along but she could play this out to stall them longer. "I don't get 80% of what you're saying. Who is this Kwang-su guy?" Bremer questioned her. "He's a strongman that's leading a resistance cell in Seoul. I heard he's got vassals all over the city and claims to be liberating it from the aliens. I don't know where he came from or what he was before the invasion, a serial killer is my best guest. He genuinely enjoys inflicting pain on people, and death, it's like an aphrodisiac to him. He was at his worst right after he put someone down. That's when he would..." Jin-shil explained but stopped and burst into tears. "Easy, easy, calm down." Bremer said snapping his fingers to bring Jin-shil's attention back to him. She continued bawling her eyes out. She was a damn good actress, Bremer thought, she had managed to convince him that she'd been through something real with these people that were presumably out there and so widespread yet his own patrols had never encountered them. "Think about something else here, you said you heard he has vassals all over the city?" Bremer asked drawing her away from whatever unpleasant memory, if it existed, caused her to break down. "I said I heard because they kept me locked away until. . . they needed me. . . so I just heard what the men said about him." Jin-shil told him. "Ok then, so if I wanted to check this story of yours out where would I find this guy?" Bremer inquired. "You don't want to do that?" Jin-shil responded. "Why is that?" asked Bremer. "Because he kills soldiers, he can't trust their loyalty. Anyone who can't or won't swear complete allegiance to him is considered a threat. He eliminates all threats." Jin-shil cautioned Bremer, her voice cracking between her tears. Despite putting on the face of a hardened interrogator Bremer was starting to believe her. "Ok, let's just say I believe you and you thought my second was one of these militia guys. Let's just say this was all a big misunderstanding. I've still got a lot of people out there that want me to bring them your head for what you did. Are you willing to do the penance to show those people out there that you're truly sorry?" Bremer asked her. He had no intention of letting her go but was trying to make a breakthrough with her. Trust would be something established over a period of time. It couldn't be meaningfully built in one session, two if you counted the scuffle last night. "If I'm going to be honest with you I still can't say you're not one of Kwang-su's men." Jin-shil replied. She had no idea to what lengths Kwang-su and his minions would go to reclaim their lost property. How could she assume that American soldiers left behind after the invasion wouldn't sell their soul to someone promising protection from the aliens? The military was the hardest hit, and to their downfall was also the most trusting of people to do the right thing by each other when faced with an overwhelming threat. It couldn't be certain that Kwang-su would have the same distrust for foreign soldiers as he would for those of his homeland. He was a man who could exploit someone of any potential value, his standards were not standards at all, and a turncoat American soldier would be an ideal tool to infiltrate those who had grown suspicious of his former tactics. "How do we prove it to you that we're not?" Bremer asked. "You can't." cried Jin-shil. Their conversation was left at that for now. "We will speak again." Bremer said as he got up. "I would get you more food but that's all we had left." Bremer told her before he left the room to be replaced by the female guard once again. Jin-shil looked over the dirty food items on the ground and left them there. She was on a hunger strike, the 4th Korea had until she starved to death to prove that they were not in league with Kwang-su. One way or another she was going to escape his grasp.

Now as twilight settled across the land Bremer returned to the motel to bed down for the night. After almost 40 hours he could feel confident enough to rest knowing that the unit wouldn't fall apart without him. As he laid down he reflected on the things their prisoner had said, the devastation in the fishbowl with Vargas, Tae-yon, and the condition of his dear friends in the ambulance outside. Throughout the night and into the next day the 4th Korea would be picking up the pieces. He only hoped the aliens would give them the time they needed to come off the ropes and not put them down for the count.


	58. Chapter 58: Lessons Learned

Chapter LVIII: Lessons Learned

13 Oct 1002 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Tae-yon awoke in shock late into the morning. When did she fall asleep? How did she get up here to this room? Were her patients alright? What was going on? She frantically sprung to her feet and ran downstairs. She startled the volunteers in the lobby when she came tearing into the room. "What's going on? What's happened? What's the status on our patients?" she nervously spouted off questions in rapid succession to one of men working for her. "Slow down, ma'am I can't understand a word you are saying." the man replied. "Is everything alright?" she asked, still speaking quickly but limiting herself to one question at a time. "Everything's fine ma'am. No one has passed since you went to bed. Most of these people are all stable, we just need to get some more antibiotics and IV bags and we'll be set. As for them bed rest and staying off their injuries is the best medicine." the man informed her. "Then we have to get with Major Bremer and send someone out to get those supplies." Tae-yon hurriedly stated. "Already taken care of ma'am. We've got a team heading back to the hospital as we speak." the man assured her. "You can relax and take it easy Ma'am. We're glad to have you back but it's not that crazy anymore. Go get yourself something to eat; I hear the Reverend's got powdered eggs and hot sauce going on out there. When you get back the lady at the front counter has been keeping a list of what surgical operations we need you to perform." the man informed Tae-yon. She pretended to take a deep breath and breathe a sigh of relief before she walked outside. She stopped by the ambulance and checked in with the newest watch keeping tabs on Sobieski and Han. "How are they?" Tae-yon asked. "They're looking better. He's got a steady heartbeat, breathing is normal; his blood pressure is up too, not quite in the normal range yet but a lot better than it was yesterday. He's got the color back in his skin now, so we know he's more man than corpse." the young lady on watch told her. "What about the Sergeant?" Tae-yon asked. "She's healthy as an ox I don't know why she's still out." the young lady reported. "Alright. Make sure to change out their fluids when they need to and give them a fresh catheter. I'll do a blood test later and see where we stand. If she wakes up, let me know." Tae-yon told the woman before she quickly checked over their vitals and left. She would have to get with the Major later and see about retrieving supplies so that she could set up a feeding tube and a colostomy for Han. It appears that he may be in a vegetative state for a while, if not permanently. As for Sobieski, she was confident enough that she would come out of it without any lasting damage. Bremer was right; she was a tough girl, inside and out.

That afternoon Vargas was wandering around the 4th Korea's new home. He strolled along the edge of a pond south of the concert venue where he met with a group of scouts and received their reports before continuing on, walking the full circumference of pond. People were still coming and going into the camp, bringing back recovered weapons and supplies that had been lost at both the hospital and the "fishbowl." while a trickle of routed soldiers from that battle were slowly making their way back to camp. He himself had just come back from a salvage mission in the fishbowl earlier and brought back that grenade launcher he wanted. He ordered it planted on a rooftop adjacent to the motel to protect their wounded as it was their best weapon against the mechs and probably the only thing they had left with enough firepower to take down a pancake walker. Some of the scouts that had been sent towards Gwanju had reported a new kind of walker as well, even more dreadful than the pancake walkers. These had four legs, two massive clawed arms with equivalent weapons to the egg walkers on the right and left side of the claw, the same type of "wings" mounted on the back and a flexible tail appendage which sported a beam weapon of some sort. From the description and relative rarity of these "scorpion walkers" Vargas deduced they must be analogous to the battle tanks of the alien arsenal. Given how quickly the aliens converted their forces to use local resources it was a surprise that they still were employing energy weapons apart from their ships at this point. It was probably one of those things that wouldn't make for an easy retrofit job Vargas presumed. Still the presence of a widening enemy arsenal some time after any non-negligible human resistance had been crushed was a troubling sign to Vargas. He would have to discuss these things among others with Bremer whenever he found him. Presumably he would either be tending to command duties or trying to hook up with whatever pretty young thing had caught his interest. Vargas assumed the latter and went off in search of places where Bremer may have been completing conquests of a non-military nature.

Vargas heard a significant amount of lively chatter coming from a bar and grill amidst the many small restaurants in the area. Curious, he decided to take a look and what the people inside were up to. He opened the front door and found several members of the Fourth Korea seated at tables and around the bar talking to one another, laughing and imbibing on a few adult beverages. Vargas smiled seeing that people's spirits had not been utterly crushed by what had been yet another crushing defeat. He approached the bar and looked to a young man who was acting as the bartender. "Just give me a straight tequila, or if you don't have that I'll take a glass of rum and Coca-Cola." Vargas told the bartender. "I don't believe we have either of those." the boy replied after looking around. "I'll take one of those warm beers over there then. The Heineken, the one in the green bottle, yeah that's it." Vargas directed the boy. There at the bar seated a few stools over from him Vargas found Bremer holding a bottle of sake in one hand and a 12 ounce clear glass round cup in the other. An empty flask sized bottle of top shelf vodka was also sitting beside Bremer on the bar along with an unidentified shattered bottle at his feet indicating that he had more to drink than just a glass or two of sake.

Something was off about him. Bremer never drank unless there was a celebration going on. He loved to party but here he looked like a sad barfly that sat poached on his stool mulling over a wasted life with no hope for tomorrow. Vargas knew something was amiss; something was eating at his friend. "Here's to thinking better days were just around the corner." Bremer boisterously toasted then downed his drink in one gulp and tossed the glass against the wall where it shattered. "Gentlemen those better days are a lie." Bremer declared boldly as he rose to his feet. Vargas wasn't about to let his friend and commander make a total ass out of himself. Vargas got up and pulled Bremer aside and away from the crowd of people inside the bar. "Major, you can't let the men see you like this!" Vargas excoriated him in a forceful whisper. "What does it matter Chico, I'm no good for them." Bremer replied soft spoken and slurred. "Dammit man! Those people out there look to you for guidance, for strength; if they see you giving up and stumbling around like a buffoon what do you think that'll do to them?" Vargas upbraided his commander. "Sir if you would, come on, let's get out of here for a minute." Vargas urged Bremer and led him out the back door of the bar where they startled Hamza who was sharpening the severed halves of the garden shears he was using earlier in order to fashion them into bladed weapons. "Carry on. Don't mind us; we'll only be a minute." Vargas told Hamza who went on with what he was doing. "Major you need to go lay down and get this out of your system. We've been through a lot these past few days and I know that's starting to get to you. I've never seen you like this before seriously; you've always been a happy drunk with a drink in each hand and a girl in each arm, even during wartime." Vargas lectured his superior officer. "It's different now Chico, I'm not middle management anymore; this whole outfit is my responsibility, my duty and I fucked it all up!" Bremer replied in garbled speech riddled with frustration and the after effects of heavy drinking. Bremer twisted and stumbled forward, losing his balance. His knees buckled and his body started to fall but Vargas was there waiting to catch him before his knees touched the ground. Bremer clung to Vargas' biceps as he helped him to his feet. "You don't understand Chico; this was a guy to left and to the right of me getting blown away. Those things happen in war I know, Chico, I know." Bremer rambled while rolling his head about looking every direction except for at Vargas' face looking directly in front of him. "These were guys I sent to their death and for what? For what man?!" Bremer raised his voice and gripped Vargas by the lapels. He released Vargas and took several steps back into the wall looking down and wagging his head side to side and mumbling incoherently. "I got hundreds killed just for a chance to save my friends." he confessed. In his guilt ridden stupor he knew it; he lied about trying to hold down the hospital for other reasons. True they were valid reasons but in his heart of hearts he stayed behind to save his friends. "As if they were any better than the men who died!" Bremer looked upwards and shouted into the air, spraying spittle as he spoke. Vargas stepped in and gripped his commanding officer's arms firmly and looked him in the eyes. "This is me being selfish; I should have let them die. I could have saved so many more that way. I could have saved them all." Bremer confessed. Bremer leaned in and hugged Vargas, sobbing liquor soaked tears into Vargas' outer jacket. "I could have, I could have. I didn't." he cried over and over again. Vargas knew this wasn't Bremer, this wasn't his friend. He had way too much to drink, enough to render most men unconscious. His inhibitions and better judgement were down, and what was showing through was pure emotion. Delirium and guilt were a powerful combination. Vargas simply stood there and comforted his friend allowing him to let it all out.

"Intoxicants are the devils handwork indeed." Hamza commented noticing Bremer's dismal state of drunkenness. "Nobody asked you! Bremer snapped back at him. Vargas rolled his eyes at Hamza. He almost had Bremer calmed down and now Hamza's cynical moralizing had to come along and ruin it. "If I may humbly offer some advice." Hamza said. "He usually doesn't drink this much so if you're going to say stuff about how bad drinking is just keep it to yourself." Vargas replied sardonically. "I was going to offer advice on the present military situation, not on the immoral act of winebibbing." retorted Hamza. "What's there to discuss. I let everyone down, people died, people who should still be alive. I made an inexcusable mistake." Bremer growled. "It isn't an inexcusable mistake Major; you're used to being on the other side of situations like these. Playing the underdog hasn't been America's strong suit for a century or two." Hamza told Bremer and Vargas. As much as Hamza may have been saying that to shit on his home country Bremer knew it was the truth. As long as he and the men who trained him had been alive the US had been in the position that the aliens were in now. His experiences in dealing with the insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan had given him insight into how the aliens might respond in a given situation but it did not prepare him on how to be the human resistance itself. While Turkey was separated from the fighting of those wars Hamza did grow up in the larger region and probably had more insight on the ground from that side of the fence. So as much as Bremer wanted to get into a verbal fistfight, and quite possibly a literal fistfight with Hamza he instead opted to throw up on Vargas' boot instead.

"I've got to go tell everyone I was wrong and that I will try to make things right." Bremer said. "Sir I think you should wait on that. Look at you, you can barely stand. You're too emotional right now to do any good. Sleep on it then we'll muster the troops." Vargas advised him. "We can't wait around anymore Chico. These spidery sons of bitches don't give us time to wait around." Bremer argued and pulled away from Vargas. "You are not of sound mind now Major, alcohol dulls the mind and weakens the spirit. Do not trust me but trust your friend. You will only do more good than harm by going back out there," Hamza cautioned Bremer against what he was about to do. "Oh don't you start preaching to me too." Bremer complained. Bremer started walking towards the rear entrance to the bar but Vargas got in front of him and barred him entry. "Sir you don't have to do this all alone; let us shoulder some of the burden. What happened it isn't all on you; it's on us as well." Vargas consoled Bremer. "This isn't your fight alone. You're like our King Arthur; we're your knights of the round. We're all equal partners in this struggle." Vargas told Bremer. "So what does that make you, Lancelot?" Bremer joked with a half-cocked smile. "Like I would ever try and get with Brittany, ha!" Vargas replied with a little laughter mixed in. "You better not boy." Bremer chided him playfully. Bremer's despondence was beginning to weather away and the old cheerful Bremer started to wrestle for control of his mind. "Sir, let's go get you some rest. Drink some water and sober up. We'll come back later and set things right when you're feeling better. I'll take care of things until then." Vargas assured him.

Vargas led Bremer back to the hotel and picked up a couple jugs of water along the way. As they walked along Bremer thought things over in his head. He had just broken down in sight of everyone. The pressures of command had broke him, and after that speech he gave to Han too. Who knew that it would be him who couldn't handle the pressure? Perhaps he wasn't the right one to command the 4th. They needed someone who didn't get attached to the people beneath him, someone who would make rational decisions, including the hard decisions. Being a leader was easy for him when things were going good, even when it got a little rough he was in his element so long as he felt he was doing the right thing. When he was doing what he felt was the wrong thing, even for the right reasons, that was when he cracked. Bremer started contemplating stepping down and abdicating the reigns to someone more capable, but who? He went over a short list of names in his mind. The next obvious candidate for the job, Major Han, was in no condition to take over. Vargas would be his next choice; he was a battle hardened soldier and was well versed in tactics and strategy from the modern era all the way back to Ramses II. He knew Vargas, and trusted him to be calm under pressure but ultimately the fact was that he was too soft. Bremer knew when it came to pushing his men beyond what they believed they were capable of that Vargas would relent. By rank there was Colonel Kang, but he was an Air Force guy and this was a ground war. He had also been out of the service for many years. Tae-yang was dead, Ryong-ho was too valuable as a field operative, and he did not know any of the other Koreans well enough to hand the reins over to them. It seemed that as demonstrably unfit as he may be he was stuck with the command of the 4th Korea. All he could do was learn from his mistakes, give more heed to the advice of his subordinates and try not to let last night's bloodbath happen again. "Oh Major, I need to ask you something." Tae-yon called for him as he and Vargas passed her in the hotel lobby. "Not now Ma'am. I'll take care of it when I come back down." Vargas turned his head back and told her. "Hi Tae-yon." Bremer sloppily greeted her, winked and laughed as Vargas led him away. Together they went into an upstairs hotel room far from the bustle of the field hospitals activities below. Vargas sat him down on the bed and handed him a jug of water. "You'll need to drink all of this sir." Vargas instructed Bremer before he went into the bathroom and brought out a towel and a little plastic garbage can. He sat the trash can next to the bed and folded up the towel on the nightstand. "Try to throw up in here if you need to, and this is to clean up." Vargas said. He left the second jug of water on the other side of the bed in case Bremer needed it. "Thanks Chico, you're a good friend." Bremer said as he wavered in the seated position on the bed. "Don't mention it; you'd do the same for me." Vargas replied. He then walked over to the door and took one look back at Bremer to make sure he was ok. "I've got this sir. I'll see you tomorrow." Vargas said before he departed.

On his way out of the hotel Vargas stopped Tae-yon as she was prepping one of her patients for surgery. "If you get a chance can you go up and check on him now and then, to make sure he doesn't choke on his own vomit you know. He's had a lot to drink and I think all the pressure is starting to get to him." Vargas calmly and quietly asked her. "No problem." Tae-yon smiled back. Pressure was one thing she understood all too well. The same way Bremer looked after her, she would be doing for him now. They could both only hope that they wouldn't snap at the same time in the future, or else they would be really screwed. "Thanks. Now you needed to ask about something if I remember correctly?" Vargas inquired. "It's nothing, just some supplies I needed. I wrote them down on that yellow pad over there." Tae-yon told him. "I'll see what I can do Ma'am. If you need anything else while the Major is out of commission I'll be at the supply tent in the event venue." Vargas told her before he retrieved the notepad and left. Not long after Vargas left the young woman standing watch over Han and Sobieski came running in, "Miss Tae-yon, Ma'am, you wanted to know when the Sergeant woke up." the young lady panted. "Yes I did." replied Tae-yon who had only now just gotten her gloves on. "She's awake." the young woman reported. Tae-yon turned back to her assistants. "If you could make sure she's comfortable I'll be right back." she told them. Tae-yon followed the young lady outside and found Sobieski sitting upright on the gurney looking disoriented and confused. "How are you feeling?" asked Tae-yon. "Hungry, a little headachey, sore, meh." Sobieski replied. "Do you remember your name?" Tae-yon asked. "What kind of stupid question is that? Staff Sergeant Lyndsey M. Sobieski, 2nd Infantry Division, United States, err, I mean 5th Maintenance Battalion, 4th Army, or whatever the fuck we're calling ourselves now." Lyndsey sardonically yet formally replied. "Good. I just wanted to make sure you were still all there." Tae-yon told her apologetically. "How long was I out?" Sobieski asked. "I don't know the exact time but two days, almost." Tae-yon replied. "Damn, didn't feel that long. It was like I just blinked and here I am." Sobieski commented in bewilderment. She looked over at Han and felt a proverbial stab in the heart as the breath was stolen out of her. "How's is Jung-nam? Did he make it?" she asked with a sense of concern and dread in her voice. "I don't know yet. He's alive and doing much better now thanks to you but I don't know if he's going to come to or not. We're working on setting up a ventilator, feeding tube and a colostomy, if the engineers and scavengers can pull it off so we can keep his body going indefinitely as long as we're not attacked but it's up to his mind if he gets up. The oxygen supply to his brain was choked up for some time, without any modern equipment I have no way of knowing if "he" is still even in there." Tae-yon confessed to the best of her knowledge. "I hope so, I hope he's there, and he comes back around." Sobieski said as she reached across and took hold of Han's hand. It was warm, indeed there was still blood coursing around inside of him. "I miss him." Lyndsey whispered. "Well as you can see we made it out of the hospital and are now holed up in some little entertainment district on the edge of town." Tae-yon explained. "Let me get this IV out of you and you can go get you something to eat." Tae-yon said. "No, I'd rather not. I want to stay here with him." Lyndsey told Tae-yon. "Very well." Tae-yon said then turned to the young lady that had been standing watch. "Miss Hong if you would show her how to check blood pressure and change an IV bag she can stand watch." Tae-yon instructed her. The young woman nodded in concordance. "After you're done with that go to the chow line and pick her up a plate I'm sure she's starving. When you're done with that you're dismissed for the rest of the day." Tae-yon continued as she stepped out of the ambulance. "Yes Ma'am. Thank you." the woman replied. "Thank you Eun-ha, you've been a big help, and Sergeant, good to have you back." Tae-yon said as she bid them farewell and returned to perform the surgery she had been delaying.

Meanwhile upstairs, Bremer laid back onto the bed and closed his eyes. He felt like he was on a ship at sea, with the ground swaying gently beneath him. He was happy to have friends who cared about him and soldiers who stood by him. He had learned things today, simple things but important, things about character, about friendship, about comradery and responsibility and command; what it all meant and how it all worked together. These were lessons learned the hard way. Those were the kind of lessons that stuck with you.


	59. Chapter 59: Specimens

Chapter LIX: Specimens

11 Oct 1201 KST

Gangseo District, Seoul, South Korea

Yulia and Ji-hye headed more east than southeast after leaving the hardware store in search of food. Being a tall woman with long legs Yulia found the Beetle to be rather cramped to ride in. Her knees were pointed upwards to her chest as her feet rested upon a bag carrying their weapons. She didn't complain of her discomfort for she knew that vehicle options were limited. Instead she just moved her head around, splitting her attention between watching Ji-hye and surveying the outside world. She had been cooped up in the hardware store for days and to be out in the sunshine, even if it was overcast and slightly wet today, was something to be thankful for. Ji-hye kept her eyes focused on what was in front of her as they travelled through a devastated area with few if any structures still standing. Buildings were little more than scattered piles of brick and concrete speckled with snapped wooden beams, paneling and studs. Structural steel members, signposts and light poles lay flattened out pointing west or northwest depending on how far south they went. Bits of debris were strewn about the street in the same pattern as the light poles all radiating outwards from where the meteor had struck the city. Overturned cars were commonplace here and those left standing had their windows blown out, not a single one was still intact. A pair of beamers doing a routine high altitude flyover told the two women that even though it was quiet outside the enemy was never far from them. Ji-hye noticed Yulia watching her from the passenger seat as she checked her mirrors for any signs of alien presence on the ground. "Do you have to do that? It's creeping me out." Ji-hye asked sounding a bit irritated with Yulia. "Sorry, it's just a habit; you weren't talking so I look over to see if anything is wrong. I'm insecure like that around people." Yulia apologized. "Everything is fine. I have to focus that's all. One of those robots could pop out behind the next half wall we see and that's what makes me nervous." Ji-hye told her. The continued on, turning more south and entering into an area with a few isolated walls and skeletal frames of smaller buildings left standing amidst the ruins of grander structures. "Why are we here? This place is a wasteland." Yulia asked Ji-hye as they seemed to be going deeper into the devastation which would be no place to find food. "We have to; the most direct routes are blocked so we have to go out and around to get to where we need to go. Don't worry I've been here before so we won't get lost." Ji-hye explained.

They drove south and eventually turned back to the west bumping over small bits of debris in the road and driving carefully around large sloping mounds of rubble that had drifted into the right of way. They now entered into an area where about 40% of the buildings were structurally sound. "Keep an eye out for any grocery stores or low brow restaurants you might see." Ji-hye told Yulia, putting her wandering eyes to good use. The bellowing sounds of a mech gave fair warning for the pair to adjust their route to avoid being caught. In the act of evading the mech by deviating from the standard path they had found what they were looking for, a medium sized community grocery store. Ji-hye and Yulia drove up to the grocery store and parked in a space between two defunct compact cars. They got out, Ji-hye took her rifle and locked up, and then together the women entered into the store.

Once inside they immediately were overcome by the stench of rotten meat. After checking the corners and nearby aisles for enemies Ji-hye allowed Yulia to proceed. Yulia grabbed two plastic coolers from a display and hurried away with Ji-hye from the meat market. At each aisle Ji-hye cleared it and then signaled Yulia to proceed behind her. Ji-hye surprised a skitter in the TV dinner aisle and dropped it quickly with two three round bursts in rapid succession. She felt confident that she was quick enough in ending the creature's life that it didn't have a chance to call for backup in whatever inaudible means they used to communicate with each other. They had to talk somehow Ji-hye assumed and with little more than raspy breathing sounds coming from their mouth she assumed their speech was in frequencies outside the normal range of human hearing. Such ultrasonic and infrasonic communication was common in many animal species and seemed to make more sense to Ji-hye than using olfactory senses or some kind of ESP. Halfway across the store Yulia stopped at the canned food aisle and looked on as Ji-hye continued. Yulia cleared her throat to get Ji-hye's attention. "We'll come back there. First let's go check the produce." Ji-hye told her. Canned food would keep for years, fresh produce would not. It would be advisable for them to eat the perishables first and then look to the long term storable items. There was no telling how long they would be living underground as it were.

The produce section of the store was full of flies, the buzzing got so bad when Yulia passed by one of the displays she had to cover her ears. The berries and grapes were all rotten and molded, the lettuce and leafy greens were wilted and the bananas were all brown or worse. "Check the oranges and apples." Ji-hye suggested. "You think they'll still be safe to eat with all these flies?" asked Yulia. "If we wash them off first and peel them yes." Ji-hye answered. The survivors of 1437 needed nutrient rich food and they weren't going to get it from starches or processed muck. So Yulia filled the two coolers with citrus fruit, apples, melons and pears, carefully sifting through them, taking the good ones and discarding the rotten. After their coolers were full Ji-hye grabbed a couple bags and filled them with peanut butter, canned nuts and cans of spinach, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, peas and green beans. The women then carried their haul back to the Beetle and loaded it up. They got into the car and drove away in the nick of time for the pounding of mech footfalls was loudening from the south.

Ji-hye drove northwards past a devastated library, church and high school of which only one corner section of wall remained. They were forced off road to the west by mechs and skitters approaching from the north and south. Fortunately they did not draw attention by the time the alien patrols passed. The patrol from the south had several dozen harnessed kids and teens in tow along with the mechs and skitters. They were shabbily dressed, dirty and unarmed, apparently set to be put to hard labor for whatever purposes the aliens had in mind. The women now crossed over an area of flattened trees that had once been a wooded area nestled in the midst of the western Seoul metropolis. The small car was not designed for off-roading so they had to be very careful, eventually the trees became less horizontal and more vertical and they reached a paved road again near a Christian university campus still very much intact.

Having shaken the alien patrols Ji-hye and Yulia now had to return home via a different route, they would have to loop close to Bucheon, cross back into the dreaded alien hot spot of Incheon and slip back into the quiet little corner that the hardware store was in. Being in a small car now had its advantages; they were able to elude many patrols by going down previously inaccessible alleyways and around car jams that would otherwise require getting out and rearranging the field. As they passed through a narrow one way street between two long 3 story housing complexes they noticed a score of birds constantly flying from one rooftop to the other back and forth, back and forth. It seemed bizarre and ominous only because of the stillness of the air, and the sense both of them felt that an alien could be lurking at the next cross street when they emerged onto the main road. The sight was more than a bit creepy to Yulia when she saw two of the birds, black ravens eating a pigeon on top of one of the rooftops. Even stranger was another pair of ravens chewing the head off a third raven, this was beyond bird on bird violence; this was cannibalism. They had almost reached the fated arterial road when the two cannibalistic birds swooped away from their perch and followed them. "Great now they're going to shit on my new car." Ji-hye joked around. The joke became all too serious when an explosion like a grenade going off occurred where the decapitated bird had been. Yulia would have jumped out of her seat if only she had any space to move. As they turned the corner onto the main road one of the birds pursuing them crashed into a nearby building and exploded. The other bird swooped in front of them dove down and hit the front windshield at full force sending a fine spray of glass slivers into the vehicle. The second bird however did not explode. Ji-hye accelerated by instinct and raced down the road with a dead bird imbedded in her windshield radiating cracks through the glass all around it. Once Ji-hye had gotten a safe distance away from the birds she parked the car in an alley and got out to remove the dead bird from her windshield.

Ji-hye walked around to the front of the windshield and examined the bird. Yulia, running a few seconds behind came around the other side of the car and joined her. The bird smelled like rancid farts mixed with raw sewage. It was a horrid stench. "Methane." Ji-hye whispered. Whatever's in these things it produces high concentrations of methane, she deduced. Ji-hye carefully peeled the bird out of the hole it had punctured through the window using a stack of paper towels. She noticed that its chest had been punctured in several places by the glass. "This must have been what prevented the explosion." Ji-hye surmised. She directed Yulia to empty the contents of one of the two coolers into the trunk. She then placed the dead bird inside the cooler along with the paper towels and closed the lid. "I think Dr. Klauss should take a look at this." Ji-hye explained her actions to Yulia. Yeah, he might be able to tell us why these birds were blowing up. They aren't supposed to blow up right?" Yulia asked, half sarcastic, half scared. "I don't so." Ji-hye said as she cleaned out the glass from inside the car. "Klauss should know what's up. He is an uptight control freak but he is a smart guy." Yulia said. "Watch out for birds." Ji-hye told Yulia after they got back into the car. They then headed back to the hardware store where they would present their catch to Klauss for his analysis.


	60. Chapter 60: Contagion

Chapter LX: Contagion

11 Oct 1424 KST

Gangseo District, Seoul, South Korea

Ji-hye and Yulia returned to the hardware store early in the afternoon as the cloud cover started to dissipate. They were the first group that went out to make it back today. This was as expected since they were in a car not to mention that they went seeking food and the other groups went out seeking people; the former was far more abundant than the latter. The women carried in the food first and then went to find Dr. Klauss who was taking a nap behind a stack of bags of concrete mix. "Dr. Klauss, Dr. Klauss." Ji-hye said as she jostled his body with her hand. The doctor opened his eyes and yawned, he hadn't been asleep long so it wasn't too bad on him coming up from a shallow rest. "I'm sorry to wake you doctor but there is something we think you should take a look at." Ji-hye told him. Ji-hye and Yulia helped Dr. Klauss to his feet and gave him time to wake up before they led him outside to the trunk of the Beetle.

"Ok, so what are you two ladies so excited to show me?" grinned Klauss, expecting a gift of some sort. Instead Ji-hye opened the trunk, Yulia opened the cooler and there stood a festering headless bird. The head was still in the cooler it had only become detached on the ride back and rolled over to one corner while the body remained wrapped in the paper towels. Klauss' smile turned to a disappointed frown. "A dead crow? What are you girls, a couple of cats?" Klauss quipped sarcastically. "These birds were flying around close to Bucheon and exploding when they crashed into things. We were hoping that you could tell us what was wrong with them." Ji-hye explained. "Exploding like guts going everywhere or. . " Klauss began to ask. "Like boom, fire, that kind of explosion." Yulia interrupted and cut to the chase. "I see. Well for starters there doesn't seem to be a lot of blood in for a bird that just lost its head." Klauss sated noting the absence of significant amounts of blood staining the cooler and paper towels. Ji-hye scrunched her forehead and looked down at the bird, she hadn't thought about that before. When the bird struck the windshield there wasn't a whole lot of blood that came out then either. "Yulia could you go fetch me a nail from inside?" Klauss requested. Yulia ran off and Klauss turned his head and looked over the bird from a standing position while Ji-hye stood holding the trunk open. He didn't want to touch the dead bird with his bare hands; for one it was a dead animal and secondly it could have been diseased. "Hmmm..." he mused. "There's a very strong odor to it." he commented. "I think its methane gas, it was producing way more of it that it should I think." Ji-hye mentioned. Yulia came out of the store with a nail, ran over to Klauss and handed it to him. Klauss knelt down and prodded the bird's head with the nail, turning it so he could get a better look at it from all angles. "The blood seems to have coagulated instantly at every one of the severed blood vessels in the neck. There seems to be distinct changes to digestive tract from what I can see through these puncture wounds in the abdomen. The intestines have elongated and formed chambers within them, exactly how is hard to piece together with it all popped open as such. There also seems to be a noticeable amount of pus around the base of the skull and onto the spinal column indicating some type of infection. Spinal tissue is very soft and breaks apart easier than it should." Dr. Klauss noted out loud as he picked at the bird with the nail. "The spinal infection is very similar to a human case I examined in South Africa in August." said Dr. Klauss after tossing the nail in the cooler and closing the lid. He stood up, stepped back and allowed Ji-hye to close the trunk.

"So you've seen this before?" asked Ji-hye. "I can't say for sure." answered Klauss. "I'd need to do a biopsy on the infectious agent, dissect the animal and observe the nervous tissue under a microscope to give you a better idea of what it is." Klauss told them. "We saw a university on the way back here. They should have a Science Department at the very least that would have everything you need." mentioned Yulia. "I am intrigued and very much would like to take a closer look at it but who would look after the place with me, Sergei and Harrison all away? Heaven forbid we let Leonid run the joint." Klauss pondered aloud. "Semet is mature enough to hold down the fort for a few hours." suggested Yulia. "Half the people in there wouldn't trust a Turk with their lives. I'm not trying to be a bigot here; I'm just telling it how it is." Klauss stated. "I'm sure he could handle it and he's been a rather polite gentleman the whole time I've known him but you know as well as I do that most of those people see him as no different than Hamza. We're on edge enough as it is; I wouldn't want to fracture the group over something trivial like that." Klauss told Yulia. Klauss then stepped back and looked directly at Ji-hye. "Once one of the other groups gets back we'll take a trip over to this college of yours and I'll have a more detailed look at this bird." Klauss told her. Ji-hye nodded. "I'll wait around for a while; we can't wait too long though. The others of these things exploded when they died so I would assume having an intact specimen is a rare opportunity. If it gets too close to sunset I'll stay behind and Yulia can show you the way." Ji-hye said. "Very well, by tomorrow the specimen may have degraded too far. I should at least get a culture started before sundown." Klauss conceded. Yulia and Klauss went back inside and waited while Ji-hye gathered up a few flashlights, batteries and work lamps and packed them into the car. They would likely need them to work within the university even if the sun was still out.

A small tow truck rolled up to the gas station across from the hardware store a few hours later as the sun was dipping down lower in the cloud spattered sky, turning the blue and grey canvas above the ruined skyline into one of orange and black. The lookouts inside the hardware store notified the others that an unfamiliar vehicle had arrived. Out the back crept Harrison's oldest son, Andrew along with Ji-hye and Cedomir Batishev, one of the Russian passengers of Flight 1437. Ji-hye kept her weapon holstered and walked out to greet the driver of the tow truck while Cedomir hid behind a dumpster and Andrew followed a distance behind Ji-hye with his rifle at the ready. They couldn't see the driver or any potential passengers from across the street through the truck's tinted windows. Ji-hye was figuring all her options as she walked casually towards the vehicle, planning on striking up a friendly dialogue at first. She hoped the scared kid with a gun behind her wouldn't be a deal breaker; with the way the world worked now it was to be expected. When they stepped onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street the driver side door of the tow truck opened. Ji-hye was soon relieved to see that it was Harrison that stepped out. "Put that gun down boy! Is that any way to greet your old man?" Harrison barked out in jest. Andrew lowered his weapon, put the safety back on and ran to his father. Andrew gave his father a hug, thankful to see him back and then backed away and walked alongside him as they went back towards the store. Harrison's partner got out of the passenger seat with a couple bags of canned goods and locked up the truck before following behind them.

Once inside Harrison and his partner put away their small haul and sat down with Ji-hye, Harrison's family, Yulia and Dr. Klauss. "I didn't find any people out there. I found zombies, junior zombies and space crabs aplenty and mapped out enemy positions from here to the coast though." Harrison reported. He took out and unfolded a map from his left pants pocket and handed it to Klauss. There were circles and other markings in various places on the map with additional annotations in the margins showing enemy locations and their approximate size and composition. "I didn't know how much the ladies were bringing back so I snagged some beans and a few of those stove-in-a-can things on my way back." Harrison added while Klauss surveyed the map. "Good job for taking the initiative on this. We need to keep a running chart of these and combine all our intel every time we go out." Klauss commented before he got up and tacked the map to the wall behind the table. "You wouldn't mind watching over the place for a few hours would you Mr. Harrison?" Klauss asked. "Not at all, mate." Harrison replied. "Good because I've got to go somewhere with the detective and Yulia. They found something they want me to check out." Klauss replied. "Take your time, the place will still be here when you get back." said Harrison. He couldn't promise that but no one would point that out lest it raise the already elevated fears of the people around them. Ji-hye and Yulia got up at the implied invitation; Ji-hye had been anxious to leave for some time now. Together the three of them armed up and proceeded out the door. "Don't come looking for us until at least tomorrow evening. We may have to hunker down somewhere for the night if it gets too late or we run into problems." Ji-hye instructed Harrison and the others. Harrison nodded and waved goodbye to her before the guard shut the door and locked the deadbolt.

With her previous experience still fresh in her mind Ji-hye avoided the alleyways where she had encountered the exploding birds and arrived at the university by a different route. The disc of the sun had now touched the horizon adding a deep reddish hue to the orange sky. Yulia grabbed the cooler out of the truck and Ji-hye and Klauss gathered up some of the lighting equipment and brought them to the front doorstep of the university. Ji-hye and Yulia then went on ahead and cleared the lobby to ensure there were no enemies waiting for them inside. Once the coast was clear Klauss moved all the equipment from the car and the doorstep into the lobby and waited for Yulia and Ji-hye to scout out the route to the science department. The two women went upstairs and down the darkened hallways by their flashlight beams. They checked out a biology lab which had a number of microscopes, gloves and the necessary dissection supplies that Klauss would need. They then retrieved Klauss along with the cooler and some of the lighting equipment and brought them to the lab. "One of the pre-med classrooms should have petri dishes to grow a culture with. I'll also need a syringe, some rubbing alcohol, plastic bags, the rest of the lights and some water from downstairs." Klauss told Ji-hye. She nodded and went out to retrieve the items requested. Meanwhile Yulia set up the lights so that Klauss could work once the sun went down and assisted Klauss in converting the microscopes backlights to work on battery power. Klauss donned a pair of gloves along with a plastic smock, goggles and a face mask and then prepared the area he was to be working at. He had found two microscopes, one with a higher possible magnification factor than the other and set them up a table adjacent to the one where he would be dissecting the bird. He instructed Yulia to don gloves and facial protection and bring him a trash can. When Ji-hye returned with part of the supplies that Klauss requested Klauss gave her a written list of certain chemicals he might need and she departed to gather the rest of what he needed. Yulia set up the rest of the lights and assisted Klauss in carefully dissecting and examining the various tissue samples excised from the diseased raven. In some way the external darkness of being in a shadowy building at dusk elevated the clarity of the backlit sample that Klauss was looking at. When Ji-hye returned the second time Klauss handed her several sealed Petri dishes to put away and continued on with the examination without saying two words to her. Afterwards Ji-hye went to make a final check of the halls and rooms of the university in the vicinity of where they were working before returning to guard the biology lab. "We've done all we can tonight. I'll finish the exam and check on the cultures in the morning." Klauss said after he was finished. He then put away the bird samples he had gathered into neat plastic containers and wrapped the rest of the bird in a plastic bag and set it into the cooler. Klauss then removed his gloves and disposed of them, washed and sanitized his hands, then donned a second pair of gloves and removed the rest of his protective equipment repeated the procedure. He couldn't be too careful with an unknown infectious organism. As Ji-hye, Yulia and Klauss secured their lighting and made their way into a classroom on the next floor up a mech walked into the front parking lot of the university. The mech detected the residual heat and electromagnetic signatures from the lighting equipment as well as the body heat from the three people inside. The mech stood in place, still as a statue for about half an hour and observed the three humans who remained unware of its presence as they bed down for the night. A pair of skitters crawled up behind the mech and both looked towards the university. One outstretched its arm and pointed in the direction Ji-hye and the others were resting within. The other looked down and around triggering the first skitter to make motions with its head in response as if they were having an inaudible conversation with each other. After appearing to reach a consensus the two skitters and the mech turned around and left the parking lot. Three sleeping adult humans were meaningless to them.

The next day Dr. Klauss completed his examination of the bird and then turned his attention to the bacterial cultures. After he had thoroughly examined them and compared his notes from the morning with those from the previous night he was ready to deliver his findings to the others. "If you two would please put on gloves and goggles and join me inside." Klauss stepped out of the room to beckon Ji-hye and Yulia, who were making petty "girl talk" with each other, to come inside and join him. "So what have we learned doctor?" asked Ji-hye after they had donned their protective gear. "Like you had speculated the bird itself has undergone several anatomical changes. Being a human doctor myself I may be a little off on the full extent of the changes though. The biggest changes were in the nervous and digestive system. The intestinal tract has been enlarged and split into two chambers, one which serves as a mechanism for digestion the other which breaks down food and recycled fecal matter in a manner that produces copious quantities of hydrogen and methane which is either evacuated through the bowels or stored in this large chest sac in the front of the breast and abdomen. These additional strands of nerve tissue form a secondary circuit from the brain to the digestive tract and chest sac. This circuit serves as the "detonator" if you will for when these birds explode. As long as the bird is alive the circuit remains closed and nothing happens. Presumably upon brain death the circuit is opened which floods the chest sac with stored gases and triggers this node up here, which seems to serve as a capacitor of sorts, to discharge which produces a spark to ignite the gas and trigger an explosion. There also seems to be a change in the chemical composition at the nano-molecular level of the bones, beak and talons however with only an optical microscope I really can only speculate on this." Klauss disclosed his findings to them while showing them some of the things he was talking about on the opened up bird before them. "What about the germ causing this?" inquired Ji-hye. "I was getting to that, it's primarily concentrated in the central nervous system and the spinal column but also extends into certain muscle tissues as well. If you would take a look into the microscope on the right you can see it for yourself." Klauss replied. "This is kind of a curious thing we've got here. You see there's a new species of bacteria here, that in and of itself isn't anything out of the ordinary, we find new species of bacteria every day, these things evolve and adapt so fast there are literally millions of new variants cropping up all the time. What is interesting is these bacteria contain the coding for a particular type of infectious protein called a prion, the jury is still out on whether this protein can be considered a living organism or not but it reproduces itself like one." Klauss explained. "Prions copy themselves onto healthy proteins and thus can spread like a disease. This is what causes the conditional commonly referred to as "Mad Cow disease." So what we really have here is a two stage organism; a symbiosis of sorts where the bacteria spreads the disease and manufactures the prion and the prion alters the host organism into what we see here." Klauss continued. "The bacteria is what is causing the pus to form and the prion is made evident by the degradation of the brain and nervous tissue as you can see here, if you would look through the microscope on the left you can see the result of the prions activity on the bird's brain tissue. Notice how it looks all spongy and full of holes, kind of like swiss cheese almost. What's different than most prions however is that it's not just breaking down the brain tissue; it's growing something else in its place. You can't really notice it very well here because this specimen seems to have been in a fairly early stage of transition but if you increase the magnification you can see these purple strands of fresh new neural tissue growing across the holes created by the misfolded proteins." Klauss explained. "I can't begin to speculate as to what the bird would have eventually grown into but it's clear that it was morphing into a distinctly different organism from both an anatomical and biochemical perspective." Klauss went on and elucidated. "That's great, so how do we kill it?" Ji-hye asked, more concerned with the practical aspects of the discovery than the scientific. "I suppose the bacterium could be killed by most common antibiotics. The bacteria aren't really the problem though, they're just the carriers. It's the prion that does the real damage and for that there is no known cure." Klauss informed them. "Damn that sucks hardcore." Yulia commented. "The good news is that the disease is not airborne, it's transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids between organisms or through contaminated water supplies. Furthermore, we don't know if the disease is transmissible between species or is limited just to ravens." Klauss added. Harrison had made comments that would indicate the disease is zoonotic though all three of them were in too much of a hurry to leave yesterday that they hadn't picked up on it. "Is that the bacteria you're talking about or the prion thing?" asked Ji-hye. "The bacteria; the prion alone can only be transmitted through ingesting the infected protein. I wouldn't eat any crow for the time being." Klauss answered. Ji-hye and Yulia laughed at the phrase "eat crow" being uttered in this context. "Wait a minute. . ." Klauss stopped and said to himself. "If we ever need to we could use antibiotics to neutralize the bacterial agent of an infected creature. It wouldn't cure it but it would stop the disease from spreading. Disseminating pills to flocks of wild birds will be no simple matter though." Klauss stated. "These rabid birds are too violent and fond of exploding to think of treating them to begin with." Ji-hye commented. "The others are probably getting worried about us. We should start heading back if there's nothing more you can learn from this bird." Ji-hye suggested. "Without modern medical equipment this is about the best I can do." Klauss replied. "Let's go burn this first so it doesn't spread to any other vermin." Klauss suggested before any of them thought to remove their gloves and go. The trio then gathered up the infected material and burned it outside before sanitizing themselves and departing for the hardware store where the others were waiting for them.


	61. Chapter 61: Regroup, Reform, Resist

Chapter LXI: Regroup, Reform, Resist

14 Oct 1110 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

The following day Bremer, Vargas, Ryong-ho, Colonel Kang, Williams and a handful of soldiers and civilian fighters gathered within the outdoor concert venue. All of the senior staff had been invited by Colonel Kang earlier in the morning but Tae-yon's duties kept her from coming and Sobieski refused to leave Major Han's side to join them. Here they had brought the bulk of the equipment they had recovered from their ongoing salvage operation. There were tents, cargo nets and partitions set up to keep the gear from getting wet as they have had a few relatively short moments of heavy showers and light morning mists throughout what were mostly mild and sunny days. The venue itself was a deep rectangular field surrounded by an outer structure on all sides which would normally be used to house the stage equipment, concessions, merch dealers, dressing rooms and so forth but now were being used as soldiers' barracks, an armory and Jin-shil's prison cell. Sentries were posted on the roof as well as K6 machine gun emplacements on the east side above the backstage area and the northwest corner facing the rest of the camp. The once festive venue had transformed into the appearance of a forward operating base, which in fact was the 4th's main base of operations at the moment. They had two days to recover from the traumatic blow the aliens had dealt them and now was the time to talk strategy moving forward.

Bremer and Vargas approached a folding table underneath a cargo net suspended by four poles with small US and South Korean flags hanging from each of the four corners. Colonel Kang was already seated in a steel folding chair at the table behind a large unfolded map and two manila folders containing their unit rosters and equipment inventory. Bremer, Vargas and Ryong-ho approached the table, with Ryong-ho breaking off to be seated on the south end of the table perpendicular to Kang and Bremer and Vargas remaining standing on the west end facing him. Williams and the others that had gathered out of curiosity stood around the outside of the tent. They weren't senior staff members but were welcome to be present during the meeting.

"Greetings everyone. Glad you could spare the time from your busy schedules to come see me." Colonel Kang greeted the others. "Now that we seem to have gotten off the canvas after one hell of punch to the face the question on everybody's mind is what do we do now?" Colonel Kang posed the obvious question. "Myself and the others in the admin division have taken the liberties to compile all the pertinent data for your consideration which we have laid out in front of you." colonel Kang directed them to the folders and updated map showing the current disposition of human and alien elements in Seongnam, Seoul, Yongin, around Anyang and parts of Gwanju. Bremer took one of the folders and browsed through some of the personnel roster. "KIA, KIA, KIA, MIA, Active, WIA, WIA, KIA, WIA, KIA, KIA, KIA. . . "Bremer read through a portion of the names listed and noticed that most of the men he was remotely familiar with, or a better way of putting it would be the ones whom he knew their names, were dead or wounded. What he was left with aside from his closest friends and a few others were a bunch of nameless, faceless Koreans that he couldn't tell apart from some Joe on the street, well back when there were tons of nameless Joes on the street that is. Bremer sighed and read a little further and then sat the folder down. So it goes, that was war, Bremer thought, being of clearer and more professional mind than he was when he was on an alcohol fueled guilt trip the other day. Ryong-ho was studying the particulars of the map, specifically the southern and western directions, while Bremer was lamenting the loss of many names and faces into the ranks of the fallen. "What we have learned from our last battle is that we win small and lose big. They don't seem to mind the pinpricks but if you draw blood they take notice. We can't go too hard and heavy at the enemy unprepared again." Bremer spoke up and told them. "I take full responsibility for what happened at the hospital and I admit I was wrong. We should have limited our offensive in the south and they never would have come for us. Furthermore, the decision to stay and protect the hospital was poor judgement on my behalf." Bremer confessed. "You can't be sure of that. If we had run what is to say the enemy wouldn't have pursued us and forced us into combat in a place of their choosing where we would not have had the luxuries of a sound defensive posture to shunt their advance." Colonel Kang commented pointing out that Bremer's actions while motivated by selfishness might have actually produced a better outcome than the alternative. What was to say that if the aliens had taken the time to gather a force to sweep through Seongnam again that they would simply move along if they found the hospital abandoned. Their overflights could have easily detected a large army on the move which if their ground forces followed through would have resulted in the 4th being caught in an alien ambush on open ground. That of course was coming from a position of human logic which when dealing with alien beings could be all too irrelevant. "After our defeat do you think we should abandon the notion of an offensive in Incheon, or sending envoys to the south to parlay with the farm boys?" advised Vargas. "No, we continue as planned. We can't let this hold us back. We've got to keep pressing on. Incheon is going to be a long term strategy, we won't be charging in there on day one. We've got to make small gains building towards it though, and that we can do." Bremer replied. Vargas gave Bremer a look of disapproval, as if Bremer had learned nothing from his unchecked ambition in the south of Seongnam. If they started biting at the enemy's heels again, even nibbling it would show the aliens that they are still a threat to be reckoned with and possibly spark another response of which the 4th surely could not withstand at this moment in time. "This entire campaign has been reeling from one massive defeat to the next, fighting rearguard actions all the way. We've been beaten but we can't afford to have our spirits broken. We have to strike back, if only symbolically. We need a victory, just one victory to show everyone that we can do it, that all is not lost." Bremer said. "Shouldn't we at least take some time to regroup? Find somewhere to hide and lay low until we can reconstitute the strength of our forces. We're going to need more vehicles, new recruits if we can find any, and for God's sake half my men are bloodied and beaten, give them a moments rest to heal their wounds." Vargas protested. "Hide where?" Ryong-ho asked. "Stone walls, brick and mortar, barbed wire, steel and reinforced concrete, done of that does a damn bit of good anymore. We could bury ourselves in a bomb shelter 2 miles underground and all they would have to do is lob another meteor at us and we'd be finished." Ryong-ho continued. "Or collapse all the entrances and wait for us to suffocate or starve." a soldier standing around chimed in. "That too. The point is there's nowhere to hide, even for a little while. The only way to buy us some time with these fuckers is to stay out of their way and hope that you're not on the to do list for the day." Ryong-ho said. "Eventually we're all on the to do list no matter what we do, it's just a matter of how much of a priority the King Crabs up there see in getting rid of you." Bremer added. "We can't simply run and hide, you said it, there's nowhere to go. We've got to keep sticking it to the bugs every chance we get. This isn't a typhoon or a pandemic where we can just run, dig in and isolate ourselves and wait until it's over. This will never be over unless we do something about it. Either we end this or it ends us. Chico, I know your men are worn down and I'll do my best to use the guys that are in the best shape and try to keep those who need some downtime the most out of the mix for a while." Bremer explained. "What about the ones who can't fight? The badly wounded, the children, the elderly, what do we do with them?" asked a female fighter in crowd. "We run to the hills, take up refuge in one of tunnels where the highway passes through the mountain. We should be under enough dirt to. . ." Bremer started to suggest. "I wouldn't do that sir." Williams interrupted. Bremer looked over at Williams and gave a curious expression. "Go on, please continue." Bremer said after Williams had been intimidated into silence. "What I was saying sir, is that the enemy has been using our highways and from what I've seen these tunnels are major convergence points for them. I wouldn't be surprised if the aliens aren't already encamped there." Williams explained. "The intel posted on these maps appears to confirm what the Corporal is saying." Ryong-ho seconded. The likelihood of civilian casualties seemed imminent if they were going to continue to press the attack; there truly was nowhere to hide. Vargas still looked displeased at the zeal Bremer was pushing as he continued to speak elaborating his strategy to take it to the enemy. "Sir, you really need to take a step back and examine the situation." Vargas spoke up after letting Bremer run with it for a while longer. Bremer looked back at Vargas with his eyes saying that he had made up his mind. "If I could have a word with you in private sir. Please." Vargas said, hoping for a change to debate what he thought was a very flawed decision without publicly undermining Bremer's authority. "If you would excuse us gentlemen." Bremer said to Kang and the others before he stood up and went with Vargas to another tent beyond earshot from the table.

"Ok, Chico, I can tell you don't like where this is going so get it all out now and let's get it over with." Bremer told Vargas. "Remember how you were so pissed that you put your feelings ahead of the mission before. This is the same thing, different feelings but the same idea. Please sir, think of the mission now." Vargas implored Bremer once again to reconsider. Bremer shook his head and started to walk back towards the rest of the group. He wasn't going to be dissuaded; he was passionate about pressing the enemy at every turn. He was passionate about revenge, no that wasn't it now was it? "I've made up my mind. We can't let them think they've won." Bremer insisted. "Sir, wait! That's it. We let them think that they've won!" Vargas said. "Say what?" Bremer asked in response. "In order for our strike on Incheon to succeed we have to lull the enemy back to sleep; give them a false sense of security, make them think they've won. I'm sorry sir, I know you want to keep on chipping away at these guys but the way things they're going to outlast us." Vargas implored Bremer to reconsider. "Every engagement we lose we lose more men and material, sure most of the time they lose more in raw numbers but as percentages go they're kicking our ass. Killing walkers and bugs is not going to be enough sir, we have to save our resources for something more substantial, like Incheon. Until then we have to stop going after walkers and bugs. They don't give a damn about what happens to walkers and bugs but I sure bet they will give a damn if we torch their manufacturing base, especially now that the big moon-carriers have bailed from the night sky. Listen sir, please, they're onto us now, even the small strikes will signal to them that their victory is incomplete and they will keep coming for us until we are no longer a threat. That doesn't have to mean our extermination." Vargas elaborated. "You were just talking about the lessons learned from our last engagement, this is one of them. Please, you don't have to do this all by yourself." Vargas beseeched Bremer appealing to both emotion and his better judgement. Bremer looked down at the ground and clutched his fist, then relaxed it halfway. Bremer stood there a minute without responding and groaned thinking it through. Revenge? That was it wasn't it? Should he admit it, was he so dead set on picking a fight just because he was mad at the bugs? No that wasn't it. He wasn't mad at the bugs so much as he had been mad at himself. Bugs will do what bugs do, it's their nature, but his missteps were not to be tolerated. So, revenge was it? How does one go about taking revenge on oneself? Well of course, by letting Vargas make the decisions. "Take that me!" Bremer thought. Get more people killed wasn't the way to go about doing it though. So far, so good, so what? Vargas was right, they were no closer to affecting the enemy's operations in and around Seoul than they were the day Seongnam first fell. Bremer let out a long sigh of disappointment and looked up at Vargas. "How long would you suppose we hold off for?" Bremer inquired. He didn't like the idea of backing down but this is exactly what he meant when he told himself to more seriously consider the advice of his subordinates. Vargas was a good soldier, and a student of the art of war, quite knowledgeable on the fates of military campaigns both past and present. He had at least the book smarts of any cock-mouthed West Point grad and years of battlefield experience to boot. Bremer knew he could trust him, he just did not want to give up any perceived momentum they had gained against the aliens, perceived being the key word there. "I suggest at least putting it off until next month. We can start laying the groundwork; do some recruiting but no offensive strikes for about a month. After a month has passed if enemy activity has died down then we can make our big move." Vargas suggested. "Ok then. I can live with that." Bremer conceded. Vargas wasn't too surprised; he knew Bremer well enough to tell when it was rational thought that drove him and when it was blind foolish emotion, this time it was the latter. All he needed was a good proverbial slap in the face to make him realize his folly. "How about we go and run that by the others over there. Later we'll call the entire unit together and give them the heads up." Bremer said. "Sounds like a plan Sir." Vargas said before the two of them returned to the table with the rest of the 4th's leadership.

Later that afternoon Bremer gathered the majority of the 4th Korea's fighters together in the concert venue to inform them of the strategy going forward that they had agreed upon that morning. Once again Sobieski and Tae-yon were not present in the company which was to be expected, although most everyone else who was not wounded or on watch came. "After consulting with my senior staff and taking their advice into careful consideration we've decided on a strategy moving forward. Given our losses and the enemy's tendencies to be reactive rather than proactive in prosecuting this war we are going to lay low and tend to our wounds for a while." Bremer announced then giving a pause to allow the sidebar conversations in the crowd to die down. "Since we're going to let the heat die down we would be safer if we weren't all gathered in one place. Like I was saying to some of you before we should go ahead with spreading ourselves out to expand our influence. I realize that manpower is tight but we can still make this work. I would prefer a system that allows us to stay mobile but with the number of wounded we have that's would be too difficult. So in order to draw attention away from here we need to have as many of us elsewhere as we can manage. Everyone that can move should. I'll stay here with the light duty folks and guard the nest. Sergeant Sobieski will stay here with me as well and work on restoring us some new vehicles and generators to make our stay more comfortable." Bremer said then turned towards Williams and Ryong-ho who were standing off to the right side of the crowd. "Cap'n Hook, Atta-Turk, and Spec Ops will proceed as planned to Incheon by way of Anyang to scout ahead and link up with the survivors there." Bremer specifically directed them. Hamza was in the crowd but well hidden amongst them to where Bremer couldn't easily pick him out. "Once we get enough people coming off the injured roster I'll send out some of our best native sons to Jeolla province as our liaison to the south." Bremer then addressed the whole of the army. "Chico, I want you to take a dozen guys and be the runners between each of the units. You'll stay mobile and relay messages and supplies between each of the companies." Bremer said to Vargas who was nearby and in front of him. "Everyone else needs to break down into groups of ten or twenty; I need at least one company in Yongin, one in Gwanju over the hills here and one somewhere between us and our lookouts in Seoul. Yongin, Seoul and Chico's runners with be motorized; the rest of you will be on foot or whatever you can manage." Bremer spoke up louder and told everyone. "We'll try to spread out the non-combatants between here and one of the more secure new locations, most likely towards Seoul. I hear the enemy presence in Gwanju is hardcore and Yongin is still an unknown. We won't be sending non-combatants in those directions until we have confirmed the composition and strength of the enemy forces in those regions. As such special consideration will be given in assigning the heavy weapons to those platoons heading to Gwanju and Yongin." Those with serious medical conditions will stay here and I'll get with Reverend Yang to see which of the children can be split up. Having the kids all in one place makes for too easy of a target." Bremer added. "Everyone needs to get plenty of rest and pack accordingly. I will be getting with Admin once we are done here to ensure an equitable distribution of supplies. Those of you wishing to be platoon leaders will need to see Sergeant Vargas and Colonel Kang this evening. Other than that we're good to go. I'll give you all until the end of the day tomorrow to make preparations. In no more than two days we're heading out." Bremer said dismissing the gathering. "Corporal Williams, Lt. Bu, I need to see you a minute real quick." Bremer called aside the two of them as the assembly was filing out of the venue. "Seeing as you guys have the most intricate mission out of everyone here I'll need to see you and your Turkish friend tomorrow morning, you know just to go over a few things before you leave." Bremer said. "We'll be there sir. Want us to come back here?" replied Williams. "That will be fine. I'll be here around mid-morning if all goes to plan." Bremer answered. They each went their separate ways from there, Bremer heading to the west entrance and Williams and Ryong-ho going for one of the north exits where the majority of the 4th's members were leaving through.

Bremer joined up with Vargas as he exited the venue and the two of them walked side by side together taking a walkthrough of the entire camp. "Chico, seeing as we're short on officers and I'm unfamiliar with a good many of these guys I'll need you to get with Kang and go through the candidates for platoon leaders. Seeing as you interviewed just about everyone here to assign them to the proper duty stations I'd hope you might have a little insight into making personnel decisions. If they can't decide amongst themselves who to lead the platoons you might need to appoint someone." Bremer informed Vargas. "Will do sir. I've already got a couple of ideas in my head, but first I'd need to head down to the infirmary and make sure they're not there." Vargas answered. "As far as splitting up the non-combatants go, we could send Shi-woo back to his friends at the Seoul guard station. I mean he's going to stay blind no matter what we do and I'm sure he would rather have their company than anyone else's." Vargas suggested. "It wouldn't hurt. Probably would be good for morale if they were reunited." Bremer replied in concurrence. The two of them had exited the venue and took a stroll along the edge of the pond south of the venue, examining their southern perimeter. They passed their guard posts amongst the trees and saw everything to be in good order.

As they were heading north again along the western bank of the pond two beamers passed overhead heading southwest where one of them released some ordinance against an unseen target. A bright blue fireball erupted where the ordinance landed and expanded to encompass an area close to two kilometers across. "There goes our southern armory." Bremer remarked after ascertaining the location the enemy attack was directed against. "We weren't going to get back there anyways. That place had nearly been stripped bare and the bug activity had elevated to the point it wasn't worth sending teams in there to get the last few cases of ammo." Vargas replied, unconcerned with the attack. "Probably should wrap up the salvage ops in the fishbowl and the old hospital soon too. It's reasonable to expect the bugs to mop up over there as well." Vargas suggested. "Go for it Chico. Remember to watch yourself over there, ok?" Bremer replied. "Don't I always?" Vargas laughed. Bremer knew he would be fine; the magnitude of the ordinance that had just been employed was what had him worried. "It's safe to say the sons of bitches know we're here now." Bremer said. "Probably should get the companies on the move as soon as possible." he grumbled. "I wouldn't worry too much about the flyovers. They already knew we were here. They've probably known for a while they've just decided not to do anything to us. No need to step up the timetables and send our boys and girls out unprepared." Vargas replied shrugging it off. "That's one of the things that worries me. They know where everyone is, all the time, we can't hide. It's like knowing we live and die at their discretion. How do we fight against something like that?" Bremer said nervously. "I don't think the bugs believe they are fighting a war." Vargas responded. "Come again? I think I just had something crazy in my ear?" Bremer jokingly said. "Remember how I said this was a Garland War?" Vargas posed. "Yeah, that stupid thing that the Aztecs did a long ass time ago to sacrifice people to the Green Burrito " Bremer answered. "Well, I think they don't view us as much as an enemy as they do as a resource; a resource mind you that can be a little painful to extract, like honey. You see the beekeeper worries about being stung and takes appropriate measures to protect himself but doesn't expect the bees sabotage his honey sales or to marshal an army and storm his house while he sleeps." Vargas said. "I think if they keep us contained they don't mind us whatever we do. They just want us in our neat little boxes until they have need of us again." Vargas theorized. "Interesting theory, it fits the evidence so far, but then again so do a lot of things. Would be a little arrogant to assume we know their true intentions less than a month into the occupation." Bremer responded. "You might be right Chico. In that case they really do underestimate us. It's like they don't even see us as sentient beings, and that's something that we can use against them." Bremer added.

Bremer and Vargas continued on through the camp checking in at the various barracks and depots they had established in the old restaurants and novelty shops. They then snagged a bowl of bland soup and a handful of dried chile peppers to spice it up and sat down next to each other on the sidewalk for a quick bite to eat. "Once Tae-yon is caught up with all the wounded if she starts looking for something to do, I'd like you to go bag her a bug to dissect." Bremer instructed Vargas. "It'll give us some insight on what "they" are. We haven't really got much of a chance to study them outside of what we have seen on the battlefield. I know the Korean brass did a little research on them including gutting up one the scouts brought back but all records of that were lost when Seongnam burned to the ground." Bremer elaborated. "That was all you sir. Do you think Tae-yon is qualified? I've gutted a few of these myself in the field and I couldn't make heads or tails of what's inside, slime, goop, brains and clumpy shit." Vargas replied inquisitively. "I know she's not a full-fledged doctor or biologist but she's probably got enough knowledge of basic anatomy and that kind of shit to figure it out given a good helping of common sense and deduction. Hell, when dealing with aliens I don't think anyone on Earth is truly qualified per se." Bremer answered back. "Who knows, might end up with a winner here and gain some valuable insight about these fellas. We know that their skin offers them resistance to heat, flame and some forms of ionizing radiation but maybe we could find a chemical or biologic agent that they're vulnerable against." Bremer theorized. "Chemical warfare? Isn't that a little. . .uncivilized of us?" Vargas asked. "Hey, they nuked us first; we'll only be escalating the game to their level that's all." Bremer casually replied. "We don't have to sink down to their level. Whatever happened to the rules of war?" Vargas asked. He did not like the notion of having to resort to such dirty, underhanded and potentially genocidal tactics to win the day here. Bremer burst out laughing. "Rules of war." he dismissively laughed. "That's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one." he continued. "Chico, you should know as well as anyone there are no such things as rules of war. War by its very nature is the breakdown of all things civilized, especially in situations of total war such as this. If you wanted to deal with an adversary with rules and standards and decorum and so forth that's not war, that's diplomacy. We've made the mistake the past few decades to make tanks and bombs the tools of diplomacy and got a lot of good men killed in the process. If you're going to fight you go in full force, smash the enemy and get the fuck out of there and if that's too extreme for the situation then the situation isn't worth going to war over. I'm a soldier so I have to do as I'm told, doesn't mean I can't think it's stupid. To the top brass and the politics they would like make war look clean and act as if certain rules apply to make it look kinder and gentler. This you see frees them up to do it more often and engage in it for longer periods of time. That's the old way of thinking, that's not what we've got here. No sir, what we've got here is what war looks like when the cameras are off. There's no PR here, no image issues, overly complicated ROE, poll numbers or any of that bullcrap. There's only us and them and it doesn't end until one of us hurts the other one enough to make them want to stop fighting. No one's holding back anymore. If there's anything I can take away from that Turkish son of a bitch it's that we've got to start living in the new paradigm." Bremer explained. "Got it. I think I've heard a version of this speech before sir. Fight to win or don't fight at all." Vargas replied. "I think it's just when this is over I don't want us to be ashamed of the way we got through it. One day when this is all over we might be out there among the stars in some sort of a larger galactic community and what will we have to say for ourselves about how we repelled the bug menace? Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic here." Vargas said. "One thing at a time Chico, we've got to repel the bug menace first and the verdict is still in the air on that one." Bremer commented. "Yeah I know I can be a little too hopeful sometimes. Also I know you think I'm full of crap but I sincerely believe that one day I will stand in judgement before God and have to give an account for everything I've done in this life. I don't want genocide to be one of the things I have to explain to Him. That matters more to me than what goes on in this world." Vargas explained. "Yeah Chico, you are full of shit but I love you anyways." Bremer said, putting his arm around Vargas, pulling him closer and shaking him around playfully.

After finishing their meal the two of them got up and made their way to the hotel/field hospital which was the last stop on their tour of the encampment grounds. They passed by the ambulance and saw Sobieski sitting patiently, looming over Han, and waiting for any sign of conscious thought to manifest itself in him. "Is that Lyndsey over there? How is she doing?" Vargas asked Bremer. "She's been in that ambulance ever since she woke up. She won't leave Major Han's side." Bremer answered. "She's so much more useful elsewhere but she absolutely refuses to leave. I don't know what I'm going to do with her now." Bremer said. "I've got an idea, if you'd excuse me." Vargas said, dismissing himself and walking over to Lyndsey while Bremer went into the hospital.

Lyndsey noticed Vargas as he walked up to the back of the ambulance but did not bother to climb in. There was too much equipment set up and he knew he was bound to trip over something important if he did get in. "Hey Antonio." she greeted him. It was odd to have anyone addressing him by his first name these days it was either First Sergeant, Sergeant, Sergeant Vargas, or Bremer's favorite, Chico. "Hey Lyndsey, how's it going?" Vargas asked. "I'm all right. The doctor has given me a clean bill of health, said everything is functioning normal and I shouldn't have any lasting damage from the procedure. Safe to say that everyone else was more scared for me than I was." Sobieski replied. "Just wish I could say the same for him." she sighed, the cheer in her voice quickly turning to despair. "He'll be alright. He's alive right now which is nothing short of an act of divine intervention in my book." Vargas told her. "Well you're Catholic, a pancake that has irregular patterns on it to where you stare at it long enough it turns into the Virgin Mary is considered divine intervention in your book, not a high bar to meet." Lyndsey joked with him. "You know what I meant. He's in there, just got to give him time to come out." Vargas said. "Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for." Lyndsey sighed. "That look on your face tells me you haven't just come to cheer me up, so what did you come for?" Lyndsey inquired, detecting the subtle hints that Vargas was rushing the pleasantries. "That's true, Bremer is a little concerned with having you standing idle all day. We want to give you your space but your skill set is too valuable to just be sitting around checking the Major's pulse all day long. Tae-yon's got people who can handle this and sooner or later you're going to have to step up and fill your role again." Vargas told her. "If Bremer wants me to get back to work then why can't he tell me himself?" Lyndsey said, seeming a little agitated. "He didn't, I'm just taking it upon myself to intervene before he decides he wants to. Seeing as there's not a lot of cars and equipment around here you can work on aside from a generator or two for field hospital use, Bremer is probably going to want you to come along with me to salvage cars out in the field. Now I've come up with something else for you that would allow you to stay close to the Major and not feel like you're letting down the team." Vargas told her. "I'm listening." Lyndsey said awaiting Vargas' proposal. "Most of the men have done have some military service under their belts so they know how to handle a gun. The women and the older kids, most of them haven't as much as held a gun. Given that about three fifths of our army is female that's a lot of untrained shooters in our ranks. So, Lyndsey, what I'd like you to do is give our girls some basic firearms training. We've got plenty of bullets for now but we'll end up running out of people if we keep missing our marks and letting the crabs close in on us. So what do you say? It'll give you a chance to stay here with your boyfriend." Vargas proposed to her. "He isn't my boyfriend." Lyndsey rebuked Vargas. "I'm sorry, that's what I was told." Vargas replied. "By who?" Lyndsey asked. "Major Bremer, who else?" Vargas answered. "Figures. I guess I can't blame him for saying that. The Major matters a lot to me and well, I said some things to him before he got shot that I wish I hadn't so. . ." Lyndsey started to say. "I understand. If you ever want to talk about it, I'll be around." Vargas offered. He knew not to press the subject; he too had his personal issues that he preferred to keep to himself until he was good and ready, or just keep to himself for good. The issues with the divorce he refused to accept, the fate of his children half a world away, all the things left tucked in the back of Vargas' mind and blocked out by the clear and present danger he kept in front of himself. He understood Lyndsey had things to work out, and he could do little but offer an open door until she was willing to share them. "I can take a few hours out of the day to train the ladies of the 4th Korea. That will be no problem. If you can bring me back some bikes or tow in some old cars in front of the hospital I can take a look at them too. I just want to be here when he comes to that's all." Lyndsey offered. The fact that it could be months or that the Major may never come to hadn't crossed her mind and if it did she would bury those thoughts so deep that they would never see the light of day. So after exchanging closing pleasantries Vargas departed and went off to meet up with Kang to being going over the potential platoon leaders.

Tae-yon downed a couple pills with a full glass of water moments before Bremer came in the door. "Major, to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit?" Tae-yon greeted him. "Just was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by." Bremer replied. "How have things been here?" Bremer asked. "The usual, too much to do in too little time." Tae-yon answered. "I'd imagine, sorry we've been overworking you lately. I'm looking into getting some of the light duty people trained up to assist you here." Bremer told her. "Still wouldn't help with all the surgeries I've got scheduled." Tae-yon complained while the two of them walked through the lobby still filled with patients. "I appreciate the effort though sir, it goes a long way." she turned to Bremer and said as they continued on. "I do what I can." Bremer replied. The two of them came to a patient and Bremer dismissed himself when Tae-yon was handed a clipboard with the patient's chart by one of her volunteers. He walked outside to see another beamer flying at high altitude passing by, a constant reminder that they were being watched. Well, nothing to see here, he thought. For the time being they were holding back, soon they would be breaking up and then, nothing. The aliens watching weren't going to be getting much of a show. What a pity, he thought, but give it time you spidery sons of bitches. Revenge will come, but on our time, Bremer mused to himself. Now he just hoped that the aliens flying above him couldn't read minds. Dammit, he forgot his alien-blocking tinfoil hat!


	62. Chapter 62: Distress Call Acknowledged

Chapter LXII: Distress Call Acknowledged

Volm Expeditionary Force in orbit around the fourth moon of Hercution VI, also known as Iu-Rlatlyss

62,437 light years from Earth

The Volm command ship hovered in high orbit above a frozen, volcanically active moon of a yellow and white striated gas giant orbiting 14 AU from an average sized bluish-white main sequence star which from the vantage point of this world appeared to be much smaller and fainter. The planet beneath them was a gas giant composed largely of helium and hydrogen with significant traces of oxygen, ammonia, water vapor and silicates. Thin orange, white, silver and black bands cut lines through the largely yellow clouds of its dense atmosphere. Despite being a gas giant this world was teeming with life in its clouds most notably an intelligent silicon/ammonia-based species of invertebrates called the Rlatlakthra. The Rlatlakthra resembled jellyfish in that the largest part of their bodies consisted of a thin gas filled sac which provided them buoyancy and locomotion in a world without solid surfaces. The sac also served as the creature's digestive, respiratory and excretory system where it filter fed on smaller organisms floating in the clouds. Within the sac were several disjointed round structures that appeared to direct the creatures movement and beneath the sac were banded crystalline coils and rods which served as the Rlatlakthra's central nervous system as well as its sensory organs. Beneath this main crystalline structure were tiny tentacle filaments that could be extended and retracted. These tentacles could channel electromagnetic energy and use it to manipulate the creature's surroundings. It was through these electrical pulses that they communicated with each other as well. Despite being so truly alien compared to the carbon/water based lifeforms of Earth type planets the Rlatlakthra were just as intelligent. They had their own culture, philosophy, and religion. They had developed technology, built floating cities out of ice and metallic particles fused together, and devised forms of animal husbandry and agriculture. Much of their civilization would be very hard to recognize with human eyes but the Espheni saw the greatness in this species and wished to bring it into their fold. As the Volm sought to confound the Espheni's plans at every turn they had found themselves here to protect a species they could barely communicate with.

From the command ship several Volm light cruisers, transport galleons, gunships and fighter-bombers departed towards the planet which was defended by three triangular shaped Espheni heavy cruisers much like those which had since departed from the Earth along with their full complement of disc shaped light cruisers, frigates, gunships and beamers. The Volm command ship itself was a disc 55 kilometers in diameter bristling with towers, domes and spires arranged like a portable city in space on its upper surface. Lights, weapons batteries, docking ports and hangar bays lined the outside of its 210 meter thick disc. On the underside were six glowing blue circular ports arranged around a large glowing yellow dome. The Volm light cruisers were drab gray blocky conical shaped craft approximately 450 meters long, 180 meters high and 65 meters wide at the broadest points. It contained several mounted gun emplacements on its upper surface and one rectangular fighter bay on the underside protected by two small beam cannons. The frigates were boxier and slightly T shaped on the rear end and contained no fighter bays but rather a single large focused energy weapon that could be effective even against the much larger Espheni cruisers. The gunships and transport galleons looked like larger, fatter, blockier, dark gray and rust colored versions of the Imperial shuttles from Star Wars without the 3 wings. The main difference between the two was the size, the gunships were 28 meters long, 21 meters high and 14 meters wide while the galleons were three times the size and slightly broader and more elongated in their proportion. Some of the transport galleons had been converted into heavy space bombers and sported a large dome on the underside housing an antimatter separation chamber from which extremely potent warheads could be armed and deployed. However due to the instability of antimatter weaponry these warheads could not be deployed within a planetary environment without the risk of excessive collateral damage or premature detonation which would render them ineffective. The Volm fighters were nearly flat V-shaped craft which flew with the converging point of the V at the rear. A single pulse gun rested beneath the cockpit on the front side of the convergence point while two small omnidirectional beam weapons were placed at the frontal tips of the V. Along with the fighters the Volm also had powered combat suits which allowed their infantry to enter the planet's atmosphere and maneuver around the cloud tops. These suits however could not withstand the pressures deeper within the atmosphere near the planets dense liquid core. Fortunately the Espheni present had nothing that could delve to those pressures either save for only their converted members of the Rlatlakthra.

The first wave of Volm fighters met with the enemy beamers out in front of the Espheni armada and exchanged fire. Bright green beams crisscrossed blackness of space between the planet and its inner moons along with white hot bolts of plasma exchanged between the two craft. The Volm ships used their superior speed and maneuverability to best the beamers clearing the way for the cruisers and frigates to plow through. The six frigates in the lead's heavy beam cannons erupted with potent yellowish white energy beams that tore apart a disc shaped Espheni light cruiser in a single volley, long before the frigates were in range of the enemy capital ships. The heavy cruisers released antimatter mines and the beamer gunships deployed tactical nuclear weapons, not quite as effective in the near vacuum of space as they were within an atmosphere, against the advancing Volm fleet. The counterattack destroyed one Volm frigate and several damaged one of their cruisers. As the Volm fighters and gunships closed in on the Espheni heavy cruisers a wide array of blue beam weapons and pulse cannons began firing to screen both the fighters and the bombs and torpedoes launched from the galleons and frigates further away. The Espheni light cruisers too had an array of beam weapons which they deployed against the agile smaller craft and fired explosive warheads and concentrated plasma pulses towards the Volm capital ships. A massive explosion rocked through one of the three heavy cruisers as it was struck with an antimatter bomb allowing several gunships to enter the planet's atmosphere. Once within the atmosphere Volm paratroopers jumped out in their pressurized combat suits and joined in with the native Rlatlakthra in fighting off the converted Rlatlakthra under the Espheni's command. The converted Rlatlakthra looked the same as the unconverted, for the control mechanism was a tiny worm that wrapped itself around innermost of the coiled bands that formed the creature's central nervous system and wasn't visible from the outside. This design also made unharnessing of these creatures virtually impossible by both Volm and Rlatlakthra standards. The deceptive control mechanism made friendly fire a huge problem. Fortunately the Rlatlakthra had devised a means of detecting their compromised members and through a formulated code consisting of a series of light flashes and the pauses between them that they used to communicate with the Volm they could alert their allies to the enemy's presence. There were also scaly armored stingray-like creatures that the Espheni employed to fight in the clouds. These were the beings that comprised the bulk of their original invasion of this world four Earth years ago. One of these stingrays sideswiped a Volm soldier, puncturing his armored suit and sending him flying off. The damaged Volm quickly sought to contain his precious breathable air within as he watched the ray slash open the sac of a Rlatlakthra which deflated and sent the creature drifting downward towards the heart of the planet. Finally an energy bolt hit the ray and punched a hole through its mid-section stopping its rampage. In the distance allied and compromised Rlatlakthra did battle with the same electric pulses they used to touch and talk with only amplified through their own technology to much higher and dangerous levels. As the Volm and Rlatlakthra did battle within the planet the fleets continued to exchange fire. A Volm cruiser spewing flame from the ignition of its internal atmosphere bleeding out into the vacuum descended into the atmosphere of Iu-Rlatlyss where it began to break apart from continued attacks by the swarm of beamers that pursued it. The Espheni suffered an even more severe loss when a focused effort of several ships defeated one of their heavy cruisers, annihilating it in an immense spherical explosion that for a moment was many times brighter than that of this system's star.

From the deck of the command ship a safe distance away from the fighting Cochise observed and directed the Volm ground/air forces in concert with the Fleet Admiral who commanded the armada. In the middle of the operation however Cochise was summoned to his private chambers to receive an urgent message from his father. He walked into the plain, cold and uninviting cubicle of a room and his personal guard left him. A holographic projector on the floor then formed the image of his father before him. "Father, I am at your command." Cochise greeted his father in a most stoic fashion. Whilst his species was just as emotional as humanity in nature Volm culture, especially since the invasion made its expression dampened, if not odd to say the least. "My son. How goes the war effort on Iu-Rlatlyss?" his father, Waschak-cha'ab inquired. "We have liberated 73% of the planet's cities and are working with the native resistance to counter the threat from deeper within the atmosphere. We are currently engaged with the enemy fleet and with any luck we will secure space superiority until the Espheni reinforcements arrive in 0.217 home solar cycles." Cochise reported. "Excellent." his father replied then paused in silence for a minute or two. "How long do you presume this theater will remain open?" his father inquired of him. "I am uncertain. At best our forces combined with the local resistance can clear the planet of the majority of the Espheni presence within 3.1 to 3.25 home solar cycles. With the Espheni reinforcements coming however we could be delayed, perhaps indefinitely." Cochise reported. "Still letting the indigenous species fight our battles for us? We were supposed to protect them." Cochise's father chastised him. "We have no choice father; we are unable to penetrate the atmosphere at sufficient depth to strike at the enemy's main base of operations. They have also created a means of detecting the harnessed Rlatlakthra that has proven invaluable." Cochise explained. "Don't get attached to them. I have another assignment for you soon." his father told him. "What is it? Can it wait?" Cochise asked. "No it can't. According to a Cilibrian distress call we received the Espheni have taken a class four planet in a very strategic sector. If they manage to secure that system it will give the effective control of the space lanes for one quarter of the galaxy and a springboard for launching a direct invasion of the Core worlds which are our strongest allies. Need I remind you that if the Core worlds are forced to pull back to defend their homes the Espheni will be able to retake three fifths of the worlds we have liberated and drive us all the way to our primary holdouts from which we will completely routed within ten solar cycles. We haven't the manpower nor resources to hold onto our gains without them." Cochise's father explained. "What of the fleet here on Iu-Rlatlyss?" Cochise asked. "They will remain. This mission I am sending you on is a special operations assignment for you and six your elite teams. You will dispatch a single transport and send down landing parties into six distinct locations on this world to prevent the activation of a defense grid." Cochise's father instructed him. "As you command father." Cochise obediently replied. "You are to leave once space superiority has been established on Iu-Rlatlyss. I will be personally leading a command ship en route to this world and should arrive within a solar cycle of your arrival." Cochise's father explained. "Father wait. What do we know of this world? Class Four you say?" Cochise asked before his father closed the communication. "Yes, class four; just like home. You may like to put your feet on solid ground for a change. The world is called Earth, dominant species calls itself Human. It is primarily a water based planet but the civilization is land dwelling however don't expect the Espheni to limit their presence to dry land. They will certainly have undersea bases present there as well. According to the distress call there is no major spaceborne presence in the system, only a few small mining operations on asteroids and major satellites including the one around Earth. Preliminary intelligence also indicates the Espheni have placed great value in assimilating the native species though we do not know why." Cochise's father elucidated. "Thank you father, I will not let you down." Cochise said. The two exchanged the customary Volm salute and the holographic projection faded. Cochise then returned to his duties on the bridge determined to bring a close to the spaceborne operation of this campaign before he and his elite squads departed for Earth.


	63. Chapter 63: Ad Hoc Signal Corps

Chapter LXIII: Ad Hoc Signal Corps

15 Oct 1015 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

As requested the previous day Hamza, Williams and Ryong-ho met Bremer in the concert venue prior to setting out towards Incheon. They each had eaten well and had possibly the first good night's sleep any of them had enjoyed since the onset of the invasion so the three men were as fresh as they could be. Bremer was wandering around the venue directing and assisting the people there as they put away a fresh haul of supplies that had just come in on a pair of crudely constructed rickshaws. There were two relatively young soldiers following close behind him at all times. "Well hello there, nice of you to show up." Bremer sarcastically greeted them. "You said mid-morning, it's mid-morning." Ryong-ho answered him. "I know, I was just being an ass." Bremer said. Bremer spun around and beckoned forth his two hangers-on to step forward. "Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Jin-Kyung-gu and Dae-Nam-il. These two men will be joining you." Bremer informed Ryong-ho and the others as he introduced the two men standing around next to him. "Private Dae has just come off of light duty for a mild concussion and some bruised ribs so keep an eye on him." Bremer told them. "Yes sir, will do sir." affirmed Williams. The pair then walked from Bremer over to the other three and stood next to Williams.

"Now onto business." Bremer said and clapped his hands together. Ok, so I'll tell you what I've told the other teams." Bremer began. "A moment sir. What is the status of the other squads? Have they all departed?" inquired Ryong-ho. "Yongin and Gwanju have left already, Chico will be making a run towards Seoul this afternoon, Seongnam team is waiting til dusk to depart." Bremer answered.

"Corporal, go grab the signal cart from the supply room and bring it back here." Bremer told one of the soldiers passing nearby. The soldier and a couple others left and went into the backstage building of the venue. "Without further interruption I just wanted to give you the heads up on how we plan on keeping in contact with each other once you go out there." Bremer stated. "Since we'll be moving around we're going to have to stay in relatively frequent contact with each other so we don't end up losing each other. Both here and our Seoul garrison will remain fixed positions for the time being so that should help get everyone established. Eventually we'll have to relocate as well but by then we'll have a better relay system set up to keep us linked. We'll use bikes to hand deliver detailed correspondence when we don't have to move larger quantities of gear around otherwise any messages or requisitions you wish to send with come in on the supply transfers. Obtaining bikes shouldn't be too difficult; there are literally thousands of them lying around the cities even after the bombardment and the evacuation." Bremer explained.

The man Bremer had sent away returned shortly after he had finished speaking with a hand cart full of fireworks from the pyro locker of the venue. Bremer took out a wrapped plastic bag of assorted fireworks from the cart and handed it to Ryong-ho and handed another one to Williams. "Take these. We will fireworks as an emergency means of communication." Bremer told them as Ryong-ho took the bag from him and stashed it into his duffel bag. "All the other teams have been informed of the color coding system we are using and will recognize your signals by their color. White means message acknowledged, double white means to relay the message back, purple means you've sighted the enemy, red means you've engaged the enemy, two red ones launched simultaneously means send reinforcements, green is an all clear, one yellow is a request for arms and ammo, one orange is a reply in the affirmative, two orange is a reply in the negative, blue means you have a medical emergency and to send help. It's a partial system and pretty vague but it should do the job." Bremer explained. "Here's a complete list of all the signals and what they mean." Bremer said taking out a small yellow pocket notebook and handing it to Ryong-ho. "Signal Corps manual hmm?" Ryong-ho said upon observing the booklet. "Yeah, Colonel Kang came up with it. Tried to make it is simple as possible but there's only so much you can do with a couple colors of fireworks. I guess if you have a flashlight and can get a line of sight with one of the other groups there's always good old fashioned Morse code." Bremer replied. "Sad really when you come to think of it, how much we had become reliant on radios and modern contrivances to operate in the field." Bremer sarcastically lamented. "Most of human history people have had to do stuff like this in warfare. We'll manage." Hamza responded. "These are just for emergencies, if it can wait to take the snail mail route do that. Make sure you keep a stock of different colors; they should be easy enough to procure. Hell, we're within farting distance of the land fireworks were born so we might as well be swimming in them. Case in point, one of our forward teams just snagged a cart full earlier this morning with no effort whatsoever." Bremer continued. "As for your mission, you all have been apprised of your tasks prior to the hospital attack. That part hasn't changed; you are to go to Anyang and set up a way post there then proceed onward to Incheon and link up with the survivors there. Lieutenant Bu, you will then scout out the enemy positions in Incheon on your return trip to the best of your ability." Bremer informed them. "This will be the first successful cross town contact we have had since the invasion began. It's an important stepping stone for us." Bremer reiterated. "You have the rest of the day to prepare for your trip. Try to be on your way before sundown." Bremer told the squad prior to dismissing them.

After the advance team had left Colonel Kang found Bremer in the venue before he wrapped up with his duties there. "Major, I was hoping you will still be here. I was going to give you the report on the platoon leaders that were selected yesterday." Colonel Kang said. "Go on, sir." Bremer stopped and answered him. "It's not unanimous but there was strong consensus for the platoon leaders." Col. Kang informed Bremer. "That's good; especially considering some of them have already gone out." Bremer said. "Indeed." Kang affirmed. "So who all did we settle on?" Bremer inquired. "We picked SSGT Yi to lead the Yongin platoon, Corporal Kim will lead the Gwanju platoon, your boy Vargas is leading the mobile detail, Lt. Bu is commanding the Incheon expedition and we'll leave Ji-hwan over the Seoul garrison." Kang answered. "Good, good." Bremer said. "I'll leave you to attend to your business here. I offered to help at the hospital so I should be on my way, just wanted to give you the heads up on our decision." Kang told him before they both went their separate ways.

That evening, Williams, Hamza, Ryong-ho and their companions had traveled with the Seongnam team until they had reached a main road heading west. Here they split off leaving the Seongnam team to continue on towards the north to establish a presence between the main camp and the Seoul garrison. The five men made it to the southwest part of the city and turned north through the side streets until they took up residence in an abandoned house for the night. It was safer to cross the mountains into Anyang during the daylight hours; skitters could see in the dark, they could not. That is what they believed at least, and not without cause. Tomorrow morning they would be in Anyang, and the first half of their mission would be complete.


	64. Chapter 64: Stepping Stones

Chapter LXIV: Stepping Stones

Oct 16 0648 KST

Anyang, South Korea

Hamza rose from praying the Fajr as the sun broke above the horizon behind him. The light began to shine through the tree branches onto the soft green grass upon the hilltop which Hamza stood. He knelt back down, rolled up his prayer rug and stashed it into his satchel underneath a couple grenades, his hatchet, a can of salmon and a can of olives. He adjusted his shirt and tightened his cloth belt from which hung the two halves of the garden shears he had turned into knives. He felt a tranquil sense of accomplishment as the new day was born. It was so peaceful; no guns, no bombs, no clattering mechs or aliens of any kind. Only the soft sounds of the wind and the birds awakening to see the fresh light kiss the treetops, roofs and utility poles where they dwelt. These were the normal birds of Allah's own creation, not the kind with the "space rabies" which he had come to be wary of. Hamza stretched and stood tall praising Allah for the opportunity to offer up his morning prayers. The onset of the alien apocalypse had disrupted his prayer routine. While the Russians had been content with allowing him to perform his blessed duties under supervision the aliens had not. For example, the night the hospital was attack his ability to pray the Fajr had been prevented by the fighting and running that had persisted from sundown to well past sunrise. These aliens were devils indeed, Hamza thought in retrospect. Surely Allah would forgive him of his failings he believed, if such was the will of Allah. Today marked the first day on the offensive since the devastating setback at the hospital that Hamza could pursue the war and his faith to the level of his satisfaction. Hamza closed up his satchel and slung it over his back. He was packing lighter than before and without all the improvised weaponry that carried him and Williams through Anyang on their first pass through. He was trusted with a real gun now. Also, it wasn't as if he couldn't construct more if the need arose. Just about anything left lying around could be turned into a weapon and there was no shortage of junk. Hamza looked around him and affirmed that all was well before he started down the hill towards the valley containing the peaceful suburb of Anyang.

He then went to meet back with Williams and Ryong-ho who had stopped for breakfast at the bottom of the hill while Hamza had prayed. They had a pair of squirrels skinned and roasting over a small fire next to an iron pan containing several McDonald's hash browns, surprisingly those things didn't rot. "Aren't you supposed to pray facing east?" asked Williams. He had noticed Hamza had the sun at his back when he was praying and assumed that Hamza's sense of direction was off because there was no way someone like him could forget one of the major sticking points of his religion. "Actually we are to pray facing Mecca at all times. It's understandable that an outsider to the faith such as yourself may confuse that with praying to the east because in your country Mecca is to the east. Here it is to the west and south hence that was the approximate direction I was praying in." Hamza explained. "Oh, the more you know I guess." Williams explained. "Want some squirrel and hash browns?" asked Williams. "Lt. Bu bagged a couple of these varmints earlier. They're really not that bad, if you haven't had meat that isn't from a can in a while." Williams continued. "I'll take the hash brown by itself." Hamza replied and sat down across from Williams. Williams scooped out a hash brown from the pan using a couple twigs and handed it to Hamza. Hamza juggled it a bit until it cooled off and then took a bite. It was hot and crispy on the outside put inside it was still cold. Post-apocalyptic Mickey D's, it still wasn't some filthy rodent though. The three of them finished cooking and eating their meal and then descended down the slopes into the city of Anyang.

Anyang was much as Williams and Hamza had remembered it, quiet, empty, serene. There would be the occasional alien flyover going to and from elsewhere, passing by Anyang without a second thought. There still were no signs of an alien ground presence here and few bodies left lying in the streets. "The spiders must cleaned up pretty well after they harvested this place." commented Private Dae as he noticed how deserted the streets were and thought back to the scene in Seongnam after the first ground attack. The houses and shops all looked for the most part untouched, like a moment frozen in time with all the people removed from it. The calm atmosphere had chilling effect on some of them, Williams particularly. This was the way things would seem just before something bad would jump out at you, he thought. A bird gently fluttered onto a mailbox near Williams, startling him. Williams freaked out and unloaded his weapon on the bird, utterly obliterating it and the mailbox on which it stood while painting the bushes behind it with its remnants. Ryong-ho walked over to the side of Williams and pushed his gun down towards the ground. Slowly he coaxed Williams to release his finger from the trigger. "Ease off the jitters man, it's only a bluebird." Ryong-ho calmly tried to ease the tension. "Birds. . . .the birds. . . They'll come at you and peck you to death!" Williams whispered as he started shaking. "Easy now, easy. It's alright, it's alright. They're just birds." Ryong-ho softly told Williams. "That's the problem! It's the fucking birds! You don't get it! It's the god damned birds!" Williams turned around and gripped Ryong-ho with his one good hand by the lapel and screamed at his face. Ryong-ho twisted out of Williams' grip, disarmed him of his weapon and held Williams' arm behind his back. His motions were so quick Williams hadn't even had time to process what was going on. "Calm the fuck down man." Ryong-ho warned him. "There is some truth to what he is saying." Hamza spoke up. "The birds over towards Incheon, crows in particular, were rabid and would attack people unprovoked, yet intelligent enough to coordinate their efforts and swarm them, set ambushes and wait." Hamza explained. "They carried something that was transmissible to humans that would make a man go mad in a matter of days." Hamza explained. "That is what happened to the third member of our party when we came here. The birds got him and killed him." Williams told Ryong-ho. It was a half-truth but Williams couldn't confess to them having to put down one of their own. "Fucking space rabies man! Bet they got it from eating those dead crabs." commented Kyung-gu. "I see. You still have to keep your head about you; don't be going off the deep end like that. In normal circumstances I'd tell you to get some counseling but we can't really do that now." Ryong-ho upbraided Williams and let him go. Williams, his body shaking and still on edge tried to slow down his frantic breathing. He turned and faced Ryong-ho who tried to get him to relax. They waited until Williams was back in control of his emotions again and continued onward. Ryong-ho kept Williams' gun for now.

"We should find somewhere to set up as close to Incheon as we can without being noticed." suggested Ryong-ho. "Look for somewhere low-key with easy access in and out but not too close to the highways, somewhere with a decent vantage point to cover all approaches but not too out in the open where we would be easily observed coming and going from the skies." Ryong-ho elaborated. "I know just the place." mentioned Williams. "Lead the way then Corporal, and take it easy around the birds ok?" Ryong-ho stepped aside and allowed Williams to lead.

After making their way to the west side of Anyang they passed through a neighborhood near the school that Williams and Hamza had stopped in during their first trip through Anyang. "Here we are. There are a couple schools and a few larger houses we could take refuge in." Williams stated as they stopped in front of one of the schools. It was the same high school where Williams and Hamza had treated Grigor's wounds before he went rabid and lost his mind the last time they passed through Anyang. "Further down this road and around the corner you'll come to a distribution center with an unpaved lot, behind it there is a path going into the woods. If you follow that it will take you over the mountains and weave around a bit before it stops. From there you just go down the hill into Incheon." Williams explained. "This school is the tallest building here so it'll give us the best line of sight." Ryong-ho commented after comparing the three story high school to the nearby one story elementary school. "Let's check it out." Ryong-ho said. They started to head around the side of the building towards the gymnasium entrance when the noise they were making outside attracted some attention from the nearby school building. Unbeknownst to them several shadows passed by the tall windows on the ground floor and scurried away up the main stairwell in the school's entryway. One girl in her early teens had stayed behind and was seen curiously looking out one of the ground floor windows of the school. When she saw Williams look back at her she ran away. "Over there. There's someone inside." Williams mentioned to the others. They quickened their pace and headed now towards the front door. They stopped on both sides of the front door within the overhanging archway leading into the building. "No one fire unless fire upon. You got that?" Ryong-ho impressed upon all of them and handed Williams back his gun. They opened the door and fanned out inside with guns at the ready. A shriek was heard halfway up the stairs as a terrified girl stopped in her tracks and trembled. "Don't shoot mister!" she pleaded with the men. Ryong-ho lowered his weapon and moved his hand downward to signal his men to lower theirs. Once the initial tension had passed Ryong-ho addressed the girl. "I'm 2nd Lieutenant Bu Ryong-ho. We're with the army and we're here to help." Ryong-ho calmly told the frightened child. "Is there anyone else here with you? Any bad people or monsters we should know about?" Ryong-ho inquired. "It's just me and my friends. The monsters all left and they took all the people, good and bad with them." the girl said in a broken fearful voice. "Your friends, can you take us to them? We mean you no harm." Ryong-ho asked. "Ok." she answered skittishly. "Come with me." she told them.

The girl led the group upstairs to a hallway in the interior of the second floor and stopped in front of a locked classroom door. The girl knocked on the door and waited. "It's safe. You can come out now." the girl called into the room through the door. The door unlocked and creaked open, revealing flashlight beams crisscrossing within a dark windowless classroom. The door then fully opened and a bald rotund Chinese man and five girls in their late teens and early twenties came out of the room and into the hallway. None of them were armed and didn't appear to be too frightened either. Anyang must have had it easy since the harvest thought Ryong-ho. In stark contrast was the girl that had led them to this room, she was still a bit tense, more out of shock than fear. She hadn't seen any other sentient beings around for several days. The other girls looked upon their rescuers in disbelief. They thought that the all the world was gone now, taken away by the aliens or at the very least that the rest of the world had forgot about them. The soldiers didn't exactly know what to say either aside from Ryong-ho introducing himself again and telling them not to be scared, but they kind of knew that already. The timorous girl that led them here meekly sat down on a hallway bench between the door and a row of lockers and waited.

The pudgy man was the first to break the ice. "My name is Liu Jin Ping; I'm a talent agent currently managing this dance troupe. We were looking to expand into the overseas market when this whole alien business happened and got trapped here." the man said. "Perhaps you've seen our videos online?" mentioned Ari, the leader of and oldest girl on the troupe. Her peppy enthusiasm was uncharacteristic for the situation at hand. How easily kids bounce back, thought Ryong-ho. There was dead silence for a minute or two before Hamza standing as the rear guard of the squad gave a grunt of contempt. "Dancing around in your underwear, how shameful." Hamza sneered as he came out from behind. "You're familiar with them? What happened to the pure pious Hamza from before?" Williams chided Hamza. "Don't patronize me. I know not of these harlots but I have heard of their ilk. People speak of the world before in camp and their words carry on the air. Do not presume that I am ignorant of what of all that I hear simply because it was not directed at me." Hamza said giving a stern retort to Williams. "Hey, that means someone in your camp has heard of us? Yay!" exclaimed Ari. "Yay!" cheered the other girls before they jumped for joy in a manner that seemed so pre-rehearsed. "Whores." Hamza grumbled. "Hey, be nice." Kyung-gu defended the girls. "The one in the middle is kind of cute you think?" Kyung-gu whispered to Private Dae and Williams. "How old are you?" Kyung-gu asked the particular girl he found most attractive. "15, I'll be turning 16 in November if it already hasn't passed. We don't keep very good track of time here." the girl cheerfully said in response. She could apparently tell the intention behind Kyung-gu's question from the onset. She was flattered but not interested, still attention she craved so she wasn't going to dash the young man's hope completely. "Does it really matter? It's not like there's anyone out there that's going to prosecute you if she's a year or two too young. You're freaking 19 anyways, not like it's that big a deal." commented Dae pointing out the realities of the world as it was to Kyung-gu. "Force of habit man, I got to watch my ass. Besides it's the principle of it." Kyung-gu retorted, trying to whisper but failing at it. "Pretty stupid place to draw the line of principles dude. It's ok to shoot people that steal your grenades but heaven forbid you try to bang some high school girl hasn't had the requisite number of birthdays." Dae chided back. "Nah, you're just saying that cause you want her." Kyung-gu bashfully shrugged off the comment and replied. "Excuse me you two, I can hear what you're saying." the girl interrupted their childish dispute, and to think, she being the youngest of the three would end up being the more mature among them. "Really, I'm not interested in that. I know the image and all but I'm really not that easy. How about we just be friends?" the girl suggested. "Umm, ok!" the two young men said in unison. "Well then for starters we should get to know each other, I'm Yanmei." the girl introduced herself and took a few steps towards the two soldiers, who in turned introduced themselves and awkwardly shook her hand. Williams smiled and looked over and Ryong-ho. The two of them stayed silent and watched, like parents embarrassed by the antics of their sons although neither of them was old enough to have children of that age. Heck, Williams was around the same age as these two, but boy had he done some growing up since the invasion to where he almost felt like a father figure in this situation. He could never remember being this girl crazy though his temperament was shaped in the most part by his devotion to someone half a world away. Hamza wandered off and took post at the front door downstairs. Girls with no sense of modesty and boys with no sense of self control; all this hedonistic silliness was just going to piss him off. "Don't forget the rest of the team!" said Yanmei gleefully. "You've already met Miao." she said pointing to the timid girl that they had caught on the stairs. Miao hopped to her feet, raised her right arm and waved to everyone. "She's the youngest, and then there's Ari over there, she's the big sister of the group and quite overzealous." Yanmei continued pointing out Ari standing closest to the door. "Then there is Caiyun, Qiang and Bae Haru, she's the only one actually from around here." Yanmei introduced the rest of them as they in turn hopped up, raised their hands and waved when their name was called. Williams laughed at the sight of their introduction going something like a cheer routine. "You kids have too much energy." he chuckled leaning up against a locker. The locker jostled open throwing him off balance a little but he easily regained his posture and smiled.

Over the next hour the entirety of two groups gathered downstairs in the main office out of sight from the outside and caught up with each other's experiences since the invasion. "They attacked us too around the same time that they got you." Ari told the soldiers. "We didn't have any soldiers, just policemen so they didn't bomb us. The crab people came in and overwhelmed us fairly quickly. The cops tried but there were so few of them compared to the aliens and when they ran out of bullets it was all over. The crab people took people up with ease; they're stronger than any man and faster. You couldn't fight, you couldn't run, all you could do was hide. So that's what we did. It must've worked because the crab people passed us over and went away." Ari recounted to them. "Were you the only ones who made it?" asked Williams. "There were others at first. Some of them decided to end it; others left and went looking for help elsewhere. As far as I know we are the only ones still here." Ari replied. The school was well equipped to endure so the girls had no need of venturing out into the world after the harvest came. As for those who decided to end it, Williams was well aware of the attractiveness of that sentiment. To be honest it still beckoned to him sometimes. After a while longer of exchanging stories Ryong-ho began to feel the urge to get up and get things done. "We're going to make supply run, anything in particular you need?" Ryong-ho stood up and announced. "There's a good hoard in the lunchroom already and we've got basic first aid supplies in the nurses' office. We're pretty much set." Mr. Liu replied. "They'll need something to shore up their defenses and we have no arms to spare." Hamza suggested. "You won't find anything out there. The police had all the guns and the aliens took all their bodies with them. Whatever was left behind or locked up at the stations were taken when the others went away." Mr. Liu informed the soldiers. "There are other weapons than guns." Hamza stated. "You've got blunt instruments here but the arms on your girls wouldn't even make the aliens itch if you hit them. We'll need to get you something sharp or explosive." Hamza said. "It's not like a gun is that hard of a device to construct. All you need is a tube, a propellant and a projectile. Anything can be a projectile and you've got nitric acid, sulfuric acid and cotton balls locked up in the science labs here. Boom! White powder, there you go. All we need is something to aim with." Ryong-ho suggested. "Some PVC pipe or steel tubing would do the job. I suggest we hit up some home improvement stores or construction sites for that. Might want to check that distribution center too and see what they have there." Hamza commented. "Good idea, I'll need you to come with me." Ryong-ho said to Hamza "Any of you know your way around town?" he asked the girls. "I do. I lived in Seoul but had friends in Anyang when I was younger." answered Haru. "Would you mind being our guide then?" asked Ryong-ho. "Sure. Glad I could help." happily responded Haru. She got up and joined Ryong-ho and Hamza. "Kyung-gu, get up! You're coming too." Ryong-ho ordered Kyung-gu just as he was getting comfortable here. The four of them then went out to seek out the supplies they needed.

Ryong-ho, Hamza, Haru and Kyung-gu spent the rest of the day gathering supplies to fortify the school while the others remained behind. They managed to procure the items needed to make bombs and crude firearms as well as obtaining several bikes, a couple mopeds, a number of shopping carts, a propane grill with a few extra cylinders, batteries of all shapes and sizes, antibiotics, more fireworks, boards to bar doors and windows with, some extra food and water, a jug of gasoline and some books and board games to keep those who stayed behind occupied. "We got twister!" announced Kyung-gu as he and the others made their way inside with the last haul of supplies. Williams laughed and planted his face in the palm of his hand. "Damn boy! You try hard!" he laughed as he looked up.

They moved the supplies either upstairs or out of sight and took up residence for now in a classroom down at the far end of a hallway adjacent to the interior hallway containing the room the girls were hiding in. This room was on the southwest corner of the building and had windows that let in light and provided a vantage point where they could see down the curving street through the modest residential neighborhood. Kyung-gu and Nam-il unpacked and sat down at a pair of desks facing Yanmei and Caiyun and started to chat them up. The other girls all gathered together at the front of the room and Mr. Liu sat down looking out the window while writing down song lyrics he hoped to run past the girls for the day when the world returned to normal. In spite of it all he retained a hopeful optimism that this alien business was just a passing affair in the history of mankind.

It wasn't long after they finished getting everything inside that Ryong-ho was on his way out the door. Williams started to follow after him but Ryong-ho stopped him. "The rest of you stay here overnight. I will go on and scout out the road ahead and tomorrow we will proceed to Incheon." Ryong-ho told Williams. "Ok then. I'll wait up for you." Williams answered. "Oh, and sir, I think only me and you should go to Incheon tomorrow." Williams suggested. "Why is that? If it's as bad as you say it is over there we will need all the manpower we can get?" Ryong-ho asked. "The people there only really know me so I'll have to go to back you up otherwise I would have said for you to go alone. Everyone else can stay here. The Major said we need to establish an outpost out here. A few extra people would make more of a difference here than there. In Incheon we've got to stay light and mobile, if the aliens find us it doesn't matter how many guys we have we're going to be fucked." Williams explained. "What about the Arab? Shouldn't he go with us? Wouldn't they be expecting him too?" Ryong-ho asked. "Three of us went out, we lost one to the aliens, so we're already missing one of the people they would be expecting so that shouldn't be a deal breaker if he doesn't come. If I come that would have to be enough." Williams answered. "I suppose you're right." Ryong-ho agreed. "He used to work in construction, he could help fortify the place, maybe shield it so their sensors don't pick us up so easily." Williams added. "That would be nice if we only knew exactly what their sensors were capable of." Ryong-ho stated. "Whatever you guys can do until then, do it. I'm going to go on ahead now and find us a clear route in." Ryong-ho said as he went for the door. "See you tonight. Good luck, oh and watch out for the birds." Williams said goodbye to Ryong-ho as he went out the door, through the hall and down the stairs.

Williams went out into the hallway to see Ryong-ho off but did not follow him down the stairs. Hamza was out in the hall close to the new classroom sitting on one of two benches on opposite walls facing each other. When Williams passed by he got up and walked alongside Williams. "Why did you lie for me? This is the second time; we would have been even after the first." Hamza asked. They stopped walking and faced each other. "Listen, whatever you might have been before, that is irrelevant now. I believe that people can change, you can change." Williams answered then turned and walked the other way with Hamza beside him in order to get away from the others in case their careless words reached the others ears. "That's why I stuck up for you. It has nothing to do with keeping a scorecard over how many times we're saving each other's asses." Williams told Hamza after they had reached the end of the hall and turned left into a new one. "Besides, I think the arm paid for that time you saved my life already." he joked. They went into the second floor teachers' lounge and propped the door open. "But now that you bring it up, I do want to know a few things." Williams said as he pulled up a chair and sat down. Hamza walked over and sat down on the opposing couch. He knew that eventually someone would try and pry into his past. They might have thought it to be atrocious, but it was not something he was ashamed of in the least. Let him ask his questions. Everything he had done before he did with a clear conscience.

"The Russians said a lot of things about you. I want you to level with me, man to man, how much of that was true?" Williams asked. "All of it." Hamza declared cynically as if to scare him, not specifically knowing what the Russians had told Williams before. Hamza leaned back with a smug smile on his face and yawned before sitting back up and looking Williams in the eye. "Despite what the Russians might have told you I am not exactly what they claim me to be. Yes, I was part of the Free Syrian Army. We fought against the governing regime in Syria who was slaughtering our children. Yes I fought the foreign crusaders who would defile our lands and defame the Prophet. Contrary to what you believe we wage defensive Jihad, we were not the crusaders there. Russians, Americans, Englishmen, the French, soldiers, heretics and their propagandists, I have slain them all. Yes, in war I did things I am not proud to tell you, but they had to be done and because they had to be done I do not feel shame for what I had to do. Much as you are learning now there can be no holding back in war, you must attack the enemy with such ferocity that they would never again consider striking you back again, such was our plight in my home country." Hamza confessed to Williams. "There were those who wanted open war with the West; those who sought vengeance and conquest. These were those who went to your lands and desired to slaughter your children as you had slaughtered ours. I, however was not counted among that number. I believed if we only scoured the infidel from our lands and we did it long enough that you would depart for your homes and never return to bother us. It is in the province of Allah to punish the West for the sins in their own lands, He does not need the sword of man to do it for him. As you see he has done just that with these devils from beyond the stars." Hamza explained. "From what I heard you people did some fucked up shit to people in your own lands too. It's not just what happened in the West that makes you bad people." Williams rebutted. "Like I said, things happen in war; some things I condone, others I participated in. You are right in one thing; many among our number went too far, they became dogs instead of men. They turned their arms not only to the oppressors and the Nazarenes but towards the faithful. That was when I abandoned the ranks. My one regret is that I left my homeland to burn." Hamza confessed.

Williams leaned in and rubbed his hands over the top of his head. His hair was starting to get good and fuzzy again since his last trim. "The Russians told me they had intelligence indicating that you were planning to hijack that plane. Was this true?" Williams inquired. "I wasn't going to hijack the Russian plane. That would be a stupid thing to do. I was going to catch a connecting flight in Incheon. If I hijacked the plane I could never catch my connecting flight." Hamza told him. "A flight to where?" asked Williams. "Los Angeles." Hamza answered. ". . . and then what?" asked Williams. "I was going to go to Los Angeles." Hamza replied. "And then?" Williams asked. "I would be in Los Angeles." Hamza answered, evading the true intent of the question. If he meant to be a tourist what business was it to him? "I meant what would you do once you got to Los Angeles?" Williams asked again with greater clarity. "Doesn't it really matter now?" Hamza deflected the question. Williams dropped the subject and gained a renewed suspicion towards Hamza.

"You keep saying that the aliens are punishment from God. They attacked Muslim lands just as they did former Christian lands and the secular West." Williams said, attempting to prove the hypocrisy in Hamza's reasoning. "I believe the invasion was a fire meant to scour the unbelievers from the Earth. Fire however is not intelligent, fire is blind, fire knows not the infidel from the righteous, fire does not discriminate, fire only burns. Therefore the faithful must fight to endure the flames, even if it means fighting alongside the heathen. The faithful, whether we are martyred in the fire or endure until the end will be vindicated by Allah when this is all over." Hamza clarified his position. "And what about us infidels? Are to here just to burn up in your stead?" asked Williams. "If you continue down your vaunted path then yes. I must remind you however, that you need not remain an infidel. Surely the shield can force conversion more so than the sword and such conversion would be truer for if Allah wills any to survive it will be his faithful." Hamza told Williams. These were all the questions Williams needed to ask him. He had a clear vision of how Hamza thought, what he believed and what drove him. He was an opportunist, not a hero. Still Williams believed he could reach him, get him to change somehow. Hamza's skillset was of value, his ideology was not.

16 Oct 2351 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Late that night Vargas and five of his men came back into camp with a rickshaw completely covered with a dark blue tarp. The motorized portion of their unit had returned earlier that evening and informed Bremer and others that they had broken off on their own and would be coming back later so there wasn't a great deal of concern about Vargas being late. Bremer was walking back to the hospital to turn in for the night after a brisk bath in the pond south of the concert when he and Vargas crossed paths. "Chico! You're back!" Bremer called out to him. Vargas and his men stopped and allowed Bremer to walk up to them. "Took you long enough." chided Bremer playfully. "What do you have in the cart? Can we eat it or can we shoot it?" Bremer inquired. "I would recommend neither." Vargas answered and directed his men to set down and uncover the rickshaw. "First of all it's already dead so shooting it is a waste of bullets and secondly I wouldn't try and take a bite cause you never know what you might catch." Vargas commented as the tarp was removed to reveal a dead skitter lying in the rickshaw. "That was quick. I was thinking more of like whenever you had time you could bag one of those things. I doubt Tae-yon has the time to spare to take a look-see at it yet." Bremer commented. "Well we got it. It was a clean kill too; a few bullets through the back of the head and it went down. About the best we could hope for as far as keeping all the insides in working order." Vargas said. "I guess take it or leave it, if you can't use it now I'll be on the lookout for one that we didn't tear up too badly. Just saying though, we tend to tear these sons of bitches up pretty badly." Vargas mentioned. "Well Chico, wrap it up and take it around the back of the rustic looking restaurant over there. I'll see if I can get Tae-yon on it as soon as she can spare a moment from her patients." Bremer told Vargas. Vargas then covered up the dead skitter and he and his men carried it off to where he was instructed to leave it. Bremer continued on to the motel to see about getting Tae-yon on the skitter prior to hitting the rack for the night.


	65. Chapter 65: Anatomy of the Enemy

LXV: Anatomy of the Enemy

17 Oct 1002 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Bremer walked around the encampment at mid-morning. It was so much quieter now, so much less busy now that there were so fewer people here. For the first time since they had got here he actually felt bored. Strange it seemed, for he had forgotten what boredom felt like. He didn't have to experience that old sensation for much longer though because Tae-yon had sent a runner to fetch him to oversee her examination of the skitter that Vargas had brought back the previous night.

"I'm here for the crab carving!" Bremer announced as he walked into the restaurant. "In here Major!" Tae-yon shouted back from the kitchen. The runner Tae-yon had sent for Bremer handed him a pair of gloves, a plastic apron and a clear plastic face shield from off the table. "Put these on." he advised Bremer. Bremer donned his protective gear as the young man did the same with another set. He then went into the kitchen. It had been completely cleared out. Both of the stainless steel prep tables had been pushed together and a plastic drape made from hotel shower curtains was hung from the ceiling around the operating area. There was a chair in the corner where Tae-yon was sitting and several buckets placed on the floor at each of the corners of the table. She was wearing the same protective gear as Bremer as well as goggles, a breathing mask and a white bodysuit, hood and booties similar to the yellow "chicken-suit" worn by those who dealt with radioactive materials. A flat surfaced cart used to take out large orders was set up on Tae-yon's side of the table. In addition to the usual surgical tools there were also more serious looking cutting tools available to her such as a hacksaw, a meat cleaver, a hammer and ice pick, a finely sharpened machete and a handheld blowtorch. Also on the cart were several tupperware containers and a bottle of formaldehyde to hold and preserve tissue samples for further analysis later on. There was a butcher's scale set up on a shelf within the draped area which was intended to weigh the extracted organs from the creature. The skitter itself was spread out on the table with all the legs and arms pointed in one direction thus leaving the head and torso more accessible for inspection. There were a couple chunks of skin taken from the skitter's waist area already which Tae-yon had already run a few preliminary tests on. It looked like everything was in order. Tae-yon was just waiting from Bremer to arrive in order to begin.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Bremer. "Watch, and take notes." Tae-yon told him. The young man handed him a composition book and a pen. "If I need your help I'll let you know. Well this is going to be real exciting Bremer thought to himself sarcastically. He stood up in the far corner towards the skitter's legs and kept out of the way while he observed Tae-yon and her assistant. Tae-yon started off by examining the skitter externally first before attempting to make any incisions through the outer shell. "Subject is sentient unclassified, possible reptilian, insectoid or crustacean, sextopedal organism measuring 2.95 meters long with its legs fully extended. The creature as it would stand however would be just under 2 meters. For its size it is rather light at an estimated 105 to 140 kilograms of which 30-35% is believed to be the outer skin. The outer skin seems to be a flexible, chitinous material. Samples taken earlier proved the material does not burn nor does it conduct electricity. Tests also conclude it has a high cross section for absorption of gamma radiation though its effectiveness against moderate to high levels of neutron radiation has yet to be determined." Tae-yon dictated to Bremer what was to be written down. "Can you speak in terms normal people can understand? When our descendants read this stuff there going to be bored to tears within the first two minutes." Bremer complained. "Ok, well I still need you to jot down all the pertinent details for me. You can write them in the back and put the practical application in the front." Tae-yon told him. Now what I was saying as it applies to any practical situation we might encounter is that the outer skin acts as an insulator, both thermal and electromagnetic and is fairly tough to pierce or cut. The outer skin is also hardened at the shoulders, most of the back, upper forehead and the crest of the skull. This is sufficient to give them some resistance against small arms fire." Tae-yon explained. "Thank you, that's a lot easier for people to read." Bremer jokingly replied.

Tae-yon continued to dictate the technical details of her examination as she went over the skitter and then gave Bremer a condensed version to write down afterwards. The Major had a point; if this information was to be disseminated to help troops in the field it couldn't be excessively verbose. She went on to examine the eyes, nostrils and mouth of the skitter and describe the particulars thereof to Bremer. She removed one of the eyes and looked closely at it through a magnifying lens. "I would estimate visual acuity is comparable to our own, both in terms of detail and color vision. The head structure would lend itself to a disadvantage in peripheral vision but creature also has a third eyelid which allows them to attenuate ultraviolet light into the visual spectrum." Tae-yon explained to Bremer concerning the eyes. She then placed the eye into one of the tupperware containers, sealed it and then went on to the creature's mouth. "They don't have any teeth nor a hard palette on the roof of their mouth, which explains why they were so vulnerable to injury in this location. Makes you wonder how they feed themselves. The only clue I get are these fibers back here on the back of the lower jaw; they appear similar to the baleen of large whales." Tae-yon explained. "They're filter feeders." Bremer concluded. "Yes, it appears so, and more amphibious or possibly aquatic than we would presume." Tae-yon presumed.

"Now it's time to crack the shell." Tae-yon announced. First she tried to cut it with the hacksaw but it just left scratches on the surface and didn't dig into the skin. She then tried the meat cleaver to no avail. Next she jabbed it with the ice pick and tried to poke a hole through the creature's skin but she wasn't strong enough. The fear of damaging what she might find within kept her from exerting her full strength and just stabbing through it. "Major, I need you to help me get through the skin of this thing." Tae-yon requested. "Hyun-bin I need you to hold it down." Tae-yon instructed her assistant. Hyun-bin gripped the skitter's waist tightly while Tae-yon took hold of the creature's head. Bremer stood perpendicular to her and attempted to pierce the skin at the throat where it looked the thinnest. He grunted and jammed the ice pick into the skitter at an angle trying not to push too hard lest it rupture something important. "The fear gets to you doesn't it." Tae-yon commented. "Trying to gently stab something simply feels wrong." Bremer answered. He managed to get the ice pick wedged in there nicely. "Now we can just take that hammer and tap, tap, tap away so we can peel it from here right down the chest and open her up." Bremer told her. He then carefully did just that and fileted the skitter open. Next upon request from Tae-yon, Bremer cut a slit through the creature horizontally which enabled them to fully peel back the skin to gain entrance into the chest cavity.

After they had gotten it open Bremer changed out his gloves and returned to taking notes. "The skin varies in thickness between 2.5 to 4 centimeters." Tae-yon reported and then went in deeper. "I see little by way of subdermal fat deposits here." she stated. "The muscular structure binding the inner and outer skin of the limbs is similar to that of certain insects such as ants with the notable distinction of these compressed coils in the arms and upper legs. The coiled muscles would seem to be the reason behind these creatures uncanny speed. I would also estimate given the same mass these creatures would be stronger than any given human by an order of magnitude or two. Fortunately the mass of the external shell and the modifications made to increase agility appear to dampen this ability although as we've seen in the field." Tae-yon reported. She proceeded to slice through the muscle tissue and came to what looked to be a second skin inside the creature. It was silver, thin and translucent with delicate membranes extending outward from parts of its arms and neck. The appearance of the internal body gave more credence that this was once an amphibious being, one that spent a considerable portion of its time in water or a moist environment. "Major, come look at this." Tae-yon called over to Bremer. Underneath the armored skin was an entirely complete organism nestled within the skitter. "This is what they look like underneath. The entire creature is in there you could say. All of the major organs and vital systems are self-contained within the second skin." Tae-yon marveled as she continued to strip away the rest of the exoskeleton and remove the inner body of the skitter. She clipped a few skin and muscle samples and placed them in one of the buckets. While the outer layers of the creature appeared to be the bulk of its mass all the real interesting stuff would be contained within this frail, shiny, thin skinned creature inside. "I get the feeling these guys could shed their outer skin if they wanted to and be just fine. It could even be an entirely artificial construct like body armor or clothing. Going back to the aquatic hypothesis these could be the suits they wear when going onto dry land." Tae-yon theorized. They continued to peel away the outer layer, cutting the muscles, ligaments and nerve bundles which bound the inner skin to the outer skin until what they had known the aliens to be was removed and a frail, slick skinned being remained. Compared to their monstrous appearance when they were fully assembled the alien within the alien appeared almost, beautiful. The body armor hypothesis seemed to resonate with Bremer at this stage. Pyschological warfare, he reasoned was the reason for their terrifying external appearance. Not only did the proposed skitter exo-suit grant this alien exponentially greater strength, agility, protection from drier environments, resistance to heat, electrocution and gamma radiation but it scared the shit out of the people that saw it. "Help me turn it over so we can clip the bindings in the back where we can pull the skin down to the waist." Tae-yon said. "On three! One, two, three!" Bremer said, coordinating the three of them to flip the skitter over onto its stomach. He then assisted Tae-yon with splitting the skin open on the creature's back and peeling away the exoskeleton and interconnecting muscle fibers.

It was then that Tae-yon noticed something peculiar. "What's this? Now that's something interesting here. It looks like some kind of centipede-worm thing." Tae-yon said when she peeled the skin off the back of the skitter and revealed a harness beneath the exoskeleton and interconnecting muscle tissue. "Isn't that the same type of entity the man from Incheon reported seeing on the backs of captured children?" Tae-yon asked. "Yeah, it looks like it. I saw them too but from a distance. They do look like centipedes." Bremer confirmed. "Maybe these things actually are the aliens, or they are a kind of symbiotic organism perhaps?" Tae-yon hypothesized. "Perhaps. Can we try to get that thing off and make take a look at it as well?" Bremer asked. "Yes sir. I was just about to do that." Tae-yon replied. She took out a scalpel and went to cut open the harness. She looked perplexed when the scalpel simply slid over the surface of the harness without as much as leaving a mark. "What is it?" Bremer asked, noticing the change in Tae-yon's expression. "The worm, the symbiont the skin is like it's made of steel." Tae-yon replied. Bremer moved closer and took a look for himself. "The segmented pieces on the outside, those look like metallic plates. There is a light coming from underneath them as well. It's real faint but it's there." Bremer said noticing a weak yellowish-orange glow emanating from within the harness. "Some kind of residual bioluminescence?" asked Tae-yon. Bremer took the ice pick and wedged it underneath one of the hardened plates and pushed it in slightly. The tip of the ice pick slid under the segmented plate and Bremer started to pull it upwards. All of the sudden the skitter, or more appropriately the silvery skitter within the skitter came to life and thrust itself upwards, flailing its smaller, spindly arms back towards Bremer. Tae-yon and her assistant recoiled in fright and backed away into the curtain. In a flash Bremer's reflexes acted and he jammed the ice pick into the harness, stabbing straight through it. With his other arm he pushed down on the creature's back to restrain it while he pierced the harness. The internal creature was nowehere near as strong as it was with it's exoskeleton and interconnecting insectoid-like muscles attached. Within seconds the slimy internal skitter fell back onto its face and went limp. The glow within the harness faded away and the harness went dark. The outer scales became brittle and Bremer was able to easily peel them away. "I guess it still had some juice left. It's fine now." Bremer commented. He and Tae-yon then wedged knives underneath the harness and pulled it off revealing a row of semi-metallic spikes along the harness' length that penetrated deep into the soft creature's spine. They carefully set the harness in one of the buckets and draped a towel over it.

Bremer returned to taking notes as Tae-yon cut open the skitter's inner skin. There she removed and catalogued each organ, taking samples from each of them and embalming some for further study. In many respects the creature was internally similar to a human being; a comparable circulatory system, a four chambered heart, similar sized brain located in the head, spinal cord, vaguely similar musculoskeletal system from the waist up and so forth. The digestive and respiratory systems left something to the imagination and there were several organs which Tae-yon removed that she simply had no idea what they did. There were no lungs or gills and it seemed that the creature oxygenated its blood through its skin, especially where there were folded sacs of semi-porous blood vessels on the sides of the neck and abdomen. The blood itself appeared a deep red under direct light, indicating the presence of hemoglobin but contained an iridium based molecule with a pigmentation that made it appear black in low light conditions. The function of this companion molecule in the skitter's blood was as of yet undetermined. "They appear to be hermaphroditic containing both male and female reproductive organs beneath a retractable flap on the underside where all the legs come together though in this example the creature appears to be sterile. Due to that fact I cannot tell if the creature is placental, oviparous or something else." Tae-yon commented when she discovered the peculiar reproductive system of the alien creature. "So you mean they can fuck themselves but they can't get pregnant? Makes you wonder how these things breed, or is this one simply defective." Bremer asked. "It could have been a birth defect or the result of an injury or it may have been intentionally sterilized; we humans do that so it stands to reason that alien soldiers may do so as well." Tae-yon suggested. "It could also be like several species of social insects where only certain castes, such as queens, winged male ants or drones have functioning reproductive systems and the rest of the colony is all sterile females, or in this case sterile hermaphrodites." Tae-yon postulated. She continued on with her examination and now opened up the skull sliding several tentacle like protrusions through a membrane of soft tissue. "There are considerable bundles of nerve tissue connected to these ganglions extending from the back of the head but I have no idea what they do." Tae-yon said. She snipped a few of them off and put them into tupperware containers for later.

After thoroughly dissecting and examining the alien body Tae-yon, Bremer and her assistant disposed of the remaining skitter husk and burned it in an open field northeast of the camp. They sealed up and packed away the samples Tae-yon had taken in the restaurant's freezer. Although it had no power it was still a secure locker that minimized the samples exposure to the outside elements. Afterwards they cleaned and sanitized the kitchen, removed their protective gear, bagged it up and burned it then cleaned up themselves. "So can any of this be used against them in battle?" inquired Bremer when it was all over. "Other than the soft points and locations of vital organs that I've shown you there's nothing else I can tell you that would be of any value until I have time to look at these samples under a microscope and run several tests I would presume. None of that stuff is in my wheelhouse sir. I was trained as a surgical nurse, this dissection stuff, that I can do no problem. Now when it comes to testing bodily fluids, biochemistry and cellular biology studies are above my paygrade. A lot of that stuff would require machines that are no longer operational too." Tae-yon confessed. "I'll poke around with the samples and see if I can find out anything but I can't give you any promises." she continued. "All I ask is that you try. I will send for Young-gi to come back from Yongin to help. He has a little bit of a chemistry background so maybe he might know a little something you can use." Bremer replied. "I'd appreciate that sir. I'll let you know if I find anything." Tae-yon said to Bremer. "If you would excuse me now sir, I've got to be getting back to my patients. Eun-ha must be freaking out over there without me." Tae-yon said, dismissing herself. "By all means, get back to them." Bremer replied. ". . .and Tae-yon." Bremer said as she was leaving. Tae-yon stopped and turned back around towards him. "Thank you. Keep up the good work!" Bremer expressed his gratitude to her as she left. Know thy enemy, that has always been a pillar of success in warfare. They were now one step closer to truly knowing what they were up against. While many more questions remained unanswered than they had answered and new questions had arisen, it was true that they now had more knowledge of the aliens than they did several hours earlier.


	66. Chapter 66: Rain Delay

Chapter LXVI: Rain Delay

19 Oct 1159 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Father Yang and Miss Do had lined up the children and were leading them onto the school bus. Inside the bus there were three soldiers, one in the front seat across from the driver's seat and two in the back of the bus near the emergency exit with a trunk full of the kids' clothing and toys. "Why do we have to go?" a little boy standing in line asked them. Miss Do knelt down and took the little boy's hand. "The grownups are worried we've been here too long, so we're going down to Yongin to get away from the spiders." Miss Do explained. "It'll be fun. We met another group down there a couple days ago and they've got kids with them. You can meet new friends to play with. Oh, and did I tell you the best part? You'll be in an amusement park and all the rides and games will be free!" Vargas chimed in as he walked up towards the line. A look of excitement spread over the children's faces replacing their reluctant sadness for having to leave. Vargas and Father Yang walked off a short distance away while Miss Do oversaw the loading of the children onto the bus. "You forgot to mention all the rides will be down and the games won't work." chuckled Father Yang. "Not all, you don't need power to toss balls around or play mini golf. They've got everything there. The kids should have a great time." Vargas replied cheerfully. "Thank you for scouting out this place for us." Father Yang said. "Don't thank me; thank our new friends in Yongin." Vargas replied. "Father, before you leave I want to say something." Vargas said before Yang started to head back to the bus. "I appreciated you holding mass yesterday. It helps to know there's still something good left of who we were." Vargas sincerely thanked Yang. "You're welcome, the word of the Almighty endures always, it's just a matter of how and by whom it's preached." Yang modestly replied. "Well then Father, you served the Lord well yesterday. To be honest, going to mass felt more like an obligation before but yesterday I have to say it truly was a pleasure." Vargas told him. "The pleasure is all mine." Father Yang replied. "You know, I still find it odd when you refer to our service as mass but then I remember, oh yes, that one is Catholic. Oh, and while we're on the subject I'd like to ask you if you could hold church services in my stead among whichever group you are staying with this upcoming Sunday? The faithful in our flock are spread between all the garrisons and I'll be so far flung to do all the services myself." Yang asked Vargas. "Me? You ask a sinner to be a priest. It feels wrong you know? In my tradition the laity never preach at the pulpit, only an ordained member of the mother Church." Vargas shied away from the offer. "We're all sinners my child. I can tell from the conversations we've had since we met that you are both a devoted believer and knowledgeable in the faith. I've seen you study the Word diligently on your downtime while the others blew off steam in their own ways. We have other Catholics among our flock that can use your perspective, for they are most devoted but not quite as knowledgeable having more of a cultural than theological interpretation of the faith." Yang explained. "I can try Father, but don't be disappointed if my sermons lack the proper eloquence to move my audience. I'm more of a practical kind of guy." Vargas reluctantly accepted the invitation. "Oh, nonsense, be not troubled, the Lord will put the words in your mouth if he has to." Yang happily assured Vargas. He then went to get on the bus, sat down in the driver's seat and drove away while Vargas went on with his daily duties.

Meanwhile over at the motel Bremer was heading over after concluding the morning strategy meeting with Colonel Kang and Chang-woo. Before going inside to get an update on their patients he looked over towards the ambulance and noticed Lyndsey still inside brooding over Major Han's unconscious body. Bremer walked up to the back of the ambulance and hung out near the door. Lyndsey looked over at him, didn't say anything and went back to watching Major Han. Bremer knew she had to get up and do something, anything to take her mind off of him. Looming over his body wasn't going to make him come to any sooner, at it would do is make the time between now and then pass slower for her. It wasn't like she hadn't earned her keep; she had assisted Tae-yon in fashioning the life support apparatus that kept the Major from wasting away along with collaborating with others to construct some other crude pieces of medical technology that proved useful in certain instances. Vargas had given her the rifle training duties as well but mostly she still was spending most of her time here just sitting around and watching him lay there. It wasn't healthy, so Bremer thought of the first thing he could think of for Lyndsey to do. "Lyndsey, go take a bath. We're right by a lake and you're over here stinking up the joint." Bremer mockingly ordered Lyndsey in his typical nonchalant, playful fashion. Lyndsey rolled her eyes dismissively at him. "Might as well use the opportunity while it presents itself in case we're back on the run and getting funked up for days at a time again." Bremer said. "Hey now, no need to be a dick about it. You don't smell like a bouquet of roses either." Lyndsey quipped. "I'm a dude, dudes are supposed to smell like that." Bremer casually retorted. "Riiight." Lyndsey cynically lowered her brow and looked at Bremer before she climbed carefully out of the ambulance. She stood aside and allowed Bremer to get in the ambulance. "If anything happens to him under your watch I will cut your nuts off. . . . Sir." she sternly warned Bremer. "I promise you the Major and my nuts are going to be fine." Bremer assured Lyndsey before she started walking away. "There are towels and soap in the motel and in the mini mart down the street if you can't find any there." Bremer shouted out to her as she walked away. ". .and change your clothes while you're at it!" Bremer yelled a parting remark before she got too far away. Lyndsey responded by holding up one hand to raise the middle finger as she kept walking with her back to Bremer the whole time.

19 Oct 1404 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Ji-hye had rushed into the fire station moments after a major storm came upon them. The weather quickly shifted from a light drizzle to a torrential downpour complete with a booming cacophony of thunder, howling winds and lightning. She knew it was going to rain earlier judging by the dark gray clouds gathering in the west but she did not expect it to be this bad or come upon her so suddenly. Still she couldn't wait another day to return to the fire station, the aliens had held her up long enough. She had to make sure that everyone she knew was apprised of the current situation, and what the status quo was going forward.

Sergei and one of the older boys slammed the doors shut against fierce wind resistance after Ji-hye ran inside. The wind had blown in the rain leaving a mist of water droplets on the floor spreading out from the door. Ji-hye stood behind them dripping into a small puddle that had formed beneath her. The short distance running from the car to the front door of the fire station was enough to get her thoroughly soaked. "Good to see you back Miss Ji-hye. Fine weather we are having." Sergei sarcastically greeted her though the sarcasm didn't show through his thick Russian accent. "Good to see you too." she responded, shivering a little. "You, girls, bring her towels to dry off." Sergei ordered pointing a group of teenage girls standing idle near the doorway between the entry hall and the firehouse kitchen.

After she had dried off and gotten comfortable Ji-hye, Sergei, Seok-won and Officer An gathered around the kitchen table. The glow of incandescent lighting powered by the station's generator brought back feelings of how things used to be, stuck at the police station on monsoon days hoping that it would clear up before it was time to go home. Strategically Ji-hye knew this was a waste of power though and that they needed to conserve fuel for the generator whenever possible. She didn't speak up about the less than frugal use of precious electricity however, a meeting by candlelight in the midst of a storm would have too much of a medieval feel to it. "I've made contact with the airline passengers and we've all decided given our current circumstances that we're going to have to stay separated for now. We've looked and there's nowhere around here we can safely house everyone." Ji-hye told him. "What about the sports stadiums or the concert hall?" asked Officer An. "Do you really want these kids outside in this mess?" Ji-hye asked him referring to the storm outside. "Anywhere we think we can hide 200 plus people is either too noticeable from the air or is already occupied by aliens of Dong Zhao's merry band of traitors." Ji-hye explained. "Is all good. We handle firehouse well. Boys getting better with guns, last supply run not so difficult, lost no one, very proud." Sergei replied. "Glad you understand." Ji-hye sighed. "Is fine, we are still friends right?" Sergei asked. "Of course." Ji-hye answered. "I wish it didn't have to be this way but the way things are now what choices do we really get to make?" Ji-hye lamented. "We still have choice to put gun to our head or put gun to space crab head. Is good choice to make. I prefer gun to space crab." Sergei replied. "That's true, and as long as we prefer that option I'd say we are good." Ji-hye commented.

Upstairs, Hyo-ri and a couple other girls sat in a corner near the window reading magazines. The second floor was dark and the only light coming in was the gray-stained sunlight that filtered through the heavy cloud cover. Beneath each of the windows in the room where some of them slept were rectangular reverse shadows of light cast onto the floor that they used to read their magazines. The rain ran down the window like a waterfall as one continuous stream encompassing the whole of the window. The girls however paid no mind to the raging storm outside and focused on last month's fashion trends and entertainment news. Somewhere inside they knew that stuff was as obsolete as the abacus but outwardly the acted as if it all was still real. In the midst of them pointing, making crude or cute remarks and laughing Hyo-ri noticed Ho-jun walking with another boy down the hall. She had only befriended him out of pity but in doing so had made enough of a connection that she truly cared about what happened to him. She excused herself from her friends and went out the door into the hallway after him.

"Hey there, where are you going?" Hyo-ri called out to Ho-jun. "Oh, hi." Ho-jun meekly responded. He turned back to the other boy with a bolt action rifle strapped to his back. "Go on ahead; I'll meet you up there." Ho-jun told the boy, his voice sounding confident and authoritative now. The boy continued on without a second thought and Ho-jun turned back to Hyo-ri. "I'm just heading up to guard duty. Thank God we don't have to stand watch on the roof today." Ho-jun answered her. "I'm glad you don't. It's coming down real hard today." Hyo-ri replied. "Yeah, but we were due for it. October has been drier this year than it usually is." Ho-jun said. "Maybe it's due to alien influence. Ayyy lmao!" Hyo-ri kiddingly suggested. "Ayy lmao!" laughed Ho-jun as he looked down; face flushed with embarrassment then looked back up at Hyo-ri grinning at him. That phrase had become a running gag between the two of them. They would say it at the most random of times too. Case in point, last night during dinner Ho-jun was like "Hyo-ri could you pass the mashed potatoes ayy lmao!" They would also mix it up in the way they said "lmao" to each other, sometimes they would spell it out as in internet-speak and other times they would actually try and pronounce "lmao" as a word which would come out either as "La Mao.", "L'Meow", "Lam-Oh" or the always popular "Lame-Oh." For now there wasn't a follow up comment to the staying they both just stood there about 18 inches away from each other looking at each other, then off into space so it wouldn't feel so awkward. However in doing so just made things feel more awkward. "Ok, well I'll see you after your watch shift is over." Hyo-ri told him after neither of them could find the proper thing to say. "That would be great. I get off around sundown, maybe you want to umm, meet downstairs. Some of the guys are having a poker game to divvy up some candy and pop funko toys they brought back with the last haul." Ho-jun suggested. "Alright, I'll see you there. I've got the dawn watch but I can stay up for a little bit." Hyo-ri replied. "Great." Ho-jun said before he turned and walked away. "Hey!" Hyo-ri called out. Ho-jun looked back at her as he kept on walking towards the stairwell at the end of the hall. "Ayy lmao!" Hyo-ri called out to him. "Ayy lmao! Fuck those aliens in the ass woo!" Ho-jun shouted back to her. "Watch your language boy! We don't do inter-species erotica here!" a gruff older man, one of the few adults in the fire station shouted back from one of the cleared out bedrooms further down the hall in the opposite direction. Hyo-ri and Ho-jun parted company both laughing their heads off as they went about their daily business.

19 Oct 1404 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Ryong-ho and Williams crawled underneath a dumpster behind a factory that used to produce ball bearings as a one of the medium patrol-class "pancake" walkers and four scout-class "egg" walkers passed by. Thunder roared in the distance and ushered in a violent downpour. One of the scout walkers looked towards the sky as the rain began to fall, stopping next to the dumpster where Ryong-ho and Williams were hiding. The others continued on their path. Both of them slowed their breathing, almost to the point of holding their breath and froze in place trying not to make a sound. There was barely room enough to move anyways and Williams had to curl his legs up behind him so his boots wouldn't stick out. They hoped that the rain interfered with their sensors enough that the machines couldn't detect them or that the aliens didn't care enough to overturn or shoot through the dumpster. The rain spattered on the ground spraying the two men with a fine mist at first, then droplets gathered and rolled down under the dumpster and began to soak into the front of their clothing. The cold rainwater would lower their body temperature making them harder for the machines to detect, Ryong-ho told himself. The machine standing next to the dumpster concerned him greatly however, but he had to stay calm. Overhead a formation of five beamers passed by and faded into the clouds to the west. Afterwards the mech continued onward not even bothering to turn and "look" at the dumpster where the two men were hiding.

Ryong-ho and Williams did not leave their hiding place yet however in case this was a trap and the mechs were luring them out into the open where they could be captured. The aliens' policy currently appeared to prefer live captures but they did not hesitate to use deadly force when they felt threatened. Captures however would be few and far between in Incheon. Ryong-ho and Williams had not seen a single unharnessed human being in their time here though there were a great multitude of alien patrols wandering the streets. It was situations like this that had kept the two men from reaching their destination. For two days they had to take side trips or fall back to evade the enemy which was too numerous to fight through in this region. Gains were measured in feet while losses were measured in quarter miles. They estimated that in two days time they had only made it halfway to their destination, something that could have been done in a few hours, even on foot as they were. Frustrating as it might have been they were still alive.

19 Oct 1404 KST

Gangseo District, Seoul, South Korea

The thin walls of the hardware store creaked against the battering force of the winds outside, frightening those within. The sky turned dark and the hardware store looked as if it was night in the middle of the day. A single candle in a glass vase burned on the table at the back of the store where most of the people had gathered. A few men watched through the front door as wave after wave of water scrolled past them sweeping the street clean. "A fine time to have stopped drinking." Petrikovich complained having come off a record long bender yesterday. "This is boring." he grumbled, picking up a handful of crackers and stuffing them into his mouth. "Hey, Yulia want to play game?" Petrikovich asked her. "Let us see how many crackers we can stuff into mouth at once. Winner gets box of crackers." he suggested. "That's the stupidest game I ever heard of." Yulia remarked. "Hey, is all we have to do!" Petrikovich complained. The fact that any of them were able to complain of boredom was indeed a sign that life had gone well for them in the past few days. Still, isolated and alone many among them felt as if they were only staving off the inevitable.

19 Oct 1411 KST

Anyang, South Korea

Hamza sat alone in the school cafeteria cracking pecans and placing the shelled nuts into a glass jar. Outside monsoon winds and heavy rain had swept in from the west though he could barely notice it. While it had been a couple days since Ryong-ho and Williams had left he knew better than to assume they were dead. If a week or more passed and there was still no sign, then he might actually bother to think of what had happened to them but for now that was the furthest from his mind. In the past two days he had isolated himself from the others and re-dedicated himself to a life of manual labor and religious observances. He had fortified certain hallways and doors to isolate the area of the school that they were using so that in the event of an attack they would at least have some warning of the impending danger. Elsewhere Nam-il and Kyung-gu were off with the all-girl dance troupe playing games and incessantly flirting with them. The girls were friendly and playfully toyed with the soldier's emotions but had no interest in returning their affections. While all of them were depraved animals in Hamza's eyes the soldiers had enough decency to understand the meaning of "no" when they went too far. The two of them would alternate guard duty as well while Hamza remained perpetually on watch, at least according to the others who rarely saw him walking the halls. There was little danger for them to be on guard against yet still they had to remain vigilant, for it was the times you felt most secure that in fact you were the most vulnerable.

19 Oct 1417 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

After bathing in the pond south of the concert venue Lyndsey returned to the ambulance to resume her vigil over Major Han. "How is he?" Lyndsey asked as she approached the ambulance. "Same as before, still breathing, my nuts are safe." Bremer answered. He looked over Lyndsey and saw her in the same uniform she left in only now it was drenched in pond water. "That's the same uniform you had on earlier, only it's soaking wet. I thought I told you to change?" Bremer scolded her. "It's all I have. Don't worry, I washed it. Some of us didn't pack multiple changes of clothing on the day of the apocalypse." Lyndsey replied. She peeked into the ambulance and made sure all was well with the Major and then stepped back and away from the vehicle. "Going to head into the hotel for a while to dry off for a bit. Could you keep tabs on him a while longer?" Lyndsey asked. "No problem Lyndsey, go be a girl and clean up now." Bremer playfully chastised her. As the first trickle of rain started to come down Bremer looked over at Han. "You sure have yourself a dedicated girl my friend even if she won't say it to your face." Bremer spoke to Han regardless of whether or not Han could hear him. "So Major, how's it been?" Bremer asked. "Things around here haven't been the same without you. Lyndsey's over here with you all the time and Chico's usually out on patrol. With you three gone I really don't have anyone to talk to, or put me in my place when I get out of line. I guess you could say that I'm lonely, even with everyone else around me. You three were the only ones that could really get me. You could understand me through this act that I put on for myself. Everyone else just goes along with whatever I say, now it's like I'm truly accountable to no one. For guys like me, being accountable to no one isn't good. Chico would say some shit like I'm still accountable to god but I know I don't owe anything to the flying spaghetti monster in the sky. Now you and your girl Lyndsey, you would get it, you would get me, and together we would all do what is right for these people. Ah, fuck here I am being selfish again, making all this shit about me. What about you sleeping beauty? What about you? King of the won-ton's just waiting for a beautiful princess' kiss to bring you back. I told Lyndsey to brush her teeth this morning so you should thank me when she gets around to that. Damn man, I hope you come back. I hope you come back and you're all there." Bremer said to Han. The rain intensified and Bremer closed the ambulance door, carefully rearranging what equipment he had to. "I've been talking to that bitch that shot you and she seems to have a solid excuse. I'm still keeping her in lock up though; she's not going anywhere until she answers directly to you. What's worse is now that I'm starting believe her it seems like there's going to be trouble on the horizon. Someone else is fighting the crabs and they don't seem to play well with others. I sure could use you right now; diplomacy is more up your alley. No matter who these people are we've got to get them to see we're all on the same side. They don't want to join us that's fine, but we need their help to fight back against the aliens. It's no big thing on this end, I've had to make deals with the devil before to fight off an even bigger devil and that's what we're gonna do here." Bremer told Han. "Now see, you've got a lot to do when you get back so don't you dare think about fucking dying, don't you dare." Bremer said. He continued to talk to Major Han about war, and women and life in general until there was a knock on the ambulance door.

A little over half an hour later Lyndsey returned to the ambulance as it was pouring down rain. The back door was closed so she knocked on it. Bremer opened the door only to be met by Lyndsey's scowl of disapproval. "You had me waste all that time taking a bath when I was going to get caught up in a rainstorm anyways." she complained. "Do I look like a weatherman?" replied Bremer as he moved over and allowed Lyndsey to get inside. "Well I do have great hair and a face that's made for TV, not to mention that dashing personality that makes everyone want to tune in so I guess I could be." Bremer stated braggadociously. "In your dreams sir." Lyndsey replied sarcastically. Bremer stepped out of the ambulance and helped Lyndsey shut the doors. He let the rain beat down on him for a little while longer and collected his emotions which he had just poured out on a comatose man. After receiving his own bath he walked into the motel to wait out the storm.

19 Oct 1442 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

Jake set the shotgun against the wall and sat at the edge of the bed looking out the window as the rain droplets beaded together on the window. On the other side of the bed Do-yeon had fallen asleep in his mother's arms and she herself reclined in slumber against the wall. Hyuna was laying back in bed reading a book and glancing over at Jake every now and again, wondering what he was thinking about. He really wasn't thinking about much, just keeping a lookout for aliens. Soon enough he couldn't keep a lookout for anything as the rain fell faster and faster until it flowed like a stream down the window distorting and obscuring his vision of the world outside. Still he just sat there for hours, the rapid pitter patter of the rain and the swirling whistle of the wind were soothing. He almost felt as if he could fall asleep then and there. Hyuna set her book down and sat up next to Jake. He looked over but didn't say anything then looked back out the window. She waited and watched the rain too, then scooted over closer to him. Together they just stared out the window of their little fishbowl in the midst of a world gone mad.

19 Oct 1502 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Bremer went into the hotel, passed through the main lobby and went up to his room. There he dried off, changed clothes and sat down on the bed. No, he couldn't sleep even with the rain song lullaby outside. There was too much on his mind and too little he could do about it. So he just had to find a way to pass the time. He pulled out a pad of hotel stationary and started drawing, schematics and fictitious battle plans at first and later cartoon characters until he had his own little comic strip going. All the while he would hum the melodies to familiar songs and see if he could still remember the lyrics after two weeks since the alien attack cut off the background soundtrack to his life. That was something Bremer missed, being able to jam out to his favorite tunes on the radio, in the car or online. Sure there was the passing moments when Won-yong's boombox was cranking in the early days and he supposed they could always whip up some live entertainment, the thought of beat down Korean Army grunts butchering his beloved American punk rock and metal songs was just so, so well he didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but for what it's worth October 4th was the day the music died.

Later on Bremer got bored and went downstairs to check on how the medical corps were handling themselves. The wounded roster had dropped quite a bit in the past few days thanks to the tireless efforts of this seriously undermanned division. Yes a few of them had passed away but the majority of those who left the wounded roster joined the ranks of the light duty roster or returned to active duty. Bremer went around making small talk with the wounded soldiers. He handed one man in a leg cast a miniature bottle of rum and told him to keep it secret. Then he came to Tae-yon, her hair was disheveled and her face flushed of color with a painted on look of frustration. She had the look of someone who had pulled another all-nighter. This woman simply did not know how to relax. She would just push herself and not stop until it killed her. Bremer wasn't about to lose his medical officer to a nervous breakdown, even if that meant he would have to take matters into his own hands. No, his medical officer was going to take a break, right now. "Doctor Park you look like you need a break ma'am." Bremer said upon seeing her. "Oh, and look here, I just raided the mini-bar." Bremer said holding up a couple tiny bottles of fine spirits in an attempt to cheer her up. "I'm sorry sir but my patients need me." Tae-yon declined the offer. "Are any of them critical?" Bremer asked. "No." replied Tae-yon. "Alright then come with me," Bremer said. "That's an order." he said with a wink and a nod.

Tae-yon sighed and told Eun-ha to take over and left instructions with her to come get her if anything serious happened. Bremer brought Tae-yon up to an unoccupied room on one of the upper floors and left the door open. He handed her one of the small bottles of alcohol which she simply sat down on the nightstand. Bremer popped the tiny top off of his and downed the little splash of liquor inside before he set his empty bottle next to her full one. "Doctor, every time I see you you're always going full speed out there. I appreciate everything you have done for this unit and believe me a lot of us wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Seriously though when I see you I can't help but think that you are burning yourself out here. You've got to pace yourself and let people help you sometimes. We've got a few trained that can come in and take up some of that slack and seriously girl, it won't kill you to get some sleep." Bremer told her. "I know sir, I know. I wish I could relax but I can't, not when all these people need me." Tae-yon replied. "I was no one before the invasion, just some woman fresh out of school trying to do what I do to make a life for myself. I was a face in the crowd, a name on a list; I was nothing to no one. Now I swear it's like I'm one of a kind and no one can live without me." Tae-yon confessed. "I can't live with that kind of responsibility sir. I'm expected to do so much but I can't. I can't be what you need me to be, what they need me to be." Tae-yon complained. "Tell me about it girl. I've got the same problems. Do you think I wanted to lead the 4th Korea? Hell no! I wanted to be middle management stuck somewhere in a combat brigade and chasing strange pussy on my time off. Now I can't do either of those things because I've got to be some kind of fucking role model that has all the answers." Bremer told her, attempting to empathize with her situation which was indeed similar to his own. He had just finished spilling his guts to a vegetable over the same stuff in fact. "The point is we've all got to do things that we weren't ready for. It's shit we don't want to do but it's shit we have to do." Bremer said trying to encourage her. "I appreciate you trying to cheer me up but honestly Major, when I'm down there I really don't know what I'm doing but those people believe that I do so I have to pretend. I'm not even a real doctor, yes I've watched doctors and helped out with surgery before but I never even finished med school." Tae-yon confessed. "But you're learning as we go. Hell you've already done so much for this outfit I can't begin to thank you. What you did with Lyndsey and the Major, I've never ever heard of something like that." Bremer praised her. "To be honest neither have I. It was Sergeant Sobieski's idea, and to tell the truth I was just guessing half the time." Tae-yon modestly replied. "You guessed good girl. I'd say keep guessing and I'll take it as correct answers every time." Bremer praised her. "By the way I wasn't just blowing smoke earlier to make you feel better, I really do get how it is to have the training wheels blown off before you're ready to ride." Bremer added. "I don't quite get the analogy but I know what you mean. I just hope there's a better place for us after all this over." Tae-yon said. "There will be, there's always a rainbow after a storm." Bremer told her.

The two of them watched the water bead and run down the window from the fourth floor room where they stood, waiting out the storm. Tae-yon rested her head on the side of Bremer's left arm and breathed slowly, there was something relaxing about just giving up for a time. Bremer glanced down at her shimmering black hair draped onto him and obscuring her face from his view. Her turned back and watched the rain come down. If this had only been another time and another place he thought, this is where he would have picked up another conquest. It would have been unbecoming for him to think it but this time it did not feel right to him. Indeed the mentality of the former Captain Bremer was at odds with Major Bremer and who he needed to be now. Was he developing a conscience in these matters? No, he was still the same fun loving, booty chasing hound dog he always was. Then why did it feel so wrong now? She was vulnerable, but not in that "I just broke up with my boyfriend let's have revenge sex" or "I'm so drunk and feel so shitty let's go for it, who gives a fuck, we won't remember shit come tomorrow" type of way. She was vulnerable in that way where she needed him, where her strength wasn't enough to see her through so she needed to lean on someone stronger. If she only knew how weak he felt himself against the whole world right now. Even when he confessed to her it was in a cheerful, nonchalant manner to bolster her own confidence. His honesty even came off as an act, but his strength was there and that strength became her strength. All the more reason he had to fight his habitual behaviors this time. His usual M.O. was outdated, he couldn't do that now; he was a leader now and she was under his command. He couldn't be predatory; his sense of duty prevented that. So he just watched the storm rage with her. The lightning flashed and the thunder shook the building. Still undaunted, an alien flyover passed through the dark grey clouds overhead as the torrential rains pelted the earth below. Indeed Bremer yearned for a day that they would never have to see those things again. That day would be the better day that Tae-yon spoke of, the rainbow at the end of the storm.

19 Oct 1705 KST

Gangnam and Songpa Districts, Seoul, South Korea

A lone drone-sized beamer flew through the thick storm clouds on a low level reconnaissance flight as the monsoon rains drenched the city below. Lightning streaked between the clouds and from the clouds to the ground. Below the beamer skitters walked freely in the streets as the pockets of human resistance had sought shelter from the storm. The enslaved bodies of human children still remained to do the skitters bidding which was proceeding at a record pace thanks to minimal outside intervention. The mechs could not be visually seen from the viewpoint of the beamer but they were still there, not as active or as necessary because of the reduced human opposition, but present nonetheless. As the beamer flew in a straight line through the next band of clouds rolling past a row of skyscrapers a bolt of lightning struck the craft dead center from above. The electricity crackled around the craft, sparking and arcing away from the scorch mark left in the top of the outer skin. The lightning strike did not disable the craft but the force of being struck jolted the beamer downward causing it to collide with one of the tall towers before it could recalibrate itself and pull up. The beamer crashed through the steel panes of the windows already shattered from the meteor dropped at the onset of the alien bombardment. It angled downward as it flew deeper into the office tower pushing around the crumpled desks and cubicles within. The floor collapsed underneath it which also triggered a central support pillar to snap and fall through to the next level which sent the floor above the beamer crashing down on top of it. Among the tiles and ceiling panels a metal desk struck the front of the beamer and further shifted it down at an angle. Ultimately when everything had come to rest the beamer was wedged between two floors with the tail of the craft still extending outside. The running lights of the ship powered down and the inactive hulk of the alien vessel, still very much intact remained as a wart protruding from a skyscraper standing in the midst of a raging storm.


	67. Chapter 67: Locking Arms

Chapter LXVII: Locking Arms

22 Oct 1415 KST

Gangseo District, Seoul, South Korea

Williams and Ryong-ho had at last reached the hardware store where they hoped their friends from Flight 1437 were still holding out. The road here had not been easy nor would the return trip be any simpler. The trip had been nerve racking to say the least. There was little actual combat for the two man team however the danger and the fear it evoked remained omnipresent with them throughout the week long journey from Anyang to here.

Nazar Banin, another of the Russian passengers was standing guard when Williams and Ryong-ho approached. The knock came along with the password agreed upon before Williams had left. It was an old Russian poem which Williams butchered yet Banin recognized it enough to grant them entry. "What was that? Were you just speaking Klingon to them?" asked Ryong-ho as he heard the door unlatch. "Russian, I think, I didn't understand a word of it either." Williams answered. The Russian folk poem was chosen first of all because the local populace, many of whom were collaborators or allies of Dong Zhao would be familiar with both English and Korean. If any of them had been planted among their number or happened to be passing by it would sound like gibberish to them, indeed Klingon as Ryong-ho had presupposed. Secondly there was also the assumption that Grigor would be the one leading the return party. The door opened partially and Banin looked over the two guests cautiously. "Is African douchebag from Incheon you twat, let him in!" Petrikovich yelled at Banin once he saw Williams' face above Banin's shoulder. Banin lowered his weapon, opened the door fully and stepped aside.

Once inside the store Petrikovich, Sam Harrison and his son were all waiting by the door behind Banin. Andrew still had his gun raised though his father calmly urged him to lower it when he noticed Williams' eyes looking over at them. "Sorry it took so long to get back. It takes forever to get through all the shit on the way unnoticed. There are only a few really small windows of opportunity each day where we can move around without getting shot at. There were literally days when we could only clear a couple city blocks, making it a whole mile would be considered quite the achievement." Williams explained somewhat exaggerating the point but not by much. "Something in Incheon must be of some importance to the aliens given the amount of enemy assets in place." Ryong-ho commented. "That is same impression I got when I first met police lady there." Petrikovich concurred. The crash survivors cleared away and allowed the two men to come further into the store while Banin closed the door behind them.

"Where did arm go?" Petrikovich asked Williams as he came walking up beside him. "It's a long story." Williams said. "Ah, you can tell tonight. Something to frighten the children around the fire. They love the good tale of scare." Petrikovich replied. "So our champion has returned." Dr. Klauss got up from the table where he was correcting and looking over some notes he had made and took a small sip of wine to toast Williams' return. "Is my wine! We saving that!" Petrikovich scolded Klauss when he saw that the doctor had gotten into his stash. "Leonid, this is a fine vintage and deserves to be savored by a discerning taste not guzzled down like duff as you would do." Klauss refuted him. "Pointy nose German pansy. Is nursing it like baby not even getting the buzz." Petrikovich mumbled to Williams to where Klauss could not hear it. "What happened to Grigor and Hamza?" asked Yulia, also seated at the table when she noticed the two of them were not in Williams' company. "Hamza is with our forward deployed forces in Anyang and I regret to say that Grigor we lost along the way." Williams answered. What happened to Grigor in Bucheon was reason enough that Williams refused to go back via the same route he had used on his way to Seongnam, instead opting to pass through the heart of the enemy stronghold in Incheon. "That's sad; he was one of our best fighters too. How did Grigor die if you don't mind me asking?" asked Klauss. Williams stopped and fell silent a little; the thought still struck fear into him. It was a fear so strong that it compelled him to take a weeklong trip on something that could've ben ran in a matter of hours. He regained his composure and tried to think of it as a fictitious event, something he did not see happening to him and those around him again. "As hard as it may be to believe he was attacked by killer crows and as a result started turning into a monster and died." Williams explained. He didn't include the fact that they had to put Grigor out of his misery but rather that the disease killed him, there were fewer questions that way. "So it is transferrable to humans." mused Dr. Klauss. "What? You've seen these birds here?" inquired Williams. "We picked up a dead one on a supply run that didn't pop so I took it to a university lab and checked it out under the microscope. There's an infectious agent that causes all of that. It's like nothing I had ever seen." Klauss explained. "Oh great, they're spreading." Williams complained. "Well the good thing is that so long as you don't get bitten to where it breaks the skin or don't eat one of the birds yourselves you can't catch it." Klauss tried to reassure him. "I never eat crow." bragged Petrikovich. "Sure you don't buddy." Yulia chided him. "You shut up lady." Petrikovich laughed as he scolded her.

Williams walked around the good old meeting table in the back of the store and sat down while Ryong-ho remained standing at the end corner across from him. "Seeing as it may be weeks before we can return we might as well resolve all our business now while we have the opportunity." Ryong-ho stated, shifting the conversation to the intended purpose for which they had come. "So you were able to make contact with the army I presume?" asked Klauss. Williams held back and let Ryong-ho do the talking; he had a better idea of the overall strategy and what was going on back in Seongnam than he did. "Yes. The combined US-Korean forces in Seongnam are still standing and continuing to wage a guerrilla war against the occupying forces." Ryong-ho answered. As they were speaking a group of other former passengers and survivors gathered around the table to hear any news from the outside world. "Which is actually why we are here." Ryong-ho continued. "What is it like out there?" interrupted one man. "Do any sections of the city still have power?" asked a woman. "Has anyone been able to make contact with people overseas?" asked Melissa. "What about the aliens? Are they this bad everywhere?" another man asked. "Hold on, hold on, one question at a time." Ryong-ho replied and waited for the crowd to calm down. "It's still pretty bad out there and believe it or not there are places that have it worse off than Incheon. Conversely, there's a few seemingly safe havens we've been through but they are largely isolated and uninhabited." Ryong-ho answered. "The power is down everywhere we've been, the effect is possibly worldwide as far as we know it and aside from you we haven't seen or heard anyone from out of the country since the attack took place." Ryong-ho went on to answer more of their questions. Ryong-ho continued to field more questions from the crowd, often times pertaining to specific people or locations from the Korean survivors, until he had resolved their concerns to the best of his ability.

Once the crowd had their concerns addressed Ryong-ho he was then able to address the reason he and Williams had come. "Now that all of that is out of the way the reason we both came here, in addition to letting you know the entire world hasn't gone completely to hell is that we, that is the army, are in need of your help." Ryong-ho announced. "What can we, a bunch of throw aways from a plane crash do to help the army?" asked a puzzled passenger. "From what this gentleman has told us and from our own experiences coming here we have ascertained that the enemy has significant assets in this area." Ryong-ho stated, motioning to Williams as he spoke. "As to what these assets are exactly we cannot be certain; I will be undertaking an intelligence gathering mission upon my departure to ascertain the exact nature of the threat being housed in Incheon proper." Ryong-ho continued. "Once we have identified a target we are planning to launch an attack against it. Such an attack we hope will actually do damage in such a way that the enemy operations in this region will be affected. Up to this point all our activities have only manage to take out enemy troops in the field, of which there is no shortage of. When this attack is launched its effectiveness will depend in part by the size of our forces deployed against it. Currently our manpower is too low to stand any chance of penetrating through the alien defenses and if we try to build up in any one area we will only invite the enemy to bomb us out of existence. As such we are working on recruiting additional forces throughout the Seoul metro area to assist us in our offensive. Due to your proximity to our intended targets and the fact you would be coming from another direction than where our forces would be bottlenecked upon approach we would greatly desire your assistance in this offensive." Ryong-ho explained. Gasps and murmurs rose from the crowd. There were mixed reactions, some were eager to strike back at the enemy who had cost them so much, others were more reasoned and reluctant, still others felt the endeavor was suicide.

Klauss was in the category that felt any offensive against the aliens was foolhardy at best. "I'm sorry but we really can't be of any assistance in an offensive operation here, we're barely trying to survive." Klauss declined the offer. "Don't bother talking with Doctor Glum, our fearless leader and streetwise detective lady are out babysitting right now. They would have some sway over our affairs here." Petrikovich remarked. "Is that so? Do you know when they will be back?" inquired Ryong-ho. He was unfamiliar with Petrikovich's status as the foolish drunken uncle that many of the flight crew regarded him as so he took Leonid's comments as something to be considered seriously. "We have no idea. They are at a secondary hideout with a few hundred kids that she rescued some days earlier. As you can see we can only fit so many in this little store." Klauss explained. "That being said, most of our fighters are children, which is another reason I am loathed to commit ourselves in the preposterous notion of waging a ground war against these aliens." Klauss continued. "It's not so out there of an idea to think we can actually fight back against these guys. We have fought them back in Seongnam, even made some gains against them. They hit the army hard and we're still chugging along." Williams said. "I despise the idea of child soldiers as much as the next guy but the options here are rather limited, either they fight or in the very near future they will die. The aliens are only going to leave us alone for so long." Ryong-ho joined in. "I understand your zeal but our answer is still no." Klauss reasserted his position. "You don't speak for all of us." Yulia stood up and declared. "Sit down Yulia, you're making a scene." Banin scolded her. "No." she assertively replied. "Just because he says he is the leader doesn't make it so. Sure you've got the fanciest credentials out of all of us and I'm just a lowly stewardess but each of us should get to make our decisions here." Yulia explained herself. "I'm in." Yulia told Ryong-ho turning her head and looking him straight in the eye with the force of conviction behind her stare. "Now wait a minute, what one of us does affects us all. What if you lead the aliens back here and they retaliate against us when we've done nothing?" argued Banin. A commotion arose among many in the crowd, not so much over whether to fight but whether they were free to make their own decisions. They had been under such duress since the crash none of them had ever thought to truly question their supposed leaders, they just trusted in those who had the fortitude to step forward and guide them and Klauss was a very assertive and knowledgeable individual. Ryu pushed his way through the crowd and stood at the opposite end of the table. "Wait a second. I've got a safe position located far enough from here that the aliens won't get the idea of where we came from if any of you want to join in with this batshit crazy idea. We've got shelter, food, and a running armored vehicle to boot." Ryu offered a solution. "That thing runs?" asked Joo-won. "Yeah, I just don't like starting it cause the space fucks can see it from the air." Ryu told him. It was that and General Socko specifically ordered him not to, yes Ryu could talk to his sock puppet and yes, he gave the sock puppet the rank of a four star general. "Well hot damn, if it gives me a chance to shoot that thing I'm in." Joo-won said. "I'm in too." Ryu said. "I thought you said it was crazy?" asked Williams. "It is crazy, but so am I." replied Ryu. "Besides the General would want me driving the IFV." Ryu said. Ryong-ho looked over at Ryu curiously, wondering what general he had contact with; it was Ryong-ho's assumption that all the top brass had perished in the first few days of the attack. He hadn't met anyone with a legit rank above Major since then. "Don't ask." Joo-won said rolling his eyes. Ryong-ho got the message, Ryu wasn't exactly "right" you could say. "Hell I might as well go too. Wouldn't want Miss Yulia to get lonely." Petrikovich volunteered. "I still think you're all insane. Consider what you're doing, you're basically throwing your life away." Klauss objected. "You should stay behind anyways doctor. Your skill set makes you too valuable to risk in the field." Yulia told Klauss. "I intend to." Klauss said. "I'm staying too." Banin said. "As much as I'd like to help I've got a family to look after so my place is here with them." Harrison also declined the offer. "I'm not sure yet, I'll need to think about it." Cedomir also chimed in. The reaction from the crowd was split as well with most of them either unsure or firm on staying safe with Klauss. In total they were able to get commitments from 11 volunteers, not near enough to open a second front from the north.

Ryong-ho thought now to appeal to the foreigners in the group, hoping to strike a bargain that would earn him more volunteers. "Perhaps we can work out a better arrangement for some of you if you would consider joining in. Would any of you here like to return to your home countries?" asked Ryong-ho. "We can't, the enemy has fortified the far side of the river down its entire length as far as we have been able to go. Any attempt at crossing would be suicide." stated Banin. "I know it may appear that way now but with more men and better weapons we should be able to punch a hole in their forces to allow any who want to leave to cross. Help us hit the enemy manufacturing hub in Incheon and in return we will help you beat back the enemy garrison and cross the river so you can head north overland towards your homelands." Ryong-ho stated. "If you can deliver on this promise I will fight alongside you." declared Vasili Tsarsko, an engineer by trade and one of the Russian passengers. "I might not know how to fight but for what it's worth I'm with you." Melissa stepped forward and declared. The red haired entertainment journalist was stepping far outside her comfort zone for this but she truly felt that she could make a real difference. "It's not another country but I have family on the other side of that river I need to get to." Yi Si-won, one of the Korean passengers stated. "Same here. I'll fight." a Korean woman chimed in. "I've got a boyfriend in Uijeongbu, sign me up." another declared her intent. All in all they managed to procure 23 fighters with several others that were considering the offer. "Alright then, think it over and let me or whoever we send back here know who's in and who's out. We're planning on starting the operation in about a month so that should be plenty of time. We'll have detailed plans for you at that time as well." Ryong-ho said in conclusion. "I'll relay the offer to Ji-hye and the others with our second group later in the week." Yulia volunteered. "I hope she doesn't let kids volunteer to get shot." Klauss grumbled. "From what she had been told those kids are mostly teenagers not defenseless little babies as Klauss would make it seem, they can make up their own minds if they wanted to." Yulia thought, keeping her comments to herself. She too wasn't thrilled about including them in combat brigades but she did believe in letting them make their own decisions, even about life and death. "Thank you ma'am." Ryong-ho replied and excused himself from the table.

As the group dispersed Williams got up and followed Ryong-ho to the door. "You're leaving already?" Williams asked. "I've done all I can here. There's no sense in wasting daylight with how much of a pain in the ass it is to get anywhere in this alien infested town." Ryong-ho told him. "Hold on then and let me get ready first." Williams said. He had kind of wanted to stay and relax a little more before going back through the gauntlet again. "No need Corporal. I must complete the remainder of my mission alone." Ryong-ho informed Williams. The danger would be greater than before and Ryong-ho could not protect him if he got into trouble. Alone he could trust himself but going along otherwise his best instincts told him was a fatal mistake. "I suppose I'll stay here for now." Williams said. He was in no hurry to get back out there, he had nearly froze up out of fear at least twice in Incheon and the fear left its mark upon him in such a way he did not want to and could not go back alone. "When you get done with your mission tell the leadership back in Seongnam of our arrangement and when they send someone back here I'll return with them." Williams proposed. "That sounds acceptable. If you have heard nothing back in twenty-one days however your orders to return to Seongnam still stand Corporal." agreed Ryong-ho, assigning that responsibility remain with Williams should any misfortune befall him during his mission into Incheon. Ryong-ho was well aware of Williams' nervous breakdowns however he also knew that hiding from his fears and his guilt was not an option; at this point facing them directly would have to be the best medicine. The new guard that had relieved Banin opened the door for Ryong-ho and allowed him to depart. Williams then returned alone to the table where a few of the passengers of Flight 1437 and their friends were still gathered around. There was now a tentative union between the 4th Korea and the Incheon remnants, developments would be slow between them but they were proceeding nonetheless. Major Yu's goal of joining the fractured, scared remnants of humanity in the area was starting to take shape.


	68. Chapter 68: Vassals and Lords - Part 1

Chapter LXVIII: Vassals and Lords - Part One

24 Oct 0929 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

While the world had burned around them with men and aliens dying in droves elsewhere there was a small obscure corner on the edge of Seoul in Gangdong District that seemed for the time being to be outside the hell that the rest of the world was in. Here Jake Fontaine, Hyuna, Min-jung and her son, Do-yeon had weathered out what could have been the worst days in human history. Their initial hopes that the aliens had packed up and left was soon dashed when Jake encountered skitters the next day on a supply run, so it was back to hunting and hiding for them. In essence, nothing had changed. For them the way things were had become mundane now, life had become domestic. For almost three weeks they had lived in the hotel room together. They were well stocked on just about everything they needed, except for water. Clean water would always be depleted the quickest partially due to its necessity for life and secondarily due to Min-jung's incessant need to continue bathing as if the civilized world had not come to an end. In fact Min-jung was the one making the best of the given situation. She did not let the end of the world be the end of her world; she kept going on as if nothing had happened. At least that's how it appeared on the surface. She had become like a mother to all of them and even though Fontaine annoyed her sometimes, well maybe often, she cared for him deeply. As such Do-yeon became like a little nephew to Hyuna and Jake who would keep his mind occupied, play with him and tell him stories and jokes.

Hyuna was the proverbial twin sister and best friend to Jake, and while she still yearned for something more the two of them had never been closer. Infatuation, it seemed had a way of lingering longer than it should. While Jake too would have passing feelings for her as well, to be honest he liked the way things the way they were. Things were simpler, they had that deep sense of companionship without it getting all complicated and weird by trying to go for something more. Whenever he was not out gathering supplies the two of them were inseparable. Whether they were in their room or up in one of the other rooms cooking using an empty tub as a barbeque pit, checking out the area from the rooftop, disposing of trash or what have you the two of them were always together. They had spent so much time together that they knew much of each other's life stories already. It turned out the two of them had much in common. They both had led fairly average unremarkable lives up to this point. They both had one older sibling who in their eyes was the favored of the family. They both grew up with a sense of pressure bearing down on them, Jake's was existential being from an underclass rural family and Hyuna's was more social being from an upper-middle class urban socialite family. Jake had thought if they had met and clicked up the way they did before the war it would have been the story of Aladdin played out in real life, minus the genie, although he could sure use a couple wishes right about now. For starters he would wish these awful aliens away. Both of them had strained relations with their families and were somewhat unconcerned over their current predicament, though Fontaine's lack of concern arose more through confidence that they would be fine as opposed to apathy. Both of them had shared the desire to get away from the places where they had grown up, go out, see the world and make something of themselves. They both enjoyed video games, many of the same movies, musicians and shows, comic books and drawing, albeit Hyuna was the vastly superior artist of the two. They both held similar value systems, neither of them were very political and both of them were protestant Christians though neither of them had regularly gone to church. They both shared the same sense of humor and often times could finish each other's sentences. They both had built up a sense of trust and could confide in each other. That being said they weren't exact clones of each other, obviously they were quite distinct physically as if that even needed to be said. They each had their own things about them that were uniquely theirs. Hyuna had been more of the social butterfly and had a wider array of friends prior to the downfall of civilization than Jake who maintained a small yet close knit circle of friends, all of whom were guys. Their fashion sense was different for both obvious and cultural reasons. In their current situation as well Jake was both the protector and the natural leader and Hyuna was the one that made their situation more amenable. She was the one that made sure they didn't eat rotten food, something that Jake would have done on numerous occasions if not for her. She would force him to allow her or Min-jung to clean his wounds when he wanted to look tough in front of them and so on and so forth. She would softly sing him to sleep when his nerves kept him up all night. She helped take his mind off the serious things that he felt powerless about. All their similarities and differences seemed to mesh perfectly together and because of that they were happy with their lives, even with all the damn aliens around.

It was a late morning for Jake as he got up off the piles of blankets they had taken from other rooms and tossed onto the ground to use as a second bed. "Looking a little scruffy there soldier." Hyuna giggled and chided Jake as he stretched and shook off the drowsiness of the night. "What do you expect? A dry shave would be too rough and you got this one over here using up all the water." Jake jokingly replied making a motion to Min-jung as he passed by her on the way to the restroom. He closed the door, did his business and came back out. "Besides the Army never lets me grow it out so might as well enjoy it while I can." Jake said with a smile, picking up the conversation from where he left off. "I was just messing with you." Hyuna laughed. "I know. I was just screwing with you too." Jake replied before flopping down on the bed next to Hyuna. "So how's the leg feeling?" he asked. "It's good. I think it's all better now." she answered. "Good deal; we've licked our first obstacle in the new world." Jake said. "Yeah, yeah, we are the champions." joked Hyuna. "We are the champions, we are the. ." Jake started to sing, mocking Hyuna's last comment. "Don't you start that again." Min-jung hushed the two of them. "Alright, alright then. Well my dear, I think it's still a good idea to take it easy a little while longer just in case the leg isn't totally ship shape." Jake advised Hyuna. "Suggestion noted boyo!" Hyuna replied giving Jake two thumbs up with the most ridiculous looking grin on her face. On the other side of the room Min-jung smiled and wagged her head side to side in embarrassment. The two of them would make jokes, act out corny scenes between them and mock each other for sport so often that it drove Min-jung insane. It truly was like having a couple of overgrown kids to take care of in addition to her son.

They had their quirks both collectively as a unit and individually, for example Hyuna would at times still instinctively pull out her phone and check for messages. It was such an ingrained part of her experience to be constantly texting back and forth with her friends or doing something with her phone that it was like a reflex. In much the same way someone could still feel an itch on a phantom limb she was tethered to her defunct smartphone, now nothing more than an expensive paperweight. She wanted to pop in on her friends' lives, see what they were up to and show off to them what she was doing in hers. She wanted to tell her friends, especially her two best friends; all about Jake and the adventures they had escaping the apocalypse. She felt the urge to tell them stuff she had seen or found out about the aliens as if they wouldn't already know it themselves. Even the petty stuff like movies, songs and fashion, what was new, what was still cool and what was out, all of that she wanted to put her two cents in. Each time it would take a few seconds looking at a blank black screen before it set in that that part of her life was gone and not coming back. Reaching out to her world now got her no further than the confines of a hotel building, which at least was an improvement from before when she could barely leave the bed. She at times when her dead phone would slam reality straight in her face wondered about her friends, what they were doing now, how they had handled themselves since the attack and so on. Then it would invariably occur to her that they most likely were dead or trapped scared in some desolate place and she would have to discontinue that line of thought at once. It didn't do much good for her to trouble herself over things she had no knowledge or control over. She was coping by keeping her world small; by forgetting the larger world and living in what was plainly in front of her alone she was able to stay happy.

She turned to Jake as he was going about his morning routine. "I miss people." Hyuna remarked. Jake spit out the toothpaste in his mouth, leaned out of the bathroom and looked over at her briefly as a sign to let her know she was listening, then went back to wiping down his face and combing his hair which now had just barely grown to the point where it needed to be combed down. "Not anyone in particular and not all the stupid shit people did but just the sight and sound of people going about their lives. It let you the world was alive, that you were part of something greater than yourself. I know that sounds cheesy but seriously I miss it, I miss the mundane. Remember that first night, how there were so many people out that you couldn't move because they were packed so close? Now these streets are empty. There's no one, not a living soul to be found anywhere. It's like we're the only ones left, destined to live out the rest of our lives alone." Hyuna went on to say. "We're not alone. I know there's others out there, somewhere and even if they're all dead we've got each other and that will never change." Fontaine told her as he came out of the bathroom. "I hope not. I couldn't go on in this world without you." Hyuna said. "..and Do-yeon and Min-jung too." she added after a minute or two of silence. "Me too. I'd go crazy without all of you around, like Howard Hughes crazy with the long ass toenails, obsessive paranoia and stuff." Fontaine replied. Hyuna laughed a little. "Looks like you're already getting there." Min-jung playfully remarked bringing attention to Fontaine's lapses in hygiene. "There's some truth to that but you guys are slowing the process." Fontaine replied.

He walked over and sat down on the end of the bed on the opposite side across from Hyuna. "It's only been a few weeks but it feels like forever. So much has changed yet everything feels, normal. Strange huh?" Jake asked. "Yeah, like too normal." Hyuna commented. "You know all the stuff we cared so much about before, all that shit seems so trivial now." Jake said. ". .and yet for some reason it still matters." Hyuna said. She scooted closer to Jake who pretended not to notice and looked over at Min-jung cleaning up Do-yeon's toys. "One thing that hasn't changed is Do-yeon still hasn't learned to pick up after himself." Min-jung commented. "I would've gotten around to it mom. I wasn't done with those yet." Do-yeon said in his defense. "You haven't touched them in two hours, you're done." Min-jung scolded him. "I sure hope the rest of the world gets back to normal soon." Min-jung said after standing up, looking out the window while placing her hands on her hips and letting out a sigh. "We can hope." Jake replied. Hyuna scooted up next to him and both of them looked out the window over the tattered skyline that Min-jung was lamenting over. "I'd hate to say it but it's really starting to feel like this is going to be a permanent thing." Hyuna commented. Jake glanced over at her then awkwardly turned back and stared out the window. "Even so we can't afford to dispense with the luxury of hope. More fantastic things have happened than aliens up and deciding to leave a planet they've conquered." Jake encouraged her. "Like what?" Hyuna asked. The fact that aliens came to earth in the first place was one of the more fantastic things she could think of to begin with. "Well, umm, like things in comic books have happened that are more fantastic, and movies." Jake answered after he couldn't think of any real world examples off the top of his head. Hyuna started to lean onto him and reach her arm around Jake's waist when he stood up and walked over to the closet door. She nearly fell over when he got up but she caught herself before she leaned off the bed.

"I should probably go ahead make the weekly supply run while we have the opportunity." Jake said as he retrieved his boots and a fresh pair of socks. This happened more than she would like to admit, when she was starting to get close to him it always ended up being time for him to go. She didn't know what she did to make him feel uncomfortable. She knew he liked her in return just why he was so afraid to express it to her. Why must her feelings remain unrequited, geez dude hurry up and grow a pair, she thought to herself. Jake put on his boots and laced them tight then went over and looked through the closet and all the drawers to see what they needed. For the most part they were fairly well stocked for the rest of the month and well into the next. He figured to probably pick out a couple trivial items for each of them, beauty supplies for Min-jung, comic books or games for Do-yeon and Hyuna and so forth. Maybe a wider variety of foodstuffs to give them a more interesting diet. "If you're going out today, we need more water." Min-jung told Jake before she went into the bathroom with some of their dirty clothes to wash. She looked down at the water in the tub and saw it was considerably discolored. "Forget I said that, we need more water." she shouted back before she set down the laundry and drained the tub. Even without power gravity still did the job, Min-jung thought as the foul water swirled down the drain. "I'll wash your uniform when you get back too." Min-jung said to Jake when she walked back out into the main room. "It's fine, I can get a few more days wear out of it." Jake commented. "No, you need it washed. You might not be able to smell it but I can." Min-jung rebuffed him. "Guess I'll wear one of these T-shirts and these goofy shorts tonight." Jake said reflecting on the limited assortment of clothing he had gathered for himself. Most of the clothing they had was for Min-jung and Hyuna which was pretty much interchangeable for the most part. Do-yeon had a few changes for himself; as a little boy he cared even less for hygiene and cleanliness than Fontaine the utilitarian slacker. Jake had a couple plain white T-shirts, some rain pants and a bright blue reflective pair of sparkly gym shorts. Min-jung had told him before to grab something for himself but he never ran into anything that seemed comfortable enough on his trips. Everything was either too small, too tight or too ridiculous for his taste. Being neither "emo" nor gay he wasn't too fond of tight fitting flashy clothing, granted the gym shorts he chose didn't do much to advance his hetero street cred. "I should've brought back those MC Hammer parachute pants I saw." Fontaine jokingly complained. "You should let me pick out your clothes. Seriously, if the Army's not dressing you you're totally lost." Hyuna playfully chided him. "Maybe you should." Jake laughed and winked back at her. Now he flirts back, she thought, he only goes so far and then if she tried to go further he pulls back. It was kind of ironic to her in a way, now she understood how all the boys, and the occasional girl when she was feeling particularly mischievous, she had teased back in school must have felt. "I'll see if I can find something." Jake agreed only halfheartedly intending to search through the apparel sections of various stores on the return trip after he had loaded up on water.

Jake took a shotgun and a couple grenades with him in case he ran into any trouble. "The password for the day is "Charmanders Weenie Roast" ok?" Jake told the others before he left. He walked out, closed the door then made his way downstairs and exited the hotel. He passed by the pickup truck, looked at it, thought about taking it for a minute but decided against it. Even though he had a heavy haul to bring back with him he felt it best to proceed on foot. Running vehicles attracted aliens so he didn't like taking one if he didn't have to. Besides it was best the vehicles were there and ready in case the others needed them for an emergency. There were alternatives to a car that he could use to lighten the load. He headed further into the city, went down and around a curve turned a few times and continued several blocks until he came to a grocery store. The store had been completely laid bare during the evacuation but the shopping carts remained. He would need one since he had to bring back more than he could carry to make the trip worth his while. He pulled a cart out from a cluster of carts left in disarray out in the parking lot and rolled it away. He pushed the cart with his left hand and braced his shotgun against it with his right hand, pointing the weapon straight ahead at cart level. He then continued on his way. Typically the best places to forage for clean water were the small shops, drugstores and some restaurant chains as well as places off of the major evacuation routes leading out of Seoul. If he went far enough south less than obviously marked distribution centers were still well stocked. He could also bring back a smaller haul by searching offices, hospitals, government buildings and the like. This time he had a rough idea of where he was going. It was a mini mart roughly one and a half kilometers away. The store had been cleaned out but there was a delivery truck outside fully stocked with bottled water and tea.

As he walked along he couldn't help but notice how silent the city was now. After the evacuation and a few days of intense fighting had passed the areas he frequented now had become totally deserted. It was uncommon now to hear the sounds of gunfire or the clattering of alien mechs and when he had heard them they were often from a distance further away. Today was another day of desolate silence, a picture of how a world without people would look; their dwellings and all the edifices to their way of life left behind. With little more than a soft breeze and the sounds of the grocery cart's wheels to alleviate the silence Jake could easily pick up on any unexpected sounds from quite a ways away. So when he heard a branch snap and some paper garbage crinkle from some unseen location down one of the cross streets or alleys to his left he knew to be on his toes. He slowed down and readied his weapon only keeping light contact with the grocery cart to move it along. He approached the next row of buildings with the eyes of a hawk about him.

A skitter jumped out from a building in front of Jake snapping off the wooden double doors. Fortunately for him this ambush was a bit premature which enabled him to let go of the shopping cart and back up out of the way, raising his weapon to fire as he backpedaled to increase the distance between him and his foe. The skitter landed on the street in front of him and crouched down as if it was about to leap towards him. Before his mind could register what was going on Jake blasted the skitter and knocked it backwards down the street then fired into it a second time causing it to crumple over as its legs buckled out from under it. Jake whirled around and surveyed the area making sure there were no more aliens coming for him. Once he was sure he was in the clear he then walked up to it and put a final shell in the creature's head. Jake reached into his pocket, took out a few shotgun shells and reloaded his weapon before retrieving the cart and continuing on towards his destination.

As he drew closer to where he remembered seeing the delivery truck many of the cars and buildings on this street had the hanja that roughly translated to "Emperor" or "King" spray-painted on them in either green or black. Some of these hanja also had squares, triangles and circles painted around them. Boxes of goods stacked neatly on the sidewalk too had this symbol on them. This was a new development since the last time he was here. Another group of survivors marking their territory perhaps, he wondered, or just a bunch of kids being stupid and tagging things. Whatever the reason it didn't concern him, none of the items he saw stacked or bundled together he needed. He had come for one thing only and that was clean water.

So Jake pressed on and arrived at the gas station and found the truck still there as he had left it. The driver's side door of the truck had the same markings as several of the buildings, cars and items he had seen along the way here. Disregarding this he rolled open the door to the trailer the truck was pulling and started to offload the 3 liter water bottles into the shopping cart. There were no markings on the bottles themselves; at least these prolific vandals had the sense to leave them alone. Once he finished loading up the cart he rolled down the trailer door to hide his cache in hopes it would be there in the future and pulled away the now heavy shopping cart full of water bottles. He tugged it back onto the street and started heading back. After making it up a small hill and around a number of disabled vehicles Jake stopped to catch a breather. He wondered if he was now too heavy laden to make the journey back to his hideaway. Reluctantly he removed one of the water bottles and set it down neck to a stack of snack cake boxes that were marked with the green hanja for "Emperor." He then walked back to his cart which he deemed would be light enough now to make for better time going back. Before he could begin to push off he froze in place. In the near silence beneath the quiet breeze Jake heard a gun cock. "Stop right there!" a voice shouted from behind him.


	69. Chapter 69: Vassals and Lords - Part 2

Chapter LXIX: Vassals and Lords - Part Two

24 Oct 1137 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

"Stay still. Don't think about making any sudden moves!" instructed the male voice coming from a hidden position behind Jake. Jake froze and waited for his adversary to make the next move. He hoped it was just another frightened soul left behind during the evacuation guarding his territory and given a chance he could talk this man down and be on his way. "Set your gun in the cart and push it away from you." the man demanded. "Slowly!" the man shouted as Jake began to set his weapon down. He pushed the cart away as he was instructed to. "Now back away!" the man ordered him. Thieves, Jake presumed as he stepped back, this was just some brigand looking to rob him. So he would be down one shotgun if he played his cards right. His assailant seemed to be unaware of the grenades in his jacket so he still had some means of self-defense if it came down to it. Far be it for him to blow himself up but they could be used to create a diversion. Still in spite of all the situations he quickly planned out his actions for he retained faith that the best in people still prevailed. "I don't want to cause trouble, just take what you want and leave." Jake told the unidentified assailant. "Get down on the ground and put your hands on top of your head!" the man ordered Jake. He knelt down and did as he was told. It was as if he could sense the man's eyes homing in on the back of his head as his assailant took aim and started to pull the trigger.

"Put the gun down asshole!" A female voice shouted at the man behind Jake. "He's not one of them. He's an American, look at him." the female voice continued as the man removed his finger from the trigger. "You on the ground! Stand up slowly and turn around while keeping your hands on top of your head." the female voice instructed Jake in perfect English. Jake slowly rose to his feet and turned around. A woman, professionally dressed in a dark navy blue blouse with a white collar and a modest black and white vertically striped skirt and flat bottomed polished black dress shoes, was pointing a handgun at him. She had fine, straight dark brown hair that went down 3 or 4 inches past her shoulders and piercing greenish-grey eyes set in an elongated slender face focused straight upon Jake. "Explain yourself, what are you doing here?" the woman forcefully asked him. "I mean you no harm. I was just passing through and. . ." Jake told her. "Did you not see the markings? That water has already been taxed away." the man who had stopped Jake interrupted. "I saw them on the truck but not on the bottles." replied Jake. "Relax he probably can't even read Hangul, probably thought the marks were just graffiti left by some dumb kids." the woman said to the man. For once that presumption turned out to benefit Jake. Knowing this he could pretend to play dumb and perhaps weasel his way out of a bad situation. "That's exactly what I thought. I was thirsty and needed clean water to get me out of town. With all these aliens moving in I thought I would stand a better chance in the countryside." Jake told the woman. "It's probably worse out there; we've heard some bad things concerning the people who left the city. They say everyone that got away from Seoul was snatched up by the aliens unto a horrible fate." the woman replied. "Ignorance aside boy, I can't allow you to take any of our water. Times are tough enough as it is." she told Jake. "In that case I'll just be on my way then." Jake replied. When he started to move the man quickly trained his rifle back upon Jake after firing a warning shot in front of him. "You're not going anywhere!" the man shouted. "We can't let him leave; he knows where we are and could lead others back with him. I say we shoot him on the spot as a warning to any others that would think to steal from us; those people need to pay their own taxes and not cut into ours." the man advised the woman. "I honestly don't think he's with another group. Doesn't seem like the type that would make the cut." the woman told the man. "My apologies for my associate here, we thought you were one of those shithead scavengers coming to raid our tax base. There's one group that's been trying to knock us off and move in on our turf for a few days now. Some people just have no respect for the rules." the woman said to Jake. "Taxes, some new set of rules, whatever, to be honest I have no idea what you two are talking about." Jake said. "Stop playing dumb, I know it's an act." the man snapped at him. "My associate is right though, we can't let you leave. As clumsy as you may be anyone that could have survived this long in Seoul after the fall has to be one to be reckoned with." the woman told Jake. "Take him back to camp. We'll see what the others have to say." the woman said. The man came out from hiding and slung his rifle over his back while the woman kept her weapon fixed on Jake while the man bound his hands behind him using bungee cords lying around near the truck. He then took out his weapon and poked it into the small of Jake's back. "Move it." he ordered Jake and the three of them set out from there.

The two fighters took Fontaine a short distance away from the store where he was ambushed to a series of devastated apartment buildings arranged radially in a half circle. The radiant white paneling of these builds was left tarnished in shades of rusty brown spattered with dark black soot, a scar left from the flames and ash that swept across the area following the initial bombardment. Most of these buildings were utterly demolished leaving little more than fragments of a frame and piles of debris while some partially erect buildings still stood spaced out amidst the rubble. Two of the buildings set side by side slightly to the south of the easternmost building were left almost wholly intact save only for shattered windows. Jake could see a fire burning in an opened upstairs window in one of the buildings and it was that building to which he was being taken.

He was led around and up to the outside balcony of the floor containing the room which this group of fighters were encamped within. The man held Jake in place while the woman walked ahead of them and knocked on one of the doors. A child pushed aside the drapes and looked through the window next to the door then ran back and let the drapes fall back to the way they were. The door then opened and two men with semi-automatic rifles were waiting in the doorway. "Who is it?" called a voice from within. "Sun-mi and Min-ho. Looks like they've brought back a prisoner too." one of the men reported back. They then stood aside to let the Sun-mi in and proceeded to take custody of Jake when Min-ho pushed him into the doorway. The apartment was more spacious than it looked from the outside. The doorway led them into the main living room where several people were seated on a plush couch and chair set and on the floor. A rectangular cedar coffee table was set in front of the couch upon which were several opened cans and bags of food, a couple spoons, a few candles kept in glass jars and a hunting knife. Beyond the living room was an open rectangular arch leading into the dining room and kitchen where the fire that he saw burning in the window was contained in a barbeque grill. Several candles were also lit on the dining room table and kitchen countertop. Two women and a man were seated at the dining room table, one looking out the window, one looking at the fire and the other watching what was going on in the living room. On the side wall of the dining room was a short shadowy hallway with a door at the end leading into the second bedroom and a door on the right leading into the master bedroom. "We took him prisoner at the mini mart on the northeast edge of our parcel. He was rummaging through our water stores, including those we intended for next week's taxes." Sun-mi explained. "Are Seo-hyun or Seung-won here?" Sun-mi stopped to ask one of the men after the door was shut and Jake was being taken past her by the other man into the dining room. "They are in one of the other buildings taking inventory of our stores and making sure the sentinels are staying on alert, they should be back shortly." one of the men answered. "Thanks. We'll stay here until they return then finish our rounds." Sun-mi said. "I understand." the man replied. Min-ho snatched up a half-eaten bag of chips from the table and flopped down in one of the chairs. Jake was taken into the dining room and sat against the wall opposite the window after being bound more securely with strands of worn rope.

Jake watched from his corner as his captors waited for their leaders to return. He surveyed the dining room and what he could see of the living room and hallway, taking note of the people and things of interest to him. One of those gathered around the fire in the dining room had also taken an interest in him. She was a well-proportioned woman, not too thin but not obese, rather looking fit, firm and filled out in her figure. She was in her mid to late 30s but had a youthful appearance to her that made it seem as if she was still in her mid-20s. She was the same height as Jake and like Sun-mi she was also dressed in upscale business attire. She had layered black shoulder length hair with short even cut bangs in front and wore a pressed red coat over a white blouse along with a red skirt all of which were sullied by the conditions they had been living under. He noticed her curiously looking back at him as he routinely checked the area, wondering what he had gotten himself into. They hadn't taken in a new member since they were incorporated into the Emperor's tax structure and certainly had never brought a prisoner back. So much had changed since the world fell that even in such a short time seeing a new face around had become an oddity. After several minutes of Jake noticing her glances the woman got up, took a wooden chair from the dining room table and sat down in it a few feet across from Jake. "So there are still Americans left alive? I heard that your base is now a crater flooded when the Han broke its banks." the woman said to him. "As far as I know I am the last one." Jake replied. He might as well make conversation with his captors, he had nothing really to hide and he might just succeed in making inroads to the point where one of them could be persuaded to let him go. "I'm sorry to hear that, it must be difficult for you." the woman attempted to console him. "No more difficult than any of this alien bullshit going on." Jake replied. "They say you were trying to steal from us, is that true?" she asked. "I honestly didn't know that water belonged to anyone. I was just thirsty and it was there." Jake replied. It was for the most part the truth; there was no need for him to divulge the existence of his friends back at the hotel for fear of reprisal or aggressive action by these people. His story would be that of a lone traveler seeking to abandon the city, the same as he had told when he was caught and he was sticking to it. The woman appeared not to believe his response even though it was genuine. "What is this tax stuff that the people who took me were talking about?" Jake asked her in return. "The Emperor demands that everyone in Seoul pay a tax to support the war effort." the woman answered. "Emperor? Stupid question, who the heck is this Emperor? Last I knew this was a republic." inquired Fontaine. "Where have you been living these past couple weeks, under a rock?" another woman, dressed in riot gear derisively inquired. "You could say that." Fontaine replied. The other woman shook her head in disbelief and turned away from Fontaine. "The Emperor, well, he's some guy that claims to be organizing a resistance against the spiders. I wouldn't know for sure though what his intentions are since I've never met the guy." the first woman answered him. "Oh, ok. Emperor hmmm; still seems like a vainglorious title for a resistance fighter to take. If I was him I'd prefer Captain, or Commander, or General even but touting myself as some kind of King or Emperor just is a bit too much." Jake commented.

Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of Seo-hyun and Seung-won. "Don't talk to him Ji-eun; he might not be with us for long." Min-ho warned her as he made way for Sun-mi and their leaders on their way to the master bedroom. Ji-eun took her chair and backed away allowing them to pass between her and Jake. The four of them walked between them and entered into the master bedroom and closed the door. "I don't know why he calls himself that he just does. With what's left of humanity he commands enough respect to have earned the title I guess." Ji-eun told Fontaine once the leadership and the scouts had gone into the room. "You're not supposed to talk to him." the woman in riot gear admonished Ji-eun. "Quiet Min-ji, I haven't had anyone to talk to in a while. So what if they throw him to the wolves after they're done." Ji-eun argued. "Ugh, I'm not having this debate with you. You better not get attached girl, you know they might have to put him down." warned Min-ji. "I'm a professional, I can handle this." Ji-eun replied. Just then the front door opened and two scavengers, one man and one older teenage girl came in. "Ji-eun! Come downstairs and help us put the gasoline in the west building." the man called out to her. "On my way." Ji-eun answered back then got up and went to assist her comrades.

Jake spent the next half hour in near silence. Those in the dining room kept a close watch on him. In the living room one man and the little boy stood guard near the door and the rest of the people in there were relaxing or napping quietly. From behind closed doors Jake's captors were discussing what to do with him. He could hear them debating his fate from down the hall. The door wasn't particularly thick and they didn't bother with keeping their voices down. They sure weren't making much of an effort to conceal their intentions Jake noted, an action that revealed they had little fear of Jake or whatever group he might represent.

"I'm glad you didn't let her release him. No telling what could have happened if he got away." Seung-won congratulated Min-ho. Min-ho was also his son but in this instance it wasn't an example of familial favoritism but of sound judgement. "Sun-mi, you have been getting soft lately." Seung-won warned Sun-mi. "I wasn't going to let him go, I only thought we could do better than shooting people in the street once they have surrendered." Sun-mi said in her defense. "Those in the new human empire wouldn't think twice about it, nor would the aliens that are the real enemy out there." Seung-won professed. "So the question remains, now that he is here, what do you suppose we do with him?" Seung-won posed the question. "Why not just kill him and be done with it?" cynically remarked Min-ho only being half serious. "That would be a waste, now that we have him why not get something out of it? I say we hold him here for now. A trained soldier in trade would cover an entire week in taxes, maybe even a month." Seo-hyun suggested. "Yes. These taxes have become so unreasonable that we need a bargaining token that is not going to be taken out of our own flesh." Sun-mi concurred expressing frustration, being part of the main foraging team and the difficulty they were having to meet both the Emperor's demands and keeping enough to take care of themselves. "We have to conceal the fact he is former Army though or they won't take him, say he is a tourist or something." mentioned Seung-won. "Or a deserter? They only reject the soldiers because of their loyalty, if he already forsook that loyalty before the Empire was established then maybe a deal could still be struck." suggested Sun-mi. "That might work. We shouldn't give him up right away though, wait until we fall short on the quota and then we have an insurance policy." added Seo-hyun. "Sure would take a lot of pressure off us for foraging." remarked Sun-mi. "I concur. We will hold the prisoner until needed. Until then let's put him to good use." said Seung-won. "Put him to use doing what? He's a flight risk so we can't take him out with us." Min-ho asked. "Spider fodder. We'll keep him here for a few days to help with the defenses in the event of an alien attack. We wouldn't give him a weapon unless we are attacked and need his assistance. In the meantime that will free up more of our people to procure supplies." proposed Seung-won. "Seems sound enough for me." Seo-hyun concurred. "All in favor?" she asked for a show of hands and got a unanimous response.

After the four of them emerged from the master bedroom Min-ho came over and got Jake to stand up where he cut his bonds. "You're free to move about the apartment, but if you try anything funny or make a move for the door I'll kill you myself." he warned Jake. For the mean time he decided he would sit back down; there really wasn't much for him to do in here and the people around didn't seem like much fun to begin with. After about an hour Min-ji turned to him wondering why he was still there looking at them. "You don't have to stay there on the floor you know. Get out of here, walk around or something. You're weirding me out down there." she said in an annoyed tone. Jake got up and looked around then went into the living room. The guard by the door eyed him nervously and everyone else in there was sleeping so he decided against going in there and turned back around. "So you really don't know anything about the way things work around here now? I find that hard to believe." the man sitting across from Min-ji asked Jake. He was a middle aged man, clean shaven with slicked back hair wearing a mustard yellow sport coat over a hot pink vest and tie over a black undershirt with dull yellow slacks to match. Jake could spot a K5 service pistol in the inner pocket of his sport coat and a bulge in his pants pocket indicating he had a second magazine for his weapon. "I came from an area of the city where this Emperor guy didn't have control. It was across the river so it took a while to evade the aliens and find a safe way across. I couldn't find a safe place for more than a few days so I had to keep moving. By the time I crossed the river I had resolved to get out of Seoul and hope for the best in the woods. I grew up out in the sticks so I could handle myself better there than in a city under occupation." Jake quickly fabricated a story and told it in a believable enough fashion to deceive the man. "I see. So it is possible to cross the river. Everyone I knew that made a go at it was cut down by those robots or dragged under by these tentacled things." the man said. "It wasn't easy. Wouldn't have made it if an errant bomb hadn't knocked a tower over in just the right way for me to sneak across. The mecha blew it up right as I made it to the other side, had to fight off a few spiders but in the end they assumed they got me and stopped coming." Jake explained. ". . .and we happened to achieve what the spiders failed to do." the man added. "Well I made the mistake of assuming the best in people." Jake confessed. "It's not always a mistake; there are good people out here. It's only hard to tell apart the good from the bad, that's the problem." the man told him. "So which kind do you presume I am, good or bad?" Jake asked him. "I can't say." the man replied.

At this time Ji-eun came back in after finishing helping the second patrol team move fuel into another building. "What is he doing walking around?" Ji-eun asked when she came back into the dining room and was astonished to see Jake standing around the table with his hands freed. "News flash, they're letting him walk around the room now. It's a test to see if they can trust him." Min-ji sarcastically answered her. "It's not much of a test now that he knows." Ji-eun replied. "Pssht, how do I know it's a test they just came and cut his ropes. No idea what they want to do with this douche." Min-ji retorted. Ji-eun then turned to the man across from Min-ji, then to Jake. "I see you've met Mr. Chu." Ji-eun commented. "Chu Dae-hyun." the man stood up and introduced himself with a handshake once Ji-eun had prompted the gesture. "Specialist Jake Fontaine, US Army." Jake introduced himself and returned the handshake. "So if you don't mind me asking, were you like a used car salesman before the invasion?" Jake asked Dae-hyun. "Actually I was an executive at Hyundai motors." replied Mr. Chu. "Wow, I just figured you know, with the tacky suit and all that you, umm, you know, were into something a little more sleazy, like a salesman, or a porn director." Jake awkwardly confessed his bias. Min-ji burst out laughing. "Porn director, really kid?" she chuckled. "I dunno, that's just what came to mind." Jake confessed. "They thought it looked snappy at the office." Dae-hyun said. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're cool Chu. I was just laughing at the boy." Min-ji told him.

"So this Emperor guy, do you all fight with him against the aliens or just hang out around here?" asked Jake changing the subject after his embarrassing remark. "We're not good enough to fight in his army. He just keeps us around as border guards and scavengers." said Min-ji. "So how does all that work?" Jake inquired further. As he was speaking, Min-ho came walking in with a can of corned beef, opened it and plopped it onto a metal skillet. "Every two or three days his thugs come around here demanding tribute in the form of supplies. If what we give them isn't enough or it's not to their liking then they take one of us with them as payment." Min-ho explained how paying taxes worked under the Emperor's system. "What happens to the ones who get taken?" asked Fontaine. "I don't know. No one knows what happens to the people they take. Maybe they kill them; maybe they go off to fight in the Emperor's war." Min-ji confessed. "I think they don't want us to know because it keeps us scared of them." Ji-eun mentioned. "Rule through intimidation, it's like we're back in medieval times." Jake commented. "Only fitting seeing as we have Emperors, Dukes and Barons again." chuckled Min-ho as he cooked the meat over the open flame.

"Now these taxes that they come to collect, how the hell do you know how much they are going to demand? We can't just say like 8% anymore, the value of things is kind of arbitrary in a barter economy." Jake asked. "We guess and hope they don't cut our heads off." Min-ho answered. "You better guess right this time little brother 'cause I like my pretty little head." joked Min-ji" Actually they give us requisition lists each time they come and pick up their due. Mind you these aren't exact guidelines; sometimes they want more and sometimes we can't find everything they want so we have to negotiate a substitution which doesn't always work out, so yeah like he said, we guess." commented Sun-mi as she walked in looking for Min-ho. "That sucks. Lousy system to be living under." Jake replied. "Tell me about it, and I thought the old government took too much. The good thing is though that the so-called Imperials have shifted their focus further west so we won't be getting visits from the tax collector as frequently now." Dae-hyun said.

"If these guys are so awful then why don't you just stand up to them and go out on your own? You have guns, you have food, you have enough people to fend off these little alien patrols, why do you need them?" asked Jake. "Because they need us. If we bail they would follow us and ultimately kill us." Dae-hyun answered. "Strength in numbers maybe, some people still think this is a war they can win and are willing to follow anyone that promises to give that hope to them." Min-ho gave his own reply. "So you won't even try?" Jake asked, wondering why these people and apparently so many others had turned themselves over to someone who sounded like a megalomaniacal despot. "For most people it's not worth the effort, if we fight amongst each other we'll just die a silent martyr. Humans would rather be oppressed by humans than by spacemen. In the end the guy with all the guns is the one who gets to make the rules. It's no different than before the only thing that has changed is the government gun has become for obvious now." Dae-hyun explained "That's a bit of an exaggeration there. I don't think it was never this bad before." Jake remarked. "That's only because it was more comfortable before. If you really think about it on a philosophical level it wasn't much different. Those with the power didn't have to threaten your life because they could get what they wanted by threatening your comfort. There were still taxes, frivolous laws and all manner of government mandates and just as we do now people went along with them no matter how stupid or unjust they were because it was the easiest way to go." Dae-hyun elucidated. "The powers of the world before taxed away what was ours beyond anything that could have been considered just and did with them what they wished. How many times would the government waste its revenue on something stupid, counterproductive or even downright nefarious? Still even then you couldn't do much to stop it. If you didn't pay your taxes in the world before then those in power would just take them from you. If you had nothing to give, or you resisted or eluded their efforts to take then they would start revoking privileges, removing the comforts and frills from your life in order to twist your arm. If that failed they would send armed agents to force you to hand over your property. If that failed you could be imprisoned and if you resisted your imprisonment then you could be killed. It is no different than today only there aren't as many steps to be taken between resistance and death." Dae-hyun further expounded on his position. "You just didn't like paying taxes back then because you were making the big bucks and didn't want to give any of that up." Min-ho gave a simplistic rebuttal to Dae-hyun's speech. "There were still things I didn't like the government doing with my taxes either and I wasn't some fat cat like Mr. Chu was either. Still I would take the life of comfort we had over this kill or be killed shit we have now anytime." Ji-eun commented. "The same. Even a life as a comfortable slave would be better than this." Dae-hyun concurred. "I wouldn't go that far. Peace and comfort are nice but I wouldn't go into slavery for it. Now if you're calling the old world slavery in hyperbole I'm all down for those chains." Jake said.

Min-ho finished cooking the corned beef and went into the kitchen where he got a set of dirty plates out of one of the kitchen cabinets. "You want any?" he asked Jake. "Depends, what am I going to owe you for it?" Jake asked. "Nothing, we've got to keep you alive don't we?" Min-ho replied. "Ok then. I just figured with all of us talking about this new economy here that you were going to charge me for it." Jake jokingly told him. "Nope, it doesn't work that way within a clan, and you're part of our clan now, like the family pet." Min-ho said as he scraped a little meat off onto a plate for Jake and divided the rest among the others and himself. He reached into a drawer and plucked out a few cherry tomatoes from a bag that were still good and added them to each of their plates before handing them out. "So are most of you related?" Jake asked. "Some of us are; me and Min-ji are brother and sister." Min-ho answered. "Ah, you two did kind of give off that vibe to me." Jake mentioned. "Seung-won, the group leader is our father, and our uncle Seung-hwa is out on guard duty over there with his boy Seung-gi. Seo-hyun is a family friend and there are a couple members of the Soo family here too. Ji-eun, Dae-hyun and the rest are just here, as far as I know they aren't connected to anyone else." Min-ho explained. Min-ho handed each of them their dinner and brought a plate out for those in the living room. The can and the tomatoes formed very small portions when divided among so many people. Ji-eun meanwhile took out a jug of water from under the sink and partially filled a small glass for each person to have with dinner. "Luckily whoever lived her had a lot of dishes." she commented as she handed out their beverages.

After dinner Jake and the staff of this "Imperial" outpost, he still thought the exalted title was beyond stupid, talked over various things and got to know each other better. Some of them had started to warm up to him, well except Min-ji, she was as cold to Jake as ever. She really didn't trust him and expected him to be dead within the week. It was nothing personal, or maybe it was, she didn't know and didn't care.

That night Jake was taken into the second bedroom by Seung-won and Min-ho. "This will be your living quarters for now. There's an empty can of coffee grounds and a close to empty bottle of grape juice next to the bed in case you have need for them tonight. We'll be back for you in the morning." Seung-won instructed Jake. He was brought over to a bed consisting of a thin mattress which rested on top of a bedframe comprised of cylindrical brass tubes against the far wall from the door. Min-ho tossed a pillow onto the floor next to the bed and Seung-won took out a pair of handcuffs and handcuffed Jake's right arm to the bedpost between two of the horizontal running bars. As he was being secured to the bed he looked over the room he was in. A cluster of candles in a large cooking pot illuminated the otherwise dark room with only one small rectangular barred window to the outside. He wasn't alone here; Sun-mi was assigned to the bed above and beside him. Across the room an empty cot was hung between the two walls in the corner with a box and several pillows and blankets beneath it.

Sitting on the floor next to the cot was a man with nasty scars running diagonally across both his legs and a festering slash would across his abdomen. A teenage girl was kneeling down beside him and cleaning his wound with a rag soaked in rubbing alcohol. The skin on the young woman's right cheek from just below her eye all the way down and around to her chin and even stretching to the side of her neck was peeled away to the underlying muscle tissue in many places, the remaining skin was blistered, deformed and scarred. The man looked sickly and stared off blankly at the wall, not even noticing Jake or the others come in. "Was it the Emperor's men that did that to your guy over there?" inquired Jake after Seung-won secured his handcuffs. "No that was the spiders." Seung-won told him. "They say that those who swear fealty to the Emperor are granted protection from the aliens, that's why most people go along with them. Some good it did us." Seung-won lamented. Even the most expensive protection still couldn't hold back the truth that Earth was occupied territory and nowhere could be made completely safe. "I guess the guy can't be everywhere at once I guess; these aliens can though." Fontaine said trying to give this unknown figurehead the benefit of the doubt. "I think it's more that he doesn't give a shit about us. If he's the Emperor then we're just serfs that exist only to provide him with the men and materiel to fund his operations. The only time we ever see his soldiers are when they come to collect." Sun-mi said from on top of the bed as Seung-won and Min-ho left the room. "That girl over there with him, it wasn't the spiders that did that to her. She's that way because of the Emperor's men." Sun-mi told Jake. "What happened?" asked Jake. "She refused one of their advances so they tossed battery acid in her face. Luckily she survived and it didn't get in her eyes so she retained her sight. Sadly she will be disfigured for the rest of her life. It's truly a pity in a culture that prizes physical beauty so greatly." lamented Sun-mi. "They didn't have a right, even by their own rules, we met quota that time. It was one of the local collector's goons; he was feeling randy and wanted to take her. That stupid cunt, the Baroness wouldn't step in and keep her men in line so it fell on me to stop it. I just couldn't allow it; I know how those girls are treated. She was screaming and trying to get away." Sun-mi explained, her voice cracking with emotion as she spoke. "She is close to you isn't she?" asked Jake. "She is my sister." replied Sun-mi. "They punished her because of me, sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing. Should I have let them?" Sun-mi asked. "I don't think so, you were doing what was right, all of the wrong action here was on them." Jake assured her. "I hope you're right. It still doesn't change anything though." Sun-mi replied sadly. "She stands to lose more than any of us if we fail to meet our quotas. Some of us could still survive as whores or slave soldiers in their army. Because of her disfigurement none of the Emperor's men will take her. Women who can't fight and aren't found suitably attractive by the Imperial fighters are left only to be incorporated into the tax system and if they fail there the punishment is either banishment or death, which are basically the same thing these days." Sun-mi told him. "You'll make your quota. From what I hear I'm going to be staying with you guys a while for a while so I'll do what I can to help you with that." Jake told her. Sun-mi shouldn't have believed him but this time she wanted to; perhaps it was because she had gotten emotional thinking about her sister or perhaps the others were right and she had gotten too soft for this world. Jake on the other hand had sincere compassion for these people and he truly wanted to help them but the calling of his heart demanded that he had to find a way to return to his own group. These people weren't willing to do what was needed to help themselves by breaking away from this Emperor guy, who in truth was nothing more than a bully leading a gang of outlaws. If they wouldn't fend for themselves and surrendered themselves to this fate voluntarily there was only so much he could do for them. He could help them out for a few days until he earned their trust enough to be in a position where he had the opportunity to escape and then he would make a run for it. He thought back to Hyuna as those around him fell asleep and the still silence of the night intermittently was broken by barrages of gunfire and the accursed call of the alien walkers. He wondered what she was doing and how she, Min-jung and Do-yeon were holding up in his absence. As his mind slowly drifted off into sleep he longed to return to them, not knowing exactly how he would go about doing it.


	70. Chapter 70: Vassals and Lords - Part 3

Chapter LXX: Vassals and Lords - Part Three

25 Oct 1020 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea.

The following morning after Jake was uncuffed and had a breakfast just as meager as his dinner the night before he went out into the living room where Ji-eun was on guard duty near the door. The apartment was rather empty today. After releasing him Seung-won left to gather supplies with a third foraging party which was unprecedented for this group. Aside from Jake and Ji-eun, this left only the wounded man in the second bedroom and Eun-mi, Sun-mi's scarred little sister along with Min-ji standing guard in the dining room. All the others were either out gathering supplies from their assigned parcel of land or standing guard along the perimeter of the encampment. Even Seung-gi had gone out with his father to guard the supply building. This group had wasted no time in exploiting Jake's presence to protect the nest from a skitter attack. Even if his loyalty was in question should the aliens attack the very necessity of self-preservation would compel him to this duty. Every so often Min-ji would go to one of the other rooms to check on things and then return to the dining room. As opposed to the previous day it was so quiet now, there were no conversations, no ruffling of bags or clinking of dishes. Jake sat down on the couch across from the chair where Ji-eun was standing guard with a bolt-action rifle laid across her lap. So far the aliens hadn't cared to find this place. This group had taken little aggressive action against them apart from self-defense measures when their foraging teams ran into alien patrols on the streets. The guards posted around the desolate complex were under orders not to fire unless facing imminent aggressive action and as such the alien patrols often simply passed them by. This was a group of scavengers, not warriors; they left the fighting to the Emperor's troops and simply tried to stay alive in the midst of it. In combat they were ill equipped to deal with a legitimate threat by the aliens should they face one. While adequately armed to handle both humans and skitters they had next to nothing that could do damage to the mechs. Their best bet when encountering them was to run.

As such guard duty here at the nest was a dull affair. The dangers were real out there but there was enough of a sense of security that Ji-eun was able to relax in the peace and quiet of the morning. "Before the fall I was a KBS news anchor, perhaps you've heard of me?" asked Ji-eun to break the silence, wondering if Jake had recognized her the previous day. She seemed to think she was more important back then than she really was. The fact that the Hyeon family recognized her from TV was a factor in them taking her in early on, a fact that might have gone to her head just a little bit. "Can't say that I have. I'm not from around here and I, um, don't watch the news." answered Fontaine. She was a little hurt by the comment but after all Jake was a foreigner so it wasn't a big surprise. They sat there in silence for about another hour until Ji-eun thought of another way to break the ice. "It must be hard being stranded here in a foreign country when the world itself is crumbling around you. This has been so hard for me and this is my home; I can't imagine how difficult it is for you." Ji-eun mentioned. "Maybe, I don't know. There are a lot of people who have had it a lot worse than me so I don't dwell on what could've been. For what I've seem I've got it pretty good, and I'm damn determined to make it better. You can say I'm happy for what I have." Jake replied. "I like that you're still optimistic in spite of it all, it's been a rare trait to see since the attack." Ji-eun smiled and said. Jake was a regular ray of sunshine into their otherwise despondent lives here. As they were talking Min-ji came into the room and pulled up a chair next to Ji-eun and popped open a warm pina colada flavored wine cooler. "You know, I reported a little on US politics when one of your presidential candidates was talking about pulling out of South Korea completely. Too bad he didn't get the nomination or you might have been back home when this happened." Ji-eun mentioned. "To be honest I don't follow politics either" Fontaine remarked. "You don't know what is going on with your country and you're a soldier for that country?" Ji-eun asked inquisitively. "I didn't join the Army for my country, I joined for myself." Fontaine confessed. "I didn't enlist for some noble cause or because I believed in the mission or anything of that nature; I signed up because I was no one going nowhere in a no name town. It was a chance to escape a life of poverty and grinding mediocrity, a chance to make something of myself. It was a fool's hope at best, I knew full well the service didn't do much for my dad when he got out but damn it I had to try. I didn't want to end up like him, working my tail off day in and day out in a thankless job only to one day die in obscurity with nothing to show for it." Fontaine explained. "So you see, I can't necessarily say I would be any better off there than here. If the whole world's swarming with these things so people are fucked no matter where they are." Jake replied. "At least you would be with your family and friends." Ji-eun said. "My family and I were never really close. We had our falling out when I decided to join the army, my dad said I was wasting my talents by doing so and my brother thought I couldn't cut it. Part of it was that there was a war going on at the time and in their own way they thought they were protecting me I guess. It's nothing though, My family and I made peace before I came over here and they've got to be doing just as good as I'm doing if not better without me. As for friends, I've made new friends since I've arrived; the men in my unit and a few others, they've become special to me." Jake answered. "Oh really? Where are your friends now?" asked Min-ji from the other side of the room. She thought she might have just caught Fontaine in a lie, that he may indeed be part of a rival group seeking to undermine them before the Empire. Realizing he had just said something that could have unraveled his whole story Fontaine quickly covered for himself. "I don't know; I lost them all after the attack. I don't know where they are or if they are even still alive." he said defusing Min-ji's suspicion enough to drop her line of questioning.

A gunshot outside then interrupted the discussion. Jake instinctively took cover behind the couch. Min-ji and Ji-eun jumped up from their seats and readied their weapons. "That sounded close." whispered Ji-eun. "No shit." whispered back Min-ji as she crept towards the living room window. Ji-eun moved up against the door beside her as Min-ji carefully lifted a corner of the drapes to peer outside. She saw nothing and pulled back the drapes some more to reveal more of nothing. Meanwhile Jake came out from behind the couch and crept carefully into the archway between the living room and the dining room, looking both ways and calculating his chances to make a run for it out the dining room window and down an uprooted tree resting between several vehicles to the north side of the window. Assuming he could make the jump onto the tree and the fall wouldn't kill him if he missed it seemed like a good plan, but that jump was awfully tricky and would require him to come at just the right angle yet at a speed that would catch Eun-mi off guard. Then he had to consider if the tree would support his weight if he landed on it or would it shift around causing him to lose balance or worse complete its collapse. He didn't have time for all this thinking, the window of opportunity was closing fast. Before he could make a decision Eun-mi looked at him and motioned for him to get the others. "Hey, over here." he whispered to Ji-eun and Min-ji beckoning them to the dining room window. His thoughts of making a dash for the front door where in and of themselves dashed when Min-ji grabbed him by his collar and moved him to the south side of the dining room window next to Ji-eun while she herself took position in the center of the window, obscured from the outside by the remaining dead foliage of the uprooted tree. "It's Seung-hwa." whispered Min-ji seeing him outside with his weapon drawn facing down a skitter that was holding Seung-gi. "A spider has his boy." she added. "I think I can get it from here." whispered Min-ji, backing up against the table and trading her banged up K2 rifle for Ji-eun's bolt action rifle, the reason being that it was fitted with a better scope to aid her in making the kill shot against the skitter without hitting Seung-gi. "Wait!" Jake told her. She looked over at him, dumbfounded by the audacity that he, a prisoner, must have had to give her an order. "If you fire from here you'll give away our position so that next time the aliens will swarm this place. That man in the back doesn't look to hot so I don't think any of ya'll want to move." Jake explained himself. "It's just one. It won't live long enough to report anything back." Min-ji objected. "It's never just one." Jake quietly argued. Just as he said that Ji-eun spotted two more skitters moving out from behind the tree approaching Seung-hwa from the rear. "He's right, look past the tree and you'll see them." Ji-eun told Min-ji. "Dammit." Min-ji conceded after noticing the silhouettes of the two skitters through the gaps in the foliage from her angle. Seung-hwa noticed them as well and frantically turned back and forth pointing his rifle at each of them. "He'll never make it." Ji-eun said. "We need to go around back and ambush them from outside. They won't think twice if it looks like we're just a band of stragglers wandering around on the streets." Jake suggested. Min-ji nodded and she, Ji-eun and Jake started to head towards the front door. "You stay here." Min-ji ordered Jake. "It's only three or three down there, do you really want to face spiders in just a fair fight." Jake advised her to let him go. "Good point. Here." Ji-eun said handing Jake the K2 rifle. Min-ji groaned in displeasure and reluctantly let him go ahead on point. She then took out her pistol and handed it to Ji-eun who covered the rear behind her.

Jake exited the front door and checked the corners and downstairs walkways outside before descending into the outer street. Min-ji and Ji-eun followed him at a close distance. As they went around two more buildings to swing behind the skitter with Seung-hwa's son they heard gunfire. It had already begun. The three of them spread out as they quickly went under an archway formed by a partially collapsed wall resting against an intact building. Ji-eun took position behind the first car she found while Min-ji sprinted behind a van with a clear line of sight to Seung-hwa and the skitters. Seung-hwa was continuing to fire on one of the skitters behind him while the second one raced in and slashed him across his face. Jake opened fire on Seung-hwa's assailant while still in the open, leaving Seung-hwa bloodied but still alive as the skitter crumpled down on top of him. The skitter holding Seung-gi turned around and faced Jake after being startled by the ambush, now removing the clear shot that Min-ji once had on it. The wounded skitter that Seung-hwa shot rapidly advanced up him now that he was pinned down, limping and dragging two of its limbs behind it. Jake lit up the second skitter causing it to fall backwards as it perished. As he was shooting a fourth skitter dropped down from a hidden perch in a ruined building and rushed Jake from behind. It managed to slap him across the back from behind, knocking him face first into the pavement before Min-ji took a shot that pierced through the side of the skitter's head, immediately disorienting it and killing it soon after. Jake got up and dusted himself off as the skitter holding Seung-gi backed away from them, using Seung-gi as a human shield. Jake fired several more rounds into the downed skitter next to him to ensure it wouldn't resuscitate itself as he had seen some of the ones he thought he had killed do before. He then looked at Min-ji locked in a standoff with the slowly retreating skitter then at Ji-eun who was cleverly hidden from the creature's view. He motioned at her with her head and neck and fortunately she understood the cue to go around the building and approach the skitter from the back side. Jake walked sideways in the meantime trying to cut off the skitter's path pausing briefly to gun down the fifth and last skitter of the patrol as it unknowingly walked back from the main road presumably to see what all the commotion was about. The look of fear in Seung-gi's face was profound, he was frozen in terror, being hefted up and dragged by the skitter. Cold tears stung in the cool autumn wind and his teeth gnashed firmly together as every muscle in his body tensed at its tightest. According to plan, Ji-eun emerged in a walkway behind the skitter ran up close to where Seung-hwa was pinned underneath the dead skitter. She fired two shots which chipped off the armor near the skitter's right shoulder from the back. The alien winced and turned to face her which gave Min-ji all the time she needed to take the shot directly into the back of the skitter's skull below the crest of its outer armor. The shot made the creature's arms move outward as if by a reflex which in turn dropped Seung-gi to the ground. "Run kid! Run!" Jake shouted at Seung-gi who was too terrified to move. His screaming incited the severely wounded skitter to turn back and face Jake who gunned it down from the base of the neck to its left eye, finishing the job that Min-ji's well placed bullet had started. As the skitter twisted up like a pretzel and slumped over to its side Ji-eun sprinted over to Seung-gi and picked up the terrified boy, comforting him as she brought him to his father's side. Jake ran over to her and assisted in moving the skitter carcass off of Seung-hwa to allow him to get up, all the while Min-ji stood guard, both against additional aliens and against any sudden actions by Jake.

That evening when Seo-hyun, Seung-won and the others returned from foraging they were apprised of the events that had occurred during the day by Seung-hwa and Ji-eun. "Yeah the new guy was a real lifesaver. I would have had more to worry about than just an alien nose job if he hadn't been there." Seung-hwa confessed. "It was his idea to go around behind the critters; Min-ji just wanted to pop them off from the window. We might have not got Seung-hwa's boy back that way." Ji-eun told them.

Jake was in the bedroom once again chained to the side of the bed when Seo-hyun caught up with him. She knelt down and took a seat beside him as he scooted up into a seated position to see what she wanted. "I hear you really proved your worth today. I wanted to thank you for what you did for our people. Some of them are alive today because of you." Seo-hyun thanked him. "You know, I might think about keeping you around long term." Seo-hyun told him. "How long would that be?" inquired Jake. "As long as you're still useful and maybe after a while if you keep doing like you did today as long as you want." she told him. "I can't really say for sure, we've never really given much thought to the long term, it's just a struggle day by day to buy us more time on the Earth." she continued. "Yeah. It's been the same for me, trying to get from one dawn to the next. I hadn't had to worry about these taxes though, and I still don't get why you're putting up with them as well." Jake replied. "You have to make deals with some devils to make it in this world; it's just easier to deal with the devil that looks like you." Seo-hyun confessed. "So all your friends, your fellow soldiers, you lost them when the spiders attacked right?" Seo-hyun asked after a period of silence where she collected her thoughts. "Yeah, I'll never really know what happened though." Jake told her. "It's best not to know. Eventually we've all got to experience it, better to face it like a thief in the night than to see it coming from afar. Nothing's worse than knowing the exact date and manner of your death." Seo-hyun said her voice riddled with sadness. "I really try not to think about that. I know it will happen and with things the way they are sooner rather than later, but you can't really make life worth living if you keep focusing in on the fact it will end." Jake told her. "I try, but I keep getting reminded of it. The bugs took my little sister, the Emperor took my mother and brother, I've lost so many friends since this all began; it's only a matter of time before someone comes for me." Seo-hyun said. "Well, we didn't lose anyone today." Jake said. "No we didn't, maybe I deserve to forget about the rest for one night then. We'll see. Get some sleep while you can boy. I just wanted to thank you for what you did today. Sorry to keep you up with all this." Seo-hyun told him as she stood up and started to walk away. "It's no bother, takes a while for me to fall asleep anyways." Jake told her as she left. He then laid back down and thought once more about his friends that he left behind, mostly Hyuna. Separation makes the heart grow fonder indeed.

Another day came and went. Jake remained at the scavengers base while they went out to gather up and mark their "taxes" for the upcoming day of collection which was believed to be sometime next week. There was little of note this day, Jake spent in on guard duty first with Sun-mi and Seung-hwa and later with Seung-won and Min-ho. The scavengers' level of trust in him grew and the seeds of doubt started to form in some of them, particularly Seo-hyun and Sun-mi, over whether they should, or could go through with their plan to trade him to the Empire.

26 Oct 2222 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

Hyuna stopped by the window and looked out over the remains of the city, hoping to see some sign of life approaching in the night. In her wishful thinking she though she saw the form of a man approaching but it was only the shadow of a passing beamer in the moonlight. She paced up and down in front of the window. This wasn't like him; this wasn't like Jake at all. The first day she worried a little but could rationalize it in her head enough to allow her to go to sleep that night. When she woke up the next morning and he wasn't there all sorts of thoughts of dread and deep concern filled her head to the point she could not sleep at night. Now having been awake for almost 48 hours the fear was more than she could take and she was ready to do something about it.

"Jake was just going to get water right? He's been gone a long time. You suppose something might have happened to him?" Hyuna asked Min-jung nervously as she paced around the room. "I wouldn't worry. Sometimes he takes a while, there are aliens out there remember?" Min-jung assured her. "It's never this long though, he's always back before nightfall." Hyuna replied. "Only you would remember that." Min-jung said dismissively. "This isn't funny Min-jung!" Hyuna snapped at her. "Calm down, I wasn't making light of the situation. You are overreacting though, you just need to relax and find something to occupy your time until he comes back." Min-jung told her. Do-yeon handed her one of the newer comic books he had gotten in an attempt to help out. Hyuna took it and sat down on the bed. She flipped to the middle of it and tried to read though her mind was still totally consumed with her thoughts about Jake.

Although she seemed unconcerned Min-jung was worried about Jake too. In fact Jake had never been gone longer than a day. She had kept a cooler head about herself because she knew she could do nothing to alter his fate. If he had died out there it would then fall to her to protect them so at least in appearance she had to be the strong one. Being in a visible state of worry would only make Hyuna and Do-yeon unsettled. While she wasn't as emotionally invested as Hyuna, Jake did mean something to her as well. She cared about what happened to him and would be quite saddened if he indeed had perished. Strangely too, despite their animosity at times she herself had started to feel an attraction towards him. It was not a physical attraction; she regarded Jake as average looking at best, but something else. Perhaps a little bit of Hyuna was rubbing off on her, or his attempts to bond with Do-yeon, or it was how he had stepped up to provide for and protect them when he could've left them to their own fates and see only to his own needs as so many others had done when the world fell. He was a true knight in shining armor in her eyes, albeit rather brash and misguided at times but his heart was in the right place. These budding feelings however would do nothing to affect the way she handled herself. Unscrupulous as she was in love she wasn't the type of girl to step in on Hyuna's crush. Besides, she already had someone, assuming that her husband was still alive and well, so anything that could've possibly became of her and Jake would have been fleeting at best. Why smash a young woman's dreams for some third rate fling? Her own feelings aside she recognized he was a valuable member of their small group and his loss would place a great deal of responsibility on her shoulders so it was the pragmatic rather than the personal fear that concerned Min-jung the most. Ultimately she would have to take over his role as well as her own, it was a real possibility she was willing to accept if she must. For now, all she could do was wait and let circumstances play out as they would.

Hyuna waited past midnight, every few minutes she would check the window then angrily flop back onto the bed. Min-jung kept the vigil as well, more concerned with Hyuna, how visibly shaken she was and what she might do than about Jake and whatever his fate had turned out to be. Hyuna gave her good cause for alarm, she had not been herself since that first time she woke up without him and progressively she had given herself into what to Min-jung appeared to be a bubbling madness beneath the skin. Though her body was fatigued beyond measure her determination, sadness and rage burned within her and would not allow her mind to slow down even for a second. The pain of not knowing was simply too much; if Jake was dead then she had to know it so she could grieve and someday, maybe someday if her heart could heal she could move on from it. In that thought she could take comfort in the fact the aliens would undoubtedly not suffer the human race to exist for much longer and that her pain without him would be brief. Not knowing however was worse, worse than even the most crushing news, worse because it left that hope inside of her, and every day that would pass she would have to experience that hope being torn asunder only to have it built up again and so the process would repeat. Let it happen once and be done with it, she would say to herself though she really didn't mean it. More than anything she wanted Jake to be ok. She wanted to know he was alive and for whatever reason merely delayed in returning to her. In the end she just wanted to see him again and when she did she would never let him out of her sight again. The same hope that would shatter and bring her great pain was the thing that kept her going. It was a necessary pain perhaps, but a pain that proved to be too much for her to bear any longer. "That's it! I can't wait around any longer not knowing!" Hyuna declared as she got up and hastily donned a rain jacket with side pockets and armed herself with Jake's M4 carbine that he had left behind. "What do you think you're doing?" asked Min-jung while Hyuna grabbed a pair of extra loaded magazines, a flashlight and a grenade and stuffed them into the pockets of the jacket and her pants. "I'm going to find him." Hyuna answered firmly. "No you're not. You won't get far on that knee if you have to run." Min-jung warned Hyuna as she got up off the floor where Do-yeon was sleeping. "My leg is fine. It's had plenty of time to heal" Hyuna snapped back. The two women both raced to the door but Min-jung got there first and stood up against the door preventing Hyuna from leaving. "Get out of my way!" Hyuna shouted and tried to grab Min-jung with her free arm and push her aside. Min-jung grabbed onto Hyuna's wrist with one hand and onto the barrel of the gun with her other hand and pushed Hyuna back off her. "Think about what you are doing before you do it. I know you want to go help him but if you go out there you're just going to make things worse." Min-jung tried to reason with her. Call it maternal instincts, call it being the only one thinking clearly or just call it plain old compassion for someone making a terrible mistake, Min-jung was not going to let Hyuna go out into the alien filled streets at night. She knew Hyuna was acting purely on emotion and believed that she was the one thinking rationally about the situation. Aside from target practice with Jake, Hyuna had never fired a gun and didn't know how to handle herself in a combat situation. She had never really seen one of these aliens up close the way Jake had and there was no telling what her reaction would be. Although her knee had appeared to be fine and functional for some time now Min-jung still feared that it had not yet completely healed and in situations that she would find herself in out in the open it could fail her. In her heart Min-jung was not trying to be mean, she understood what Jake meant to Hyuna, she was only trying to protect her; after all she was practically family now. Hyuna however did not see it that way at this moment she only saw Min-jung as someone who was standing between her and the man she loved. "Let me go!" Hyuna yelled at her and slammed her up against the door. As Hyuna tried to slide Min-jung's dainty form across the door and out of her way Min-jung fought back and shoved her halfway towards the bed. Hyuna growled, gritting her teeth and rushed Min-jung, when she attempted to restrain her Hyuna swung the rifle and clocked Min-jung in the head just above the left eye leaving a thin bleeding cut near her left eyebrow. Hyuna opened the door as Min-jung recoiled in shock and disbelief, clutching her face with her hands. Min-jung recovered fast enough to grab Hyuna around the waist and attempt to pull her back inside. Hyuna kicked her in the stomach forcing her to release her grip but didn't get far before Min-jung seized both her feet causing her to fall forward onto her face and chest. Min-jung dragged Hyuna inside and got up and quickly pulled the door shut before Hyuna got up. Hyuna came at Min-jung again with the rifle but this time she ducked under her forward thrust with the butt of the weapon. As she stood up between Hyuna's arms Min-jung knew she had to get the gun away from Hyuna. She was a raging animal now and liable to shoot her to get through that door. Min-jung grabbed the gun with both hands, breaking Hyuna's grip as she stood up and pulled it from her, sending it flying into the wall by the bed. The commotion woke Do-yeon who ran for cover into the bathroom. "Stay in there sweetie." Min-jung told him as she was struck repeatedly in the face by Hyuna's flailing fists. Min-jung reached under Hyuna's arms and attempted to seize her but Hyuna rotated her arms in a circle underneath and inside Min-jung's and broke the hold thus pushing her back against the door in the process. Hyuna then darted towards the gun prompting Min-jung to chase after her and tackle her up against the wall next to the bed. Hyuna hooked her foot around Min-jung's ankle, then twisted her body around and pulled Min-jung down onto the bed. "Forget the gun, I'll go without it!" Hyuna told herself as she bolted for the door. At the last second Min-jung sprang up and grabbed Hyuna around the waist from behind. Hyuna kicked back at her but Min-jung arched her back and twisted to the side to get out of the way of the kick. Min-jung then pulled her back and slung her on top of the bed. Min-jung got on top of Hyuna as Hyuna swung her hands wildly at her, slapping and scratching at her chest and face, tearing parts of her clothing off in the process. From the bathroom corner Do-yeon hid his eyes as his mother and Hyuna were viciously going at it like a couple of angry cats in heat. During the scuffle on the bed Min-jung's nails scratched some light cuts on Hyuna's left cheek and on her arms giving her wounds to complement those she had doled out on Min-jung. In the end Min-jung taking Do-yeon to martial arts classes after school had paid off and she was able to overpower Hyuna with finesse. Eventually Min-jung was able to get a hold of Hyuna's arms and forcefully crossed them behind Hyuna's back. She placed her knee on top of her hands in the small of her back and applied her full body weight dealing great discomfort to Hyuna while holding her upper arms in place with her hands. Hyuna's legs flailed wildly to no avail only lightly tapping Min-jung's posterior for the force exerted on her back prevented her from making a concerted effort against Min-jung. "Alright! Alright! I give up! I'll stay you stupid bitch! I'll stay!" Hyuna cried, admitting defeat. Min-jung got off Hyuna and backed away towards the door, picking up the rifle on the floor as she fell back. Hyuna got up and sat on the bed facing Min-jung while rubbing her sore wrists. Droplets of blood mingled with the tears streaming down her face, now radiating with redness. Her hair was disheveled and some lose strands that were torn out during the cat fight mixed in with the same from Min-jung stuck to her clothing, now hanging loosely and torn across the arms and neck. Min-jung didn't look any better. The bloody bruise around her left eye had started to swell up and would be a full blown shiner by the time the sun came up. Her makeup was melting from sweat and blood, both her's and Hyuna's, and flowing down to stain her tattered blouse, torn so severely by Hyuna's fury that her undergarments were showing. The spot on the wall where the gun was thrown was left with a sizeable hole in the spot where the butt of the weapon had impacted. As both of the women stood there panting and looking upon the results of the beating they had inflicted upon each other Do-yeon remained crouched in the bathroom peeking out from behind the door, waiting for them to start swinging again.

Min-jung walked over to Hyuna who looked up glaring at her as her tears leaked from her eyes like a sieve. "I'm not trying to be a bitch Hyuna; I care about you and didn't want you to go out there and get yourself killed. I know you're worried about Jake, I am too but if something happens to you, what then?" Min-jung attempted to talk her down. "What if Jake came back and you had gone out there and the spiders had torn you apart? What would I tell him then?" Min-jung said to her. She had obvious struck a nerve because Hyuna got up quickly and decked her with all her strength across the left side of her face, reopening the wound above her eye and leaving another monstrous bruise below it on her cheek. Min-jung didn't retaliate, Hyuna had a right to be angry, and she knew that Hyuna wasn't angry with her, but at the world. Just let the girl get it out of her system she thought. She gave Hyuna a warm look of forgiveness and empathy as Hyuna stared her down in rage for several long minutes until Hyuna's fury turned into unmitigated sorrow as a feeling of utter helplessness and despair washed over her. She flung herself at Min-jung burying her face in Min-jung's chest, her tears soaking through Min-jung's clothing going directly onto the skin from the great torn gashes between the cloth bands. Min-jung put her arms around Hyuna and held her close, trying to give her what sense of comfort and security she could. Hyuna continued to bawl her eyes out clinging ever more firmly onto Min-jung. In a nurturing embrace Min-jung held her until she looked up at her and the two of them sat down next to each other. Hyuna leaned into Min-jung's shoulder and Min-jung, using her hand began to untangle and stroke Hyuna's hair. Now that the situation appeared to be defused, Do-yeon snuck out of the bathroom, snatched up an X-men comic book and scooted off onto the wall next to the bathroom door, occasionally looking up at the two women. Hyuna's face slid down onto Min-jung's chest and Min-jung leaned her head against Hyuna's, massaging her back with her free hand in an attempt to relax and console her. For the rest of the night she just sat there and tried to provide a sense of comfort for this troubled girl until the dawn broke and she found Hyuna asleep in her lap while she herself had slumped over and reclined back away from her. Min-jung got up and carefully moved Hyuna into bed, tucking her under the blankets and went to one of the shelf drawers were she took out a change of clothes and went into the bathroom to clean herself up. Utterly broken, Hyuna slept soundly, given over to dreams of a brighter tomorrow. In a few hours when she awoke her dreams would be shattered again and sorrow again would come to reign, bringing with it the pain she could never truly become accustomed to.


	71. Chapter 71: Vassals and Lords - Part 4

Chapter LXXI: Vassals and Lords - Part Four

28 Oct 0930 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

Sun-mi, Min-ho and Jake walked up to a row of small shops with blasted out windows and scorch marks all over them. On the other side of the street was an array of other shops in similar conditions and between them a never ending mass of defunct cars impeding any rapid travel in the area. Jake was now trusted enough by his captors to go out on supply runs with them. He was unarmed and expected to do the heavy lifting while the others with him held the guns and kept them ready for both the aliens and him, should he chose to be a fool and try to run. If someone had to pull the trigger on Jake it would likely have to be Min-ho, and all three of them knew that. Sun-mi would hesitate at the very least. She somewhat could commiserate with Jake over his imprisonment amongst them, she too felt imprisoned in a less direct sense, imprisoned from a distance by the "Empire" and it's draconian rules. It wasn't because of this that she would hesitate; it was because she found it difficult to take the life of another human being who had done her no harm. No matter what she told herself she couldn't rationalize it in her mind nor would she so easily be able to carry it out. If she had been alone and Jake had tried to run the most she could have done would be to shoot him in the leg. She wasn't strong enough to physically restrain him and more than likely would miss the shot out of fear of mortally wounding him. That is why she never was allowed out by herself. She was very clever, could move quickly and had eyes like a hawk which proved invaluable on supply runs but she did not have the stomach for war. There always had to be someone with a firm hand and a callous nature to check her bleeding heart emotionalism; this typically was Min-ho. She in return would check him on being too impetuous or aggressive which many times could have led to a fight they couldn't win.

These shops were of hardly any use to them. Beauty supply stores, nail salons, fashion accessories, magazine stands, PC repair and cell phone retailers mostly. The corner drugstore had been completely looted and at best contained a few razor blades and feminine products. There were some loose M&M's on the floor that had become sustenance for the ants and roaches which undoubtedly would persist on this planet long after the human race had gone extinct. A wooden cart containing mostly rotten produce, melons, apples and seedless grapes stole as the sole item of value on this street. Still it wasn't as dry as it might have seemed. Some of the chemicals in the salons and beauty supply stores were flammable or could be combined with other compounds to produce toxic substances and thus could have battlefield value to the Imperial troops if any of them were smart enough to make use of them. "Looks like slim pickings again." complained Min-ho. This had been often the scene of several of the locations they went to today, little could be found of use and when they found that proverbial pot of gold there often was a great deal of debris that had to be moved to get to it. For that is why they had brought Jake along. People's homes often times produced better results than the repeatedly looted storefronts. Here the businesses bore heavily the signs of the chaos during that first night of the evacuation. "In other parts of Seoul making these quotas wouldn't be as hard but here where the evacuation was bottlenecked everywhere we look almost seems to be picked clean." Sun-mi explained to Jake. "I know the feeling. Why don't you wander out further to find the supplies you need to pay tribute and then some? I would wager the area closer to the river would still have a fair stock of essential goods." Jake asked in response. "We would be stepping on other people's territory. Each community is assigned a certain neighborhood or region of the city to forage through, defend et cetera. In order to keep the peace no one in the tax system is allowed to forage in another community's domain." Sun-mi answered. "Those be the rules, everyone's got to follow them." Min-ho grumbled. "Except the guys you have to pay the tribute to." quipped Jake. "Yeah, it's a bum deal but you got to live with it; that's just how it is now. You can't buck the system dude; you try and fight it and you always die one way or the other." Min-ho informed him.

They now came into a residential neighborhood near the northwestern edge of their assigned territory. A large percentage of these homes had either their roofs blown off or were heavily stripped of shingles. The windows were all busted out and the side panels were peeled away on all sides that were facing the initially blast wave from the attack. Bricks were eroded and crushed in places, multi-story homes had the upper floors cave in and some homes were completely demolished. Streetlights, signs and powerlines were downed or at the very least bent over. There weren't a lot of vehicles in the street here as this wasn't a major thoroughfare by any stretch, just a quiet middle class neighborhood in east Seoul. Most of the vehicles here were parked at the time the world went dark so that feel of "a second frozen in time" was not here. The whole scene seemed familiar to what Jake had seen following hurricane Katrina when he and several of his middle school classmates had joined a volunteer group that had gone down to the coast to help with the relief efforts. In spite of the devastation the community felt eerily calm, which put them all the more on edge. Min-ho surprised a skitter coming out from a narrow alley between the rows of homes with a bayonet to the side of the neck, which after wiggling it within the creature made short work of a would be ambusher. "Shit there are probably more of them here, these shits aren't usually this stupid." Min-ho commented. "Sun-mi, Give GI Joe a gun, we're going to go house to house and clear these spiders out." Min-ho instructed Sun-mi. Jake set down the wheelbarrow he was pushing to bring back their haul and Sun-mi handed Jake a M1911 pistol and kept her rifle for herself. Jake checked out the weapon he was handed, it was an American made original not the locally produced Daewoo knock off of the 1911. She must have pulled it off some poor soldier that had been bested by the bugs. Jake checked his weapon and made sure it was fully loaded then followed Min-ho to the first house. Meanwhile Sun-mi hid behind a parked minivan and a mailbox crushed by a fallen street lamp and kept an eye on the outside.

Inside the house Jake noticed that Min-ho made a lot of errors when it came to entering rooms and clearing corners; he left himself open way too much. While Jake had never served in combat he was trained for that eventuality, not to the extent an infantryman or special forces operator would be, but enough to get him through a combat situation. It was a good thing the spiders did not use ranged weapons or Jake would be down a man before clearing the first house. The aliens speed tended to mitigate their refusal or inability to use projectile weapons however. This was made apparent when entering into a child's bedroom a skitter dashed at and slammed Min-ho against a wall before he could pull the trigger. A framed poster fell down on the skitter and Min-ho following the impact further stunning him. Jake fell back several steps and shot the skitter once in its armpit as it held Min-ho up against the wall. The wound caused the skitter's grip on Min-ho to relax and prevented the alien from snapping his spine long enough for Jake to snatched up a fireplace poker from the den adjacent to the bedroom and charge at the skitter. The skitter tossed Min-ho at Jake as the same time Jake lanced the creature with the poker in the chest down and to the right of the shoulder. As Jake fell backwards with Min-ho on top of him the skitter staggered back and removed the embedded fireplace poker from its chest. As it scurried towards the two humans Min-ho raised his weapon and sprayed bullets towards the skitter in repeated bursts. The skitter raised its arms to protect itself, causing some of the rounds to nick and tear at the solid exoskeletal plates on its forearms. Other rounds completely bypassed the alien and poked holes into the drywall and framed boards of the bedroom doorway. Stray rounds going into the side of a mahogany bookcase sent splinters and loose pages flying out in between the skitter and its prey. Enough of the bullets that issued from Min-ho's rifle prior to him exhausting all rounds in the magazine had struck the skitter in the abdomen and legs doing sufficient damage to topple the creature, leaving it dying a slow and agonizing death. After Jake and Min-ho had gotten up, Jake retrieved the fireplace poker and slammed it down through the skitter's face thus putting the creature out of its misery. No sooner than the skitter was dead did the two men hear a foreboding sound, the ominous wail of an approaching mech.

Outside Sun-mi heard it too followed by heavy footfalls coming from around the corner at the end of the street. She crawled underneath the van in an attempt to hide, as if the machine had eyes to see her with. Not long afterwards the mech rounded the corner in the company of five skitters. As it marched down the street, three more skitters emerged from various houses, one of which stood in front of the mech, stopping it and in a strange manner of silent communication reached out and pointed with two fingers towards the house that Jake and Min-ho were in.

Inside Jake and Min-ho raced around the den and dining area and went down the central hall into the bathroom which was positioned in the central core of the building and by extension would be the safest room. Just as Jake opened the bathroom door the mech outside opened fire, its heavy rounds smashing through the brick, wood and drywall from the outside and through the open windows into the living room. The two of them jumped into the bath tub together and hunched down in the duck and cover position, fitting into a tight squeeze with the back of Min-ho's head buried between Jake's thighs so that both of them could fit into the tub. At the front of the house the barrage from the mech tore apart chairs, couches, and shelves. The big screen TV that dominated the living room was shot apart and the entertainment center containing various movies and ceramic figurines came crashing down. The dishes left out in the kitchen were shattered and the cabinets and cupboards blasted open with their contents falling out. The bookcases in the den and living room hall were completely annihilated leaving enough torn paper floating in the air to coat the floor like a layer of freshly fallen snow. The penetration power of the mech bullets tore through the walls and rained into the back bedrooms and out the back end of the house. Within the bathroom the shots ripped through the walls, shattering tiles and the bathroom mirror that rained down shards upon Min-ho and Jake's back. The shower curtain and rod fell down upon them as well, mitigating some of the cuts that would have been suffered by the flying shards of the mirror and defunct light bulbs. They could hear the back of the toilet shatter and the pipes creak and burst. There was still some water pressure in the pipes which sprayed out quickly before fizzling away. After four minutes of hell rained down into the house from outside the gunfire ceased and the mech walked away.

Outside the mech marched onward along with its original skitter complement and the three newcomers from the neighborhood. One of the skitters crawled over the van that Sun-mi was hiding beneath causing the van to press down on its suspension which forced the underside of the vehicle to press up upon her body. It was a tight squeeze and hurt quite a bit in several places where it wasn't exactly smooth underneath. She gritted her teeth and held in the pain without making a sound as she waited for the danger to pass. Once the skitter's weight had been removed from the van above her Sun-mi realized the damage she had sustained was superficial. She remained perfectly still as she heard the heavy footfalls move away.

Back inside Jake and Min-ho stood up, casting aside the shower curtain and brushing off the glass shards from each other's backs. "Oh, shit. The spiders are too bad around here, let's just empty out what we can carry from this house and call it day." recommended Min-ho. "No argument from me there." Jake agreed. Min-ho carefully walked over to the bathroom door and slowly opened it. The door fell from its hinges and landed smack on the floor once it had swung open. "Oops." remarked Min-ho. "Easy on the noise bro, you already wasted all your bullets so we really don't want to attract any more attention." Jake cautioned him, halfheartedly teasing Min-ho in the process. "Hey, it got the job done." Min-ho quipped back in a whisper. The two of them walked out into the living room in astonishment; the entire front of the house was completely blown away leaving a gaping open space to the outside where there had once been a wall. The door frame connected up to the ceiling but there was no door there anymore nor any walls or paneling on either side. The rear walls looked like swiss cheese, parts of the ceiling had collapsed leaving the stringy pink insulation dangling from above, and shredded and torn debris completely covered the floor. The furniture looked like a stuffed animal that had been tossed into a wood chipper. Overall the damage was quite severe.

The pair crossed over the piles and lumps of what had been the living room, den and dining area and went into the kitchen where they hoped to find something of value they could salvage. Jake went for the food pantry, first checking below the bottom shelf in a box of black plastic garbage bags for something to carry them in. He pulled one out only to find it torn in several places and continued unrolling the bags until he found one that was still intact. He looked through the canned and boxed goods, many of which were blasted apart from the barrage. Streams of water, juice, gravy and sauces leaked out from the pierced or exploded cans and bottles onto all the shelves and items below them. Jake found a can of artichoke hearts and lima beans intact and tossed them into the bag along with some seaweed wrapped rice crackers and a few tiny cans of fruit cocktail. "Forget that stuff, come get this." Min-ho told Jake after discovering a cabinet filled with medication above the stove. Jake came over and held open the bag while Min-ho climbed up and emptied the cabinet full of prescription and over the counter medications. Neither of the pair knew what any of the prescriptions were for did but Min-ho knew that meds would fetch a higher price in trade than food, especially painkillers and antibiotics. They would be easier to carry in a quick retreat as they could only assume danger would not be far in leaving this place. After they had all the meds in the sack Jake tied it off and brought it outside. "Sun-mi? Are you still here?" Min-ho whispered multiple times as they cautiously walked over towards the wheelbarrow Jake had left on the sidewalk. "She's gone, there's nothing we can do about her now." Min-ho said not sounding the least bit concerned for his team mate. "Load it up and let's go." Min-ho instructed Jake. "I'm down here you asshole!" Sun-mi called out from beneath the van while Jake plopped the sack into the wheelbarrow. Jake then ran over to the van, got down and helped Sun-mi crawl out from under it without hurting herself any more. "You were just going to leave me?" she admonished Min-ho. "I didn't hear you say anything when I asked." Min-ho replied. "I didn't hear you ask anything. First I heard was "hey, let's leave Sun-mi behind, she doesn't care if she's all alone with a bunch of deadly spiders, nah, she'll be fine." Sun-mi chastised him back. "I didn't say that exactly." argued Min-ho. "Might as well have. Nice to know how you really feel about me, you didn't even try looking around." she argued back. Their bickering was halted when Jake fired off three rounds to stop a skitter that came out of a house down the lane and was racing towards them. "If you're done I think we should go." Jake told them. Min-ho and Sun-mi nodded and caught up to him. "Hey, I'm supposed to be giving the orders!" Min-ho mockingly yelled at Jake as they left the street and started on their way back to the scavengers' home base.

"This is it?" asked Seung-won upon seeing the single back of medication come through the door after Jake and the others returned. Sun-mi took the bag from Jake and brought it into the kitchen where she handed it off to Seung-hwa who would identify and sort through all the medication. Seung-won stopped Jake from proceeded past the living room causing Min-ho to stop and watch too. "Jake I'm going to need you over at the supply building with Min-ho for now." Seung-won told him. "You heard the man, we're on guard duty." Min-ho said turning back and taking Jake by the arm and leading him out the door. As they left Seung-won went over to the corner opposite the front door and stood next to the window, slightly moving aside the curtain to watch Jake and his escort leave. After the both of them were out the door and downstairs on the sidewalk Seung-won walked away from the window and turned to Sun-mi who had now come back from the kitchen. By the look of worry on Seung-won's face and the manner in which he had conducted himself just then she could tell something was up. "Let's go to the back. We need to talk." Seung-won told her.

Seung-won and Sun-mi went back into the master bedroom where Min-ji and Dae-hyun were already waiting for them. "Take a seat." Seung-won said as he closed and locked the door behind him. Sun-mi sat down in a chair next to the bed where Dae-hyun and Min-ji were seated. Min-ji got up and walked over next to her father beside the door. "So what's this about?" Sun-mi asked. "We ran into some of the Baroness' henchmen when we were foraging today." Min-ji said then stopped before she finished her statement. "So what, she's not due to come around here to collect the Emperor's taxes for six days." Sun-mi said to shatter the dreadful silent pause. ". . . and she still wasn't going to be here until then. They had a new set of demands for us though." Min-ji continued. "One of the goons we encountered was the guy that scarred your little sister, you know that punk ass college kid with the shaved head." Min-ji mentioned. "Son of a bitch! I was really hoping a spider would have killed that kid." Sun-mi complained furiously. "We all did. That little shit needs to have his arms ripped off and shoved up his ass." Min-ji replied in a shared sense of anger. "What had happened is that because you had kept him from Eun-mi he was demanding that you be turned over to him when the Baroness comes to collect. He had reached some benchmark on spider kills that earned him the right to make a demand upon the tax base." Dae-hyun explained. "You didn't! How could you?! After all I've done for you and your family!" Sun-mi implored Seung-won. "We didn't agree to that." Min-ji flat out told her, immediately settling Sun-mi down. "Naturally we attempted to negotiate and managed to get them to accept a counter offer. Fortunately the other guy could recognize a good deal and capitalize upon it." Dae-hyun added. "So what was the deal?" Sun-mi asked. "We negotiated them down to half the agreed upon supply transfer for next week in exchange for seven of our guns and the American. We told them he was a mercenary for North Korea here on a sabotage mission when shit went down. In return for the aforementioned supplies they agreed to drop any demands that you or your sister be handed over on the grounds that you deliver the American into their custody this afternoon. We've been given a rendezvous location in Gangdong district and they'll be expecting you as soon as you can get there. The Baroness herself is expected to be there to take custody of the prisoner." Dae-hyun explained. "and you're ok with this?" Sun-mi asked Seung-won. She wanted to protest, it wasn't fair that Jake or anyone had to be handed over to those monsters. She said nothing though for her words could not alter an agreement that had already been struck and none of them had the resolve to deal with the consequences of defying the Emperor's men. "I would have liked to have waited until more desperate times to hand over the prisoner but with you at stake now is as good of time as any." Seung-won answered. "It's probably best this way, the longer we have him with us the more some of you are going to get attached to him and he'll be harder to get rid of. It's like giving away a dog you can't afford to keep, the longer you have him the tougher it is to put him down." Seung-won said plainly. He was not completely emotionless at the prospect but behaved in a very pragmatic fashion as he should have given the responsibility the group had entrusted him with.

Seung-hwa overheard the conversation in the master bedroom as he was walking into the second bedroom to bring Hae-il some antibiotics that were in the stash Jake and the others brought back and water to help with his fever. He stopped and listened in once he heard what they were talking about. Then he went in to the second bedroom and gave the pills and drink to Hae-il, who seemed to be doing better, Eun-mi's regular cleaning of his wounds had appeared to diminish the infection somewhat and his body had been doing the rest. He asked how Hae-il was doing and exchanged some quick pleasantries but he did not stay and chat for long. Without being rude Seung-hwa promptly exited the room and went into the living room closet and removed the shotgun they had taken from Jake when he was captured and took position by the dining room window as a secondary guard. The first guard looked at him as if Seung-hwa was his intended relief. "Thanks for showing up man, I need a potty break." remarked the man that was currently posted as the west guard. The man got up and went out the front door to go do his business away from them leaving Seung-hwa alone. Seung-hwa wasn't planning on making a scene here, instead he intended to subtly appeal to Sun-mi's emotions. With everyone else out foraging or on perimeter duty it left few options on who was to escort Jake to the rendezvous. Knowing the Baroness' sadistic streak it was highly likely she would request Sun-mi be the one to deliver Jake for she truly enjoyed tormenting Sun-mi concerning what she did to her sister. She felt it gave her power over her and firmly reinforced the subservient position of the scavenger group to the empire. Seung-hwa owed Jake a debt for his son's life, one that could not be easily repaid. Right now this was all he could do; he hoped Sun-mi would get the hint and follow through for him. Seung-hwa knew what he intended to happen was not good for them, but this wasn't about doing what was good, it was about doing what was right.

Visibly frustrated, Sun-mi left the master bedroom to begin a mission she did not want to be the one to undertake. It would be very hard for her to keep her emotions in check. She did not want to surrender Jake, who by all accounts was innocent in this, over to people she knew would treat him terribly. It wasn't just women who were abused by the degenerates that filled the gaps in the Empire's ranks. Until Jake had proven himself in battle he could be just as much a "camp girl" as the young ladies that suffered behind the front lines. Furthermore she would have to face two people, if she could even call them people, no animals, no things that she despised more than anyone in the world, more even than the aliens who had brought this vicious world into existence. She had to find the means to contain her rage when confronting the hand that scarred her sister and the mind that had commanded him to do it. Nonetheless the fate of everyone here depended on her performing this task. This would be a very taxing endeavor, if there was any other way she would not do it.

Seung-hwa handed Sun-mi the shotgun they had taken off Jake as she passed by him in the dining room on her way out. "Here, you might need it." he told her. Without much thought she slung her rifle over her shoulder and took the weapon. She had to cross through skitter controlled territory around the highway en route to where the Baroness wanted to meet. She could use the extra firepower if there were the proverbial trolls under the bridge there. Lost in thought and in anger she flung open the front door and stormed outside. Seung-won and the others followed her into the living room just as the door slammed into the side of the wall. Seung-won pulled aside one of the men standing guard in the living room. "You go with her and make sure the delivery runs smoothly. I don't want any spiders messing this up." Seung-won told him. "And try to keep her from doing anything stupid." Seung-won added as the man stepped out the open door. Seung-won walked over and closed the door that both of them had left open and hoped that all of this would go well. May God forgive him for this, for Sun-mi certainly would not. He didn't even know if he could forgive himself, he only told himself that this had to be done to keep his people safe. It was the only way.


	72. Chapter 72: The Next World in Line

Chapter LXXII: The Next World in Line

Epsilon Indi System

Approximately 11 light-years from Earth

A lone Espheni disc dropped to sublight speeds in a trinary star system consisting of a reddish-orange star roughly three quarters the mass of the Earth's Sun and a pair of two cold, dead brown dwarfs. The Espheni fleet that had departed Earth was on its way to the Rigel and Antares systems to combat the threat of the Volm and their spacefaring allies massing in those systems. In their wake they left only this one light cruiser apart from those which still remained at Earth to survey the local star systems in the region to locate and conquer any habitable worlds which the Espheni could utilize in their grander designs.

The second planet orbiting the burning star was such a world. After coming up empty handed in three other star systems closer to Earth this would be the Espheni's first conquest since the attack on Earth. It was a blue-green world teeming with life. Its vast grasslands and freshwater river systems formed broad valleys and ravines between mountain ranges which made the Himalayas look like foothills. The planet was only slightly smaller than the Earth with oddly enough, slightly stronger gravity due to the planet's density. It had no moons or satellites of any kind and had less of a tilt to its axis and didn't wobble as much as the Earth did which made its seasons less profound, with warm, temperate weather throughout most of the year, save for the sweltering equatorial regions and dry windy polar caps. This world possessed an oxygen rich atmosphere filled with tenuous white clouds of water vapor wrapping around it in mainly diagonal patterns. There were no great oceans here, land covered much of this world's surface, but there were vast river systems and immense freshwater lakes spread out all across the planet. The temperate regions of this world would be familiar to a visitor from Earth, being filled with great forests replete with animals not too alien from our own, aside from some of the larger land dwelling invertebrates. The tropical regions of Epsilon Indi II were home to bioluminescent mushrooms the size of oak, maple and ash trees. The bands and patterns on and around the mushrooms' caps would glow blue, orange, pink and yellow and make for spectacular display at night. In these regions the peculiar invertebrates along with giant slugs and worms dominated the ecosystem.

The planet was also home to two sapient species, the avian Idreek who inhabited the mountainous regions and the Othoo which dwelt in the temperate lowlands. The Idreek, gifted by their ability of flight built cities of stone and marble high in the mountains out of reach of the Othoo, of which the Idreek considered to be the smartest and most brutal of the animals. The Idreek knew how to work soft metals like copper and gold, domesticate livestock and grow crops. They had a myriad of written and spoken languages, philosophical systems and religious beliefs. They organized themselves into tribes and city-states, each only aware of its nearby neighbors and the Othoo which dwelt below them, not having a complete knowledge of the world which they inhabited. The Idreek considered themselves the most enlightened beings on Epsilon Indi II, which they called Isso. They did not recognize the Othoo as a fellow sentient species and behaved towards them as if they were wild animals. They did not war with or enslave the Othoo and had no reservations about killing them for sport. There were some among the Idreek tribes who venerated the Othoo, much as ancient Earth cultures venerated jaguars, serpents and eagles.

The Othoo themselves were a stout simian species similar in size to gorillas and resembled a cross between a great ape and a rust-red furred version of Oscar the Grouch. They stood erect as humans did and possessed four fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand. Their speech consisted mainly of grunts and howls combined with body language which was fairly universal planet-wide, being that it was rooted in primitive instinctual behaviors rather than the creation of a developed culture. That being said the Othoo were not cultureless, they produced cave paintings and tree carvings and gave themselves to song and music. They could fashion primitive Stone Age tools such as flint knives, spears, adzes and atlatls and also knew the secret of making fire. They did not build cities but instead lived in primarily familial units which carved out their own territorial ranges based on their hunting and foraging needs.

Neither of these species warranted a pre-emptive attack by the Espheni such as they had done with Earth but rather a subtler bloodless method was chosen to absorb them into the fold. A single beamer-gunship/transport was dispatched from the alien disc before the disc went on towards the Sirius star system. The transport descended into the atmosphere and approached the mountaintop city of Mindelstier. It was to the Idreek that the Espheni would first reveal themselves to.

The High Priest of Mindelstier had finished performing the purification rites before the graven images of his pantheon when he looked up into the hazy purple sky and saw the shimmering blue light of the Espheni craft descend towards him. He got on his knees and fell on his face presuming this to be an emissary of the gods that had come to exalt or to judge him. The Espehni craft landed on the flat circular patio to the east of the temple of Mindelstier's household gods, attracting a crowd of onlookers, who when they saw the High Priest on his knees many followed his example. After the craft had landed a hatch opened up and a ramp appeared from the ship's skin. A lone Overlord accompanied by a pair of standard scout mechs walked down the ramp and looked upon the crowd. Many who did not bow at first now did so as the Overlord raised its spindly hand upturned towards the throng. The Idreek of Mindelstier had accepted the invader as a deity and from there the conquest of Isso would begin.

Across the vale from Mindelstier the rival city state of Nezeen observed the Espheni landing. The flying object and it's otherworldly glow attracted the attention of the residents of Nezeen that were out and about that day. Some of them went up to the home of Sivar, one of the wise men of the town. Sivar lived in the northwest of Nezeen overlooking the vale separating Nezeen and Mindelstier. His home was made of twigs and straw built up as domes atop a two story cylindrical brick base. A stone half circle portruded from the northernmost dome and formed a balcony. A circular porch surrounded the home which connected to another smaller raised circular platform and a winding path leading into other parts of the city. Sivar the Wise was regarded as a visionary and prophet by many. The people of Nezeen often looked to him for guidance though he was but a common citizen. "Sage Sivar, what do you make of it?" asked one of the onlookers that had gathered on the stone porch beneath the balcony of Sivar's dwelling. Sivar peeked through a crude telescope towards the city on the horizon and observed the alien landing in greater detail. He then stood up ruffled his wings behind his back and crossed his scaly arms in front of his breast. "Summon the Elders at once. This. . . it portends doom for us all." Sivar declared. The crowd stood back aghast at the news; what had been divine deliverance for one city state meant demonic desolation for the next. The fate of Isso, like Earth, was bleak.


	73. Chapter 73: Forging Arms

Chapter LXXIII: Forging Arms

25 Oct 0701 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Young-gi and two other members of Vargas' unit exited a research facility isolated in the woodlands on the eastern fringes of Seongnam. The facility located between the 4th Army's main encampment some distance to the south and to the north was the former location of the military bunker dug into the side of the mountain that had been used as a command center when the survivors of the initial bombardment were relocated to Seongnam. It was sufficiently secluded from the rest of the city by the woodlands with only road leading to and from the location. The three men returned to Vargas and the rest of the unit posted in a defensive posture outside the building. "Did you find anything?" Vargas asked. "Plenty. We have acids, oxidizers, nitrates and a host of other chemicals for manufacturing munitions. Some of the glassware and tubing could be useful in the infirmary. Yeah, I'd say we hit the jackpot this time." Young-gi reported. "Excellent." Vargas replied. He then raised two fingers and pointed towards a pair of men hidden behind two vehicles parked in an L shape where the sidewalk around the building met the parking lot. "You two, head back to base through the woods. Find the smoothest, most direct route and come back here with the rickshaws and a transfer crew. Take what we can use in the near term and leave the rest." Vargas instructed the men. "This place is pretty sturdy, isolated, and easy enough to defend. We could move in a small force here to secure the place and use it to produce gunpowder and bombs away from the rest of our civilian population." Vargas proposed. The two men departed towards the main camp to the south while the rest of the unit stood ready, awaiting further orders. "That's a good idea provided we've got the manpower to spare. The lab facilities here would be better set up for the task than something we could rig up on the fly." Young-gi agreed. "Probably would be a good idea to start picking up all the spent shell casings we find and any scrap metal that we could melt down and make into bullets. We could do that with the lab burners here or just around a plain old fashioned campfire." Vargas suggested. "In that case we should look for something to make a mold out of when we head up to Seoul." Yeon-woo added. "Oh yeah, I forgot you probably just couldn't buy one in this country huh? Eh, maybe easier to make one that to find one." Vargas commented. Vargas motioned for the rest of the troops to assemble and head out. "We're going up to Seoul to check with the northern garrison. Move out!" Vargas ordered. He and Yeon-woo marched along together near the rear of the formation with only one soldier behind them. The rest of the soldiers fanned out onto the flanks and left three men on point at the head of the unit.

Vargas' force moved through the trees instead of along the roads as much as possible between the research facility and Seoul. This way they would at least make things more difficult for visual detection from above. "You ever think we could rip those guns off the walkers and use them ourselves. I'd imagine they would be quite effective against those vary same machines." Yeon-woo suggested as they marched along. His mind was still thinking along the lines of weapons manufacturing from earlier and the idea of using the alien guns against them flowed naturally from that. "I'd imagine so too. We would first have to find one in decent shape to salvage. The problem being is those fuckers take a helluva lot of punishment in order to bring them down. Typically our strategy has been to blow them up so there isn't much left beyond scrap metal that's usable afterwards" Vargas replied. "Now if we go hunting for them with high caliber shells and stick to punching holes through the core part of the machine till it shuts down we should be able to pull off a gun arm in near pristine condition. Then it would just be a matter of figuring out the fire control system and if necessary converting it to our use." Vargas theorized. "Worst case scenario we will at least get the bullets out of them. After that first engagement the smaller walkers have been using repurposed Earth ammo; the larger ones weaponry is energy based though and without being able to replicate their power source we won't be able to utilize them to any degree of effectiveness." Vargas continued. "Wait, what did you say there?" asked Yeon-woo. "The shell casings we've found near the downed mechs, they're of human origin or at the very least the ET's copied our designs." Vargas replied. "Hmmm, if that's the case then they're doing something to the rounds to increase their penetrating power. If we bust one open and find out what that something is then we could have a real game changer on our hands." Yeon-woo presumed.

With that Vargas' unit had acquired a new objective of locating a disabled mech on their way to Seoul. It didn't take long for them to find one once they got back into the urban area on the edge of where Seongnam had been burnt down and thoroughly destroyed. The mech was missing a leg and grasping arm. Its central core was crushed inwards as if it was an aluminum can. Presumably the mech had been knocked down with great force when the alien bombing had leveled much of the city. They found the gun arm, likewise dented, scraped and scuffed but still sealed up. It was damaged beyond function nonetheless at least some of the bullets inside would be salvageable. "Here we go, now we just have to find a way to get that arm open without ruining whatever's inside." Yeon-woo stated. "Or making it inadvertently go off." cautioned Vargas. They took fragments of concrete blocks and smashed them against the arm to no avail, then took lengths of smaller metal I-beams and rebar in the ruins and tried to pound and pry the arm open. The gun arm appeared seamless and there was nowhere but the barrel that they could try to bend and pry it open and the pounding did nothing more than the bashing with bricks had accomplished. "Whew, well so much for that idea." one of the soldiers complained, admitting there was no chance they were cracking this nut. "Wait a second. You remember when we found Tae-yang after the fishbowl battle?" Vargas asked turning to Yeon-woo. "Yeah, he was pretty fucked up." Yeon-woo replied. "No, remember we the whole thermite thing, we thought he was going to try and melt the walkers' armor." Vargas clarified his point. "Anyone still got that torch we used to cut those padlocks the other day?" Vargas asked the soldiers around him. "Yeah but it doesn't have much fuel left." one soldier replied. He then reached into his backpack and pulled out a small handheld cutting torch. "Let's see how far into it we can get." Vargas said. "Everyone take cover and give the man some room." Vargas told the rest of his unit. "I wish I could tell you were to cut so this thing won't blow up on you but I don't know what's inside there. Stand away from the barrel, that's about the best advice I can give." Vargas told the soldier, now feeling a little nervous at the risk involved with using a torch to cut into what amounted to a case full of bullets. "How about I just heat up the entire area along here to soften it up and then you guys come over here with the rebar and tear through it. I don't think I have enough gas left to make a big enough cut straight through it to begin with." the soldier suggested, hiding the fact he was scared of the potential for detonation. The unit, save for the one soldier with the torch withdrew and hid behind what cover they could find. Carefully the lone soldier got to work and heated up a wide area on the side of the gun arm until it was cherry red then quickly moved aside and let the other soldiers rush in and stab at it with steel pipe and rebar. They cut through some of the material this way but didn't get the mech arm open. The first soldier repeated the process thrice more, each time the other men tore deeper and deeper inside. The last time a bullet went off inside and shot out the barrel. At the sound of the gun firing all of the soldiers jumped out of the way and hid behind cover. Another bullet went off soon after this, followed by a few more; one of which poked a hole out the side of the gun arm. This hole along with the remaining torch fuel allowed the soldiers to pry open a 3 and a half inch square away from the skin of the gun arm.

After waiting a while for the metal to cool, which it did surprisingly quick Vargas, Yeon-woo and Young-gi approached the gun arm and examined what they could see inside it. The cut was too small and too jagged for them to reach in there or pull anything out but they could see enough through it to satisfy their curiosity. "From what I can tell it looks like they just replaced the lead bullet with what seems to be a depleted uranium slug with a tip made of their own spacey-alien-metal." Yeon-woo commented after peering in closely and seeing the tips of a row of bullets that had been dislodged from what appeared to be one of many ammo drums. "Like a tungsten carbide tip" Vargas mumbled. Yeon-woo then took two small pieces of metal wire from the vast spread out lumps of rubble lying all around and attempted to use them like chopsticks to pull bullets out of the hole. With some difficulty he managed to pull three rounds out this way but the rest of the loose rounds fell deeper inside and out of reach. "They seem to have tweaked with the diameter of the cartridge on one of these a bit, probably so we'd have a hard time putting them back in our guns." Vargas noted as he bent down and plucked a bullet from one of the three on the ground outside the mech's arm cannon. "Reprocessed versus reproduced. The substandard cartridge is probably one that they made themselves while the others are our own bullets." Yeon-woo deduced. Vargas stood up, tossed the bullet and caught it on its way back down with the same hand. "Something doesn't add up though, this material behaves as if it's insanely dense both as armor and as a penetrator, yet it's as light as a feather. I\m not even feeling the depleted uranium behind the space-silver tip. The physics behind that simply do not compute. Like it has mass that simply doesn't register." Vargas remarked. "I'm no scientist but doesn't that violate the law of conservation of energy?" asked Yeon-woo. "Not necessarily, the aliens could have manufactured it using techniques on the femto-scale, by rearranging quarks within atomic nuclei you could in theory come up with a whole new periodic table of elements that could potentially have properties radically different than what we know, ergo the strength of the material could have nothing to do with its mass. Maybe that missing mass is bound up in some other form of energy perhaps; the two are interchangeable after all. Part of that energy could be bound up in spatial dimensions outside of the four we can perceive, or really any number of possibilities. These guys managed to find a way to exceed the speed of light to get here so I'd assume they have a better grasp on physics that we did." Young-gi hypothesized. He was a chemistry teacher and not a physics one but the two sciences were related and he knew enough of the terms to make it seem like he knew something when making his wild guesses. When dealing with a species with an untold level of scientific understanding beyond your own even the brightest minds on Earth could only guess. The ability to achieve faster than light travel almost would necessitate "You could be right, we wouldn't really know for sure unless we observed them making the material and were familiar enough with the process to know what was going on." Vargas replied.

"You think we could maybe take some of the walkers' skin, melt it down and cast our own bullets with this stuff? Would do the trick to breach their armor since it is all spacey-magical and stuff?" Yeon-woo asked. "Depends on the velocity of the projectile, that's where most of the power is." answered Vargas. "One half mass times velocity squared. Given the same muzzle velocity I would presume that such rounds would be more effective against their armor. It probably wouldn't do any good for our pistol rounds but it could make our K2 rifles effective against the machines." Young-gi stated. "You can quit trying to pretend you know what will happen. Until we try it we will never know for sure." Vargas said to Young-gi. There were too many variables they didn't know at this point; the inconsistencies about the material from which the bullets were cast; whether this metal was even the same stuff that comprised the aliens armor, whether the modified bullet was the key to the mech weapon's power or if it was something else and how practical it would be to cast bullets made from molten down mechs given a melting point between 1000 and 2000 degrees Celsius, by observation more than likely towards the upper end of that spectrum. It's not like they had a smelter or anything they could carry around with them. They could use propane and acetylene/oxygen torches to some degree though they might end up with a finished product of uneven quality, much like the home made bullets they would be casting. Nonetheless it was still worth a shot. "We'll snatch up some mech parts when we move into that research facility and give it a try. Worst case scenario, they'll still kill the bugs." Vargas told everyone. He put the mech bullets into his pocket and waved on the rest of his group to continue on through the desolate wastes that were once the northern half of Seongnam.


	74. Chapter 74: Death and Taxes

Chapter LXXIV: Death and Taxes

28 Oct 1502 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

Sun-mi, her companion and Jake approached the overpass, the proverbial "troll bridge" that stood between them and their rendezvous location. She took a deep breath, cocked the shotgun and looked over at her companion before proceeding. She heard the sounds of mechs clanking in the distance to the west as they walked into the shadow of the crumbling overpass. Sun-mi felt her heart skip a beat as they stepped into the shade. There were skitters inside, dozens of them but they were asleep, dangling upside down like bats. "Now that's something I didn't expect." her companion whispered. Sun-mi put her finger to her lips and made the motion for her associate to be quiet. The three of them carefully and quickly crossed under the overpass and then sprinted down the next corner around battered buildings that obscured them from the aliens' line of sight.

There was no turning back now; from here to the river was the Baroness' territory and a persistent battlefront between the "Imperial" resistance cell she commanded and the aliens. There were enemies everywhere and no friends to be found, both sides of the conflict would be shooting at them from this point on. After meandering through a zig-zag pattern of tightly packed city blocks to avoid a three mech patrol with a comparable compliment of skitters a stray mortar round crashed into a condemned building that had been a video rental store many years earlier. The mortar shell released orange smoke that obfuscated the sunlight in a haze though the gas itself was not toxic. Sun-mi and her companion took cover leaving Jake out in the open. When he saw human fighters through the smoke he ran inside the empty store and watched a gang of seven men collide with roughly the same number of skitters in the intersection of a cross street to the north of his position. One skitter was gunned down by two men on either side before one of the pair was hooked through the waist by another skitter's claw and tossed backwards where he was trampled to death by another skitter taking fire from other human fighters. Jake saw skitters scaling the wall of the building on the far side of the cross street before they leapt upon and took down two human fighters that killed one skitter and wounded another directly ahead of him. One of the skitters that had pounced onto the men ferociously swiped at another fighter nearby, taking the man's head clean off with the force of its vicious attack. Thought his instincts told him to intervene on the side of the humans his mind logically told him to stay put. These humans were not his allies, they would as soon shoot him as they would the skitters. Besides he didn't have a gun to help them, he would have to rush out onto an uncertain field of battle to snatch up a weapon from the fallen. He watched as the two skitters that had flanked the humans divided the remaining three fighters fire. One of the flankers took a barrage to the chest that put it down while the other evaded the attacks and went around the rear of the humans. One of the fighters engaged a skitter that had come upon him in hand to hand combat in which he became severely outmatched and was slain although not before digging his bayonet into the skitter's front hip. The injury slowed the creature down enough for one of the two remaining fighters to land a few clean shots to kill it moments before the flanking skitter yanked him down from behind and slammed him into the street. The last human fired and ran only to be chased down and ripped apart by the skitters. Jake observed the victorious aliens regroup and proceed down the cross street followed close behind by a mech and three more skitters.

Once the aliens had passed Sun-mi and her companions came out from hiding and found Jake. They could hear the sounds of a battle several blocks away to the east as they proceeded north to the rendezvous. Though he had not been apprised of the reason behind this trip Jake could deduce that it wasn't good. He knew of their plans to trade him to the Empire in exchange for a reprieve on taxation and given his lackluster booty secured from this morning's run he could only assume that was what was going on. While his stay with the scavengers had been relatively comfortable, although lonely, from what he had heard a stay with the Empire would be anything but pleasant and likely short lived. Like all humans he feared pain and he feared death, but most of all his thoughts now were fear of what would become of Hyuna, Min-jung and Do-yeon if he did not return. A temporary leave of absence he could explain, but should he never return, that he could not imagine what would become of them, left at the mercy of vile warlords and genocidal aliens in a cold, indifferent world. They had been sheltered from the worst of it and were more unprepared than he was to face the way things really were. Min-jung hadn't even permitted Do-yeon nor herself to learn how to fire a gun which left their best chance at self-defense in the unsteady hands of Hyuna, who was prone to giving in completely to every passing wave of emotion. These vagabond raiders prowling the streets in the shadow of Earth's conquerors would tear them apart. He had to escape, he had to escape now.

Jake worked out an escape plan as they made their way past the battle lines into calmer streets. Jake still had his two grenades. After all this time no one had thought to check him thoroughly enough to find them. Now he found it harder to want to use them when the chance arose after getting to know his captors. They were real human beings with real lives and real hopes and goals for their lives; he couldn't just dispatch them as if they were nameless grunts sent after him. Fighting the truly "alien" aliens was a lot easier. He could blow a hole into a skitter or tear its guts out with a bayonet and a crowbar without half a thought of remorse. It was no different than felling a deer or an alligator back when his father took him out hunting. He couldn't connect with the aliens on a meaningful level, but with people, people were different, and that made them harder to kill. Perhaps he wouldn't have to. He knew the aliens were close by; all he had to do was pull the pin on a grenade, toss it away and let the explosion draw the aliens in. Sun-mi and the man with her would seek refuge as they had before and that would allow him the chance to escape. Yes his escape would bring the ire of the so-called "Empire" and whatever Duke, Prince or Earl claimed dominion over the greater part of Gangdong District but they would have a fighting chance against that; something that in Imperial hands he would not. He would only force them into doing something they should have done for themselves already. The Empire could not rule them without their consent, so in fact Jake rationalized he would be doing them a favor.

Fortunately Jake would not have to kill anyone for along the Sun-mi had resolved not to hand him over to the tax collector to begin with. When they were about seven blocks and two turns away from the rendezvous point she stopped and turned to her associate. "I'll go on alone with this. I know the Baroness well and this is most likely a trap to get at me. You don't need to be involved." Sun-mi told the man with her. The man looked at her, exhaled and made motion as if he was about to speak but stopped. He then turned back and walked off towards their home base. It was a half-truth she had told the man, very likely it was that the Baroness requesting her presence when handing off Jake was a ruse to hand her over to her conniving underling as a reward for his savagery. It was much the same way when he sister was to be taken; they had met the Empire's expectations but were sprung with an unexpected and unreasonable command when they delivered. The other half of the equation was that while she would go on to the rendezvous point, Jake would not. She would face down her tormentors one more time even if it was her last but she wouldn't let them harm another innocent victim for their own pleasure. She took the shotgun and handed it to Jake. "Go, begone with you." she told him as she pressed the gun sideways into his chest after he had taken hold of it. Jake stood there dumbfounded for a minute; this was not what he had expected. "They want me to give you over to the Empire you fool! Away with you before I change my mind!" she snapped at Jake. This time he walked away, then ran until he vanished through the city streets somewhere to the east. She stood there in the intersection for a couple minutes until she finally allowed herself to cry the tear that had been building in her eye. She wiped it away and hardened her resolve; it was time to pay the Baroness a visit.

The rendezvous point was in a fenced in dirt lot with partially collapsed and burnt apartment buildings to the north and west, a row of shops inside 4 and 5 story buildings with extremely limited square footage on each floor lay beyond the fence and a small road to the east, and to the south was more open space, trees and a couple smaller buildings on one corner beyond the fence. The fence itself was torn down and ripped open in some places allowing access beyond the original entry points to the north. There was no shortage of disabled vehicles obstructing the streets around the area and making any escape from the lot difficult. This was no doubt the Baroness' intention in arranging the meeting here. Sun-mi feared that something more nefarious could have been planned from the beginning, her worst fears bolstered. She entered into the lot walking around the fence taking the easiest way in, in the process spotting two snipers positioned inside the building to the north. She walked out into the center of the lot and allowed herself to be seen from all directions; she knew that the Baroness was hiding somewhere around here. "Come on out now! I'm here just as you requested!" Sun-mi shouted at the top of her lungs. She could see one of the snipers smile and crack a joke to an unseen individual in the room he was in. To whatever joke that had been told she was the punch line, waiting there, exposed and empty handed. She kept her rifle on slung over her back and made no sudden hostile moves. She hoped for a chance at negotiation, she hoped that the tax men wanted her alive.

She heard the sound of a door open somewhere in front of her. Three men with semi-automatic rifles and one with a Milkor grenade launcher came out of the side entrance of the north building and crossed out of the shadows and into the empty lot. They wore thick sweaters although it wasn't that cold outside. One of them wore a black sweater, another dark brown and the third a deep navy blue. It could be assumed that the thick clothing was worn for protection from the claw like fingers of the skitters as the Baroness' resistance cell did not have enough body armor to go around. As they approached Sun-mi she could make out their faces. One of the riflemen, the man in the brown sweater, was the little gremlin that she had come to see, the one who had dealt her family so much pain. She clutched her fists together and grit her teeth together holding back a scowl from her face while the man smirked and upped his pace towards her. To the west she heard clapping as two individuals emerged from one of the buildings there and slipped under a cut section of the fence. The Baroness and a bodyguard, Sun-mi presumed.

She was among them indeed, "Baroness" Vu Jung-ja, the heartless serpentine bitch who served the Emperor as tax collector in these parts. She wore a Kevlar vest underneath a slick black leather jacket with the jacket's right arm torn off and faded black jeans over scuffed up combat boots. Her elbows, wrists, thighs, knees and shins were also padded down with bulletproof armor. She carried two .45 caliber revolvers in concealed holsters within her jacket and a satchel containing explosives and reserve ammunition over her left shoulder next to an RPG launcher. On her hips she carried a long nasty looking knife on the right side and a one piece lug wrench-crowbar combo on the left. Her dark brown, almost black hair was pulled back and tied into a small knot behind her head. The Baroness' stern face looked as if it had been smashed in with a shovel, her nose was swollen on one side and slightly upturned and her lips were a little puffed up, whether this was the result of a combat injury or she just looked like that to begin with one could not tell. She wasn't altogether grotesque in the face but she was certainly unappealing at first glance. The fact her body was built like a man did not help her image either. She was however quite strong phyiscally and could match most of her male counterparts in brute strength and endurance, which in addition to her steady aim and nerves of steel made her a formidable fighter. "Well if it isn't Quasimodo's big sister. I was thinking you were going to chicken out on us." the Baroness greeted Sun-mi. Sun-mi did not turn to look at the tax collector instead she kept her gaze fixed on the man in front of her. "Baroness Vu, a pleasure seeing you again." Sun-mi said in feigned formality. The Baroness left her bodyguard standing a distance to the west of Sun-mi and strolled in between her other minions and Sun-mi. "I thought we had an arrangement my dear?" the Baroness asked Sun-mi in a sly, devious manner as she strolled in front of her "You promised me a top notch fighter and you show up empty handed? What is this?" the Baroness asked accusingly as she stopped in front of Sun-mi and placed her hands on her hips. Sun-mi looked down at the Baroness' feet giving the appearance of contrition. "My apologies Baroness, he bested us, killed my partner and got away. I believed myself duty bound to report to you regardless and that is why I am here empty handed." Sun-mi confessed to her. "If you would follow me back to camp we can go ahead and settle our taxes for the upcoming week. We have adequate materiel to make quota and cover the value of your lost fighter." Sun-mi offered. "No, I will not. We didn't bring the van and I am simply not in the mood for making any further trips for the likes of you." the Baroness sardonically snapped back. "Besides the fighter was to make recompense for you, not some silly bullets or canned peas." the Baroness said. The Baroness looked back at her minion, the grinning, lustful youth awaiting the gift he had been promised. He perked up in anticipation that Sun-mi would be delivered unto him but was left in disappointment when he heard what she had to say. "Oh dearie I know you had your little heart set on defiling this wilted flower but I do believe a punishment for wasting my time would appear to be in order." the Baroness told her minion. She motioned the two men standing with the brown shirted man to seize Sun-mi. The men stepped forward and took hold of Sun-mi by her arms, one on each side. The Baroness walked around her brown shirted henchman and rubbed her chin and left cheek as she smiled with delight thinking of the ways she could punish Sun-mi. "I know, what was it that was done to your little sister?" the Baroness mused stopping behind her henchman. She stayed silent for a moment or two and gave a nefarious grin reminiscent of the Cheshire cat. "Shall we mark you the same?" She took off her satchel and took out a handheld plastic case from inside. She opened it and withdrew a cylindrical glass bottle filled with a strong concentration of hydrochloric acid firmly capped shut. She then handed the bottle to one of her minions, the man whom Sun-mi despised most. "No you cannot have her but I will allow you the honors of marking her with her family crest." The Baroness told him upon handing the bottle to the brown shirted man. She backed away and gave room for the man to do his thing. The man smiled and clutched the bottle of acid in his right hand, looking it over and running two fingers up and down the length of it with his left hand. He looked up at Sun-mi and grinned from ear to ear. Hearing her scream would be enough of a consolation prize for him to take with him today; he would find another girl among the vassals that would pique his interest the same another time. Sun-mi would be left to rot, food for the jackals he presumed. The thought of her long sufferings to come aroused him further and he hastened to deliver upon the Baroness' request. The man unscrewed the top off the bottle and took a step towards Sun-mi with the bottle held out in front of him. Sun-mi pulled back, sliding the two men holding her along with her with the first rearward thrust. She twisted to the side and attempted to break free but one of her captors stepped behind her, twisting her left arm around her back and placing his forearm around her neck to hold her still. The man behind her hooked his foot around her right leg and stomped down on her foot pinning her down further. Held firmly in place Sun-mi could only watch as the man she so despised approached to deal her the same fate as her sister.

A shotgun blast rang out from the fourth floor window of one of the small buildings east of the fence. The shotgun blast shattered the glass bottle containing the acid. Part of the shotgun blast also ripped through the man's hand and forearm, leaving bleeding open wounds as the glass shattered. Glass shards and droplets of the concentrated acid sprayed out from the shattered bottle onto the skin, clothes and into the open wounds of the man who had intended to use it on Sun-mi. Two small beads of acid landed on the man's face; one on his cheek above and to the left of his upper lip and the other on the center of his chin. The drop on his cheek rolled downward turning the skin red behind it as it fell from his face onto the sleeve of his sweater. Sun-mi pulled back at the sound of the blast at the same time the men holding her released her and spread out to return fire at the unseen gunman. Sun-mi was far enough away that most of the acid spray, that was directed more towards the north and west due to the trajectory of the blast, fell shy of making contact with her and what little acidic mist landed on her clothing was in such minute amounts that it left no visible effects. The acid doused man backed off in haste as smoke rose from the parts of his arm and clothing which had soaked in the most acid. He staggered violently backwards, thrashing about and screaming loudly in agony. He frantically pulled off his sweater and undershirt and used it to wipe off the acid from his arms and chin before tossing his clothes onto the dirt. His efforts removed some of the acid but also spread it around larger areas of his skin making his problem worse as the constant, intense burning pain now expanded to cover a wide swath of his right arm, chest and neck. He cast aside his shirt and outer sweater and fell onto the ground writhing and shouting as the acid burned deeper into him.

In the chaos produced by the steaming acid-glazed man's screams the rest of the Baroness' men returned fire at some unseen position sending an untold number of rounds through the already shattered windows. Just when they thought one of them had to have taken out the shooter a second shotgun blast burst the head of one of the men closest to Sun-mi like a water balloon. She now knew who the gunman was; she was being given a chance to escape. The Baroness motioned for two of the men to take go through a fallen section of the fence and make their way around the back of the building which the gunman was shooting from. She and the other able bodied fighter then sought cover behind cars parked underneath the awning on the east side of the apartment building. A woman came running out from the apartment building and doused the acid burnt man with a bucket of water then went racing back inside to get more. As she raced inside two more men came out of the building and made their way out and around the shooter's position coming from the north side while the two men the Baroness had sent away approached from the south. The two snipers in the window also relocated to rooms on the east side of the building and opened fire from windows facing the shooter's location

From inside the building Jake could see the two teams of two going around towards the back of the building. He took a shot at the southern team, leaving a bright rose colored stain on the torn up right thigh of one of the men's jeans as the fighter fell to the ground clutching his leg. He was forced back into hiding from gunfire coming from all directions before he got another chance to fire off another round. He saw Sun-mi running across the lot past the man being doused again with water on the ground. Sun-mi shot towards Jake in order to give the Baroness and her troops the impression she was on their side but made sure not to hit him. She hid behind a car parked in the dirt lot next to the southern face of the north building and continued firing. Sun-mi's bullets struck carelessly around the window which Jake was shooting from as Jake shot at the second fighter coming from around the south of the building, hitting a car instead as the man slipped out of view into the alleyway behind him. Sniper fire forced him to the floor and the approach of the three men around the back of the building impelled him to crawl across the floor and enter the stairwell going downward. When he reached the second floor he hid between two rows of tall bookcases out of direct sight from the stairs. He could still hear gunfire striking the room he was in above, it wouldn't be long until they realized he was not shooting back. By then he hoped the second phase of his plan would be in effect. From a crack between the bookcases he could see the stairwell and there he waited.

The man coming from the south was the first to reach the back door of the building. He kicked in the door and lunged inside pointing his weapon in both directions. When the door was knocked open it also pulled a wire that yanked out the pin on a hand grenade secured in place with nails, twine and a wood shim at about chest height on the wall next to the door frame. The grenade detonated sending shrapnel tearing into the chest, neck and abdomen of the man who had burst into the room. The north team made it shortly thereafter and left the mortally wounded man to die in the back hallway and proceeded up the stairs. Jake watched from his hiding place as the two of them passed him by on their way up to the fourth floor. Once the second man had passed Jake emerged and shot him in the back. The first man ran back down and returned fire into the bookcase from which Jake had been behind, but now Jake was standing beside the stairwell and fired upwards at the man at the top of the stairs. The shotgun blast tore through his lower jaw and sent pellets into his skull that killed him. Jake discarded the shotgun, now out of ammo and picked up the rifle off one of the slain men on the ground, went up to the third floor and waited, crouched behind a desk in an office that had once belonged to the store manager.

The explosion of the grenade had also triggered its intended secondary effect. A nearby squad of skitters and mechs were drawn to the fighting and approached from the south just as the two snipers had come down at the Baroness' command to storm Jake's hiding place from the front. The snipers stopped halfway across the street and opened fire on a group of ten or more skitters racing towards them. The snipers sought refuge behind vehicles and sustained fire southwards, gunning down the skitters as they steadily advanced upon them. A skitter leaped over the tall chain link fence into the dirt lot and was slain by the combined efforts of Sun-mi and the Baroness. Now they really were on the same side. Sun-mi withdrew beyond the Baroness' position to the north, taking out another skitter before she was forced to reload. The Baroness and her cohort also slayed another skitter in mid jump causing it to fall down onto the fence. The fence collapsed under the weight of the dead skitter, opening up a new hole in the Baroness' defenses. Two mechs now entered into the battle with four skitters covering the rear of the formation. As the first wave of skitters closed in on the snipers, wounding one of them severely while the both of them reloaded. The Baroness' minion killed the skitter before it could finish off the sniper allowing the man to hobble back away from the battle only to be gunned down by a mech. The Baroness raised her RPG launcher and took out the first mech with a solid hit to the central core of the machine. "Fall back!" the Baroness ordered. Sun-mi did not delay in following that order. She sprinted across the street into the back alley behind the store where Jake was hiding. The Baroness and her bodyguard retreated westward around the north apartment building. "Don't leave me!" screamed the wounded man in the lot, now pulling himself to his feet as much of the acid had been washed away by repeated dousings in water. The despicable man was now left permanently scarred in much the same way as he had left his victims. His face remained in better shape than Sun-mi's sister's with only a single line of blisters and intense redness along his left cheek and a swollen cluster of boils and blisters on his chin. His body, especially his right arm had taken the brunt of the acid burns. Grimacing in pain he snatched up his weapon from the ground and fired aimlessly towards the skitters on the other side of the fence before breaking into a clumsy hobbling sprint. He ran towards the Baroness with a skitter hot on his heels. The woman inside the building ran out and killed the skitter with a shotgun blast before helping the man catch up to the Baroness as she was loading a second RPG next to their getaway truck. The remaining sniper was swarmed by the skitters and overwhelmed though he managed to take a couple of them out with him. The wounded man was pulled onto the bed of the truck and joined by the Baroness as the other two got into the cab and started the vehicle. The alien column proceeded northwards and pursued the Baroness and her men as they drove off, its lead mech taking an RPG to its gun arm upon the Baroness' retreat.

Sun-mi entered through the back door of the bookstore that Jake had been hiding in. "It's me, Sun-mi. Jake, if you're in here please don't shoot. Or whoever you are, I'm not one of them!" She shouted up the stairs upon entry. She carefully went upstairs, stopping momentarily to remove the magazine from one of the dead men's guns and take it for herself. Jake saw her come up to the third floor from his hiding place. They both could hear the gunfire from outside becoming more distant as the Baroness made her escape from the aliens. "Are you alone?" Jake called out. Sun-mi nodded yes; still aware that there were aliens outside and shouting might not be the best thing to do. Jake came out from hiding, thankful to see her unharmed. Sun-mi looked back at him, surprised that it really was him, although the possibility was more likely than it being just some random person disgruntled with the Baroness and her antics. "You came back for me? You didn't have to do that; you should have just run, gotten as far from this mess as possible." Sun-mi quietly said to him as he approached her. After her people had held him against his will for four days and without a second thought would hand him over to the Imperials he had no business coming to her aid. "Run, you silly boy, run!" Sun-mi said as she pounded her fist twice into Jake's chest to drive home the point. "You really think I would let you get your face burnt off by those sons of bitches?" Jake rhetorically asked her. They both looked at each other dumbfounded and silent for a while; then for some unknown reason the two of them began laughing hysterically. "Ok, easy now, the spideys may still be out there." Jake said catching his breath. He walked over to the window and peeked outside. There were dead skitters and a few badly wounded ones still twitching out there but the rest of them had all gone after the Baroness and were long gone. He walked back over to Sun-mi who for some reason was still looking strangely at him. "Are we going to go now?" he asked her. In response Sun-mi jumped onto him and hugged him firmly in gratitude for all he had done. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said over and over again. "Alright, alright, no need for that." he said but she didn't let go. Awkwardly he reached around her and patted her back a couple times before hugging her back.

When she finally let him go the two of them went down the stairs, collecting Jake's old shotgun and the other two slain fighters' weapons before leaving the building. They quickly exited the back of the store to find a one armed mech staring back at them from down the street. The mech ran towards them and Jake took out his second grenade, pulled the pin, tossed it at the mech and ran for dear life. The grenade struck the mech and exploded as it bounced away, blasting open the mech's central core leading to its deactivation. Jake looked back to verify the mech was no more and slowed down, taking Sun-mi's hand to get her to slow down to a walk as well. "We're in the clear now I think." Jake said. "Keep your eyes peeled, I'm taking you back." Jake told her. "You shouldn't go back there, they won't let you leave." Sun-mi cautioned him. "I'm leaving anyways, they can't stop me. I'm just taking you back, keeping the spiders off you till we get there, dropping you off and getting the hell out of there before anything else goes down. By the time your people know I was there I'll be miles away." Jake told her. The two of them then walked away from the battle site, carefully avoiding enemy activity on their way back to Sun-mi's base.


	75. Chapter 75: Broken Arrow

Chapter LXXV: Broken Arrow

25 Oct 0916 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Vargas' unit arrived at the northern garrison on a dark and cloudy morning. The sun was shining through the clouds to the south and the northeast but here it was all grey and dreary. Ji-hwan waved to them from the roof of the gym that Vargas remembered sleeping in the day after they burned Seongnam down. His whole journey here today served as a reminder of the events of that night, a token victory that later proved to be in vain. Vargas and his men went inside of the gym out of clear view from outside. "Sergeant Vargas, we were wondering what was keeping you. Jae-sung was getting worried but not me you know, I was as all chill about it, I knew ya'll were good." Ji-hwan greeted them. "We made a couple of pit stops along the way, nothing serious." Vargas assured them. "So what's the deal over here? You wanted us to head up here this morning but didn't send a supply list." Vargas inquired. "That's because we're good on supplies. We're due to relocate here soon but we don't have the manpower to watch over the nest while we go looking for a new one, mind giving us a hand with that?" asked Ji-hwan. "With which part, the holding down the nest or searching for a new one?" asked Vargas. "The searching part if you don't mind. Jae-sung is hella sore from a scuffle we had with the bugs the other day. They're getting wise to us; all the more reason that we find a new hideout soon." Ji-hwan said. "Alright then. We just need to get something to drink real quick and we'll be on our way." Vargas told him. "I'll go with you." Ji-hwan offered. They needed to have one of the people who would be living in the new hideout along with them. Vargas left a couple members of his unit behind to fortify the street in case of another skitter attack and took Ji-hwan with him

Vargas' team and Ji-hwan set out from their base and went a fair distance before starting the search in earnest. They first came to a police station but discarded it as a prospect upon discovery that one of its walls had caved in, leaving the location vulnerable not to mention structurally unsound. After surviving multiple run ins with the aliens having their unit destroyed by a building collapse would seem a little disgraceful to Ji-hwan. The next location, a rather spectacular looking mall attached to an indoor sports arena and concert venue was too large and indefensible by Ji-hwan's small band of fighters. "The first one was too small, the second was too big, and the third one is just right." cheerfully proclaimed Ji-hwan upon reaching what would be a suitable hideout. The third location, a four story rectangular apartment building surrounded by many identical buildings in varying conditions would have been ideal if the sound of mechs and heavy gunfire hadn't startled them from the north. The noise startled the soldiers and drove them to go back as they had just started to go into the building to check it out. The men ducked down and hid behind a row of dumpsters and fallen trees as a rocket crashed into the top floor of the building they had been eyeing. The room the rocket landed in caught on fire which quickly spread to other parts of the building. "So much for that one Goldilocks." Vargas sarcastically told Ji-hwan. "Well fuck it. I don't know what to say man." Ji-hwan remarked in frustration. From the sound of it the firefight was drawing closer. Vargas did not have the manpower with him to meet the enemy directly in this fashion nor were they armed to take down mechs in sufficiently large numbers. One or two walkers they could handle but any more than that he could find his squad wiped out in minutes. He preferred to use his element of surprise this time to escape. Regretfully he left whoever was fighting the aliens to their own fate and hoped that they would be victorious in their efforts without him.

After fleeing between the hodge-podge of ruined and intact structures down the alleyways and away from the fighting Vargas' team ran into four skitters. Ji-hwan drew a pistol and started firing and missing one coming down the side of a building towards them. Vargas hit another scaling a different wall six times in the head and shoulder to kill it. Young-gi shot and missed with his rifle but was assisted by another fighter wounding the skitter in the legs after it touched the ground. Young-gi reloaded and killed the wounded skitter and Vargas and Yeon-woo gunned down a third one. Ji-hwan drew his machete as the first skitter charged him and savagely hacked off the skitter's right arm at its elbow joint as the creature swung down at him from above. Ji-hwan then ducked underneath the left arm swinging at him sideways and closed the distance between him and the skitter. Inside of the skitter's reach Ji-hwan slashed at the area between the skitter's front two legs and stood up quickly and raked his blade across the skitter's chest before viciously embedding it in the alien's chin. As the skitter reared its front legs to kick Ji-hwan back Ji-hwan fired his last bullet up into the skitter's head, killing it and sending it tumbling backwards away from him. Vargas and Yeon-woo sidestepped the last skitter and bayoneted it in both sides of the neck. They curved back their weapons in opposite directions, cutting open the skitter as they withdrew their bayonets. The skitter's head turned loosely on its shoulders, pouring out blood from the wounds until it toppled over onto itself. Vargas then climbed on top of it and stabbed it multiple times to ensure it died and would not be reanimated for a final attack. The group then quickly headed away from the battle which began to echo in the distance to both the north and northeast.

"Who do you suppose was fighting the aliens back there? Might other army units have survived closer in to the city?" Vargas inquired. "We've seen the aliens and some other group shelling each other back and forth to the north of our position sometimes. So far they've kept their distance from us and that area is too rough for us to head up there and check it out. They've got military hardware but I doubt the army survived in Seoul after the bombardment. I mean weren't you guys the first thing they went after?" Ji-hwan replied. "Yeah they came in strong to defang our defenses right away, doesn't mean some of our units might not have survived. They might have been smart and laid low until the aliens thought they had won and pulled back the vanguard of their forces." Vargas replied. "Possibly, something about it just makes me nervous though. When everyone went crazy after the fall I learned quickly not to trust people having the best of intentions. Until I met you guys I was right. Seocho District was fucking crazy; I won't like I had to cut a motherfucker along with the crabbies to get out of there." Ji-hwan said. "Understandable, still if there are other units out there we need to make efforts to contact them." Vargas explained, admonishing Ji-hwan for his inaction. "After we move you guys to a new location to throw off the bugs we'll make efforts to entreat these fighters to the north and try to bring them in on our side." Vargas told Ji-hwan. "Whatever you say sir. I'll feel a little better having you there to do that than us going in on our own. We're not "real" soldiers after all so I can't say the army would welcome us with open arms." Ji-hwan said. "Whoever they are they are still going at it. Let's pick up the pace." Vargas said, increasing his stride to a jog as the battle continued raging in the north. The rest of the men followed suit, all the while scanning with their eyes and staying alert for any additional alien ambushes in their path.

25 Oct 1218 KST

Gangnam District, Seoul South Korea

The fighting to the north kept the scouting party moving west into Gangnam district in search of a new home for Ji-hwan and his boys.

They reached a subway station in an otherwise devastated neighborhood. Many large buildings had fallen in this area creating high walls of rubble that obscured the entrance of the station from prying eyes. Inside the station the tunnels leading away in both directions had collapsed under the weight of the structures and the street that had gave way above them while the station itself was intact and in excellent condition.

They climbed up over one of the ridges of debris on the north side of the subway station and had a look around. There wasn't much left intact in the area which would make scavenging for supplies in the immediate environs difficult. Soon the team's attention was drawn to something in the northwest. A tall tower standing among a handful of nearly identical structures stood out amidst the ruins. What made this tower different was that an alien craft was wedged into one of its upper floors. "Look over there guys. Is that...?" Yeon-woo started to ask. "Yeah it's one of those airships; the smaller ones." Vargas confirmed, squinting to focus his vision on the tower in the distance. "Today has been the day that keeps on giving, first we got a ghetto munitions plant started, then we got the whole idea with the walkers, and now God has dropped a zoomie into our laps. We should head over there and check it out." Vargas suggested. "I agree, it looks totally clear between here and there. An opportunity like this doesn't present itself every day." Yeon-woo concurred. The team then headed off towards the tower to take a closer look at the drone spaceship crash. "What thing with the walkers?" asked Ji-hwan as they started off. "I'll explain later." Vargas replied.

They reached the base of the building and looked up at the back end of the beamer sticking out of the building high above them. "We'll I'll be, that thing is still in one piece!" exclaimed Yeon-woo. "We'll I'll be damned; never saw one of these things intact before. Usually these guys do a good job of crumbling apart when we shoot them down." Vargas remarked. "This gives us an excellent opportunity to study their technology in some detail." added Young-gi. Vargas, Young-gi, Ji-hwan, Yeon-woo and two others went inside while the rest of Vargas' men remained downstairs on the ground floor of the building to guard their rear.

The six men reached the floor which the beamer had collapsed down into without any resistance. The building was abandoned completely; no alien search and rescue mission had been attempted nor had any human stepped foot into this building that rose up like a beacon from the flattened district below. They marveled looking at the front and underside of the craft, none of them had ever seen one this close. From an overhead or underside view it was spade shaped with the point of the spade at the rear of the vessel and the wide rounded curve of the craft at the front. Its outer skin was smooth to the touch yet was scaly or segmented in appearance. Looking at it from a horizontal profile on any side would make the craft appear disc shaped with a bulge more towards the front of the craft. It was light blue-grey in appearance with two ribbed fins on the top and bottom of the craft along its length as well as similar, almost organic structures on the tail and wing tips. On the edge of the wing tips were the directed energy cannons that served as the craft's primary weapon although now that the vessel had powered down they were rendered inert and useless. There appeared to be neither windows nor a cockpit visible from the outside, a sign that this was either a drone or the pilot flew on its instrumentation alone. There was no obvious damage from ground fire to the craft seeming to indicate that the ship simply went off course and crashed into the building. With the maneuvering capabilities of these things it seemed funny that one could just blindly smack into a tower like that though. There were scorch marks on top of the craft that the team could not see from their vantage point from where the lightning had struck so it appeared to them as if the beamer simply flew straight into the building. "Might as well start pulling it apart to get inside where all the goodies are. Start looking for a hatch, or a seam or something, anything we can open up to get inside." Vargas told the group. They fanned out and looked over the skin of the craft which for the most part appeared seamless.

The first thing they found was the craft's primary weapon port which was a forward directed guided munitions launcher. It was a circular port that barely protruded from the underside one third of the length down from the front of the craft close to the point in which the vessel was tallest. They pried open the bomb bay doors which surprising slid open with little effort revealing a spherical device approximately 1.15 meters in diameter with an illuminated display on a recessed notch in the top of the object. The device was wedged in a slot and held securely in place by what looked like mechanical tentacles. They also noticed that there was another slot similar to the one the warhead was contained in indicating the craft's payload was 2 warheads in addition to the wingtip cannons, one of which had presumably been fired prior to the crash. "I've been told that these are variable yield devices comparable to tactical nuclear weapons and after seeing one I'm inclined to agree." Vargas stated. "What makes you say that?" asked Young-gi. "Only carrying two bombs doesn't leave much space to react to changing conditions on the ground yet somehow these guys always have the perfect size weapon for the task no matter how quickly things change. I don't see them re-arming in midair so fair assumption is that the weapons' yield can be quickly and easily adjusted." Vargas said. "How is that even possible?" asked Ji-hwan. "Isn't a bomb the size it is when it's made, how can that be changed?" he reiterated his question. "It's not that far-fetched, modern nuclear weapons have been able to adjust their yield for half a century the fact that the aliens can do it should come as no surprise." Vargas answered. "What I want to know is how the output can vary so wildly on them. With our bombs a nuke is still a nuke, you just get to just between a big ass blast and an even bigger ass blast. The aliens seem to be able to fine tune their shit to a much higher degree. I've seen them take down a couple city blocks all the way down to a single house with these weapons as well as upping their yield to wipe out an entire district or two" Yeon-woo commented. "Yeah, and what sucks is they all look the same coming down on you. You can run but you never know just how big that bang is going to be when it hits." Vargas lamented. "Only way to find out is to pull that baby out of there and take her home." Vargas said directing the two men with them to bring the axes from the emergency firefighting kits placed in certain hallways throughout the building and use them to free the device so they could remove it.

While they were working on that Young-gi and Yeon-woo climbed on top of the craft to check for any entry points there. "Lightning strike, that's what did her in." commented Yeon-woo after noticing the damage on the top side of the craft. The scorched area however was easy to peel away and the two men were able to tear away some of the vessel's skin with Yeon-woo's rifle and bayonet. While they were peeling away the burnt shell of the beamer on top the men below were chopping at the metallic tentacles which were harder than they looked like to cut through. After cutting through one of them and striking the warhead the other tentacles retracted and coiled away seemingly through the malfunction of an automatic launch sequence triggered by all the chopping and clanging around in the weapons port. "Easy there! Don't want to set it off." Vargas sternly warned the two men. Thankfully the warhead gave no indication that it had been armed, only released by the tentacles and unlatched by a set of four claws positioned on the launcher which allowed Vargas and the other men to carefully roll it out of the tube. "Careful. Careful." Vargas cautioned the men.

On top Ji-hwan had cleared enough of the outer shell away to reveal what lies beneath the skin. It turns out that there wasn't much to see. There was hardly any space inside the craft; no cockpit, nor cargo hold only a narrow crawl space running along the spine of the craft. Ji-hwan couldn't fit inside, his shoulders and hips were too broad so he had to send Young-gi, who was short and as thin as a rail inside and even he had difficulty moving around in there. "What do you see down there?" asked Ji-hwan. "Not a damn thing." reported back Young-gi. There were no control surfaces or pilot as would be expected in a drone but also nothing that could be considered an antenna or onboard computer from which the craft could be piloted remotely. There seemed to be bundles of fibrous material, similar to nerve tissue running in long strands along the length of the craft. There were mechanical components as well, long pipes and coils below the fibrous bands and warm metallic plates which Young-gi crawled along. There were no further access ports along the length of the vessel save for a large metal dome beneath the tallest part of the craft. The ship's onboard power plant and propulsion system were presumed to fill the remainder of the craft.

While Young-gi worked on getting the solid dome open inside the ship Ji-hwan reported down to Vargas and the others what they had found. "As expected, no cockpit, no control surfaces of any kind." reported Ji-hwan confirming their presumption that the small craft was a drone. "It got it!" exclaimed Young-gi prompting Ji-hwan to run over towards him. As he ran over the top of the craft some of the superstructure to the tower upon which the ship was resting began to crack and crumble due to the rapid shift in weight due to both Ji-hwan's movements and the removal of the warhead. The crunching, crackling and groaning sounds were disregarded and Ji-hwan and Young-gi continued their work. "What is it?" asked Ji-hwan who in returned received nothing but silence. Young-gi was amazed by what he had found and recoiled away from it once he opened the dome. There was one of the centipede-like creatures fused into an array of metallic ports that connected into a dense array of nerve fibers and what resembled to a white glowing fiber optic mesh. "Young-gi? Are you alive in there? Hello?" asked Ji-hwan repeatedly after Young-gi didn't respond. "I'm here, I'm here." Young-gi shouted back. "What do you see?" asked Ji-hwan. "What I'm looking at is, ummm this is less of a machine than it is a cyborg, I'm not sure if what I'm looking at is mechanical or alive." Young-gi reported back. "The hell does that mean?" asked Ji-hwan. "One of those worms, the ones that we see on the back of those zombie kids, one of those is at the core hub of this thing." Young-gi clarified his response. "Damn man, that is freaky." Ji-hwan commented. "Sergeant! We've got an alien worm in here flying this thing." Ji-hwan shouted down to Vargas as he and the others were moving the warhead towards the stairwell. "Kill it. Then get down here and give us a hand." Vargas commanded. "Young-gi, stab that motherfucker and come on out of there." Ji-hwan relayed the message to Young-gi before climbing down off the beamer. As he walked along and climbed off the superstructure cracked some more. On the floor below the ship the ceiling tiles collapsed and dirt and dust rained down from above. The horizontal support beams, wiring and plumbing snapped from above as the floor began to give way. Above Ji-hwan and Vargas pushed the warhead from behind while the other two men rolled it from the sides and Yeon-woo guided them towards the stairwell from the front. Yeon-woo got in position to slow the roll of the warhead down the stairs and braced the heavy sphere against himself.

"Hurry up Young-gi and kill that thing!" Ji-hwan yelled back to Young-gi who was still in the craft looking at the slimy wormy entity hooked up to the ship. Young-gi took out a screwdriver and stabbed it into the creature twisting it and shaking it side to side as the creature. The creature tried to squirm away but could not because it was fused with the machine. In its death thralls the harness moved some of the external surfaces which smashed through a decayed cement column propping up a section of the wall and floor above it. The collapse rained debris down on the top of the beamer which in turn weakened the slowly cavitating structure beneath the ship. The thudding of material landing above him scared Young-gi into crawling backwards towards the opening he had entered into the crawl space from. "Hurry up! The floor is collapsing!" Vargas shouted to Young-gi as he saw the floor begin to give way beneath the vessel. "I'm coming Sergeant!" Young-gi shouted back. He crawled to the opening and twisted and squirmed his way up through the hole. As he stood up the floor collapsed beneath the ship and the beamer fell down with it. The impact jostled Young-gi and made him fall down onto his knees, smacking his chin against the outer hull of the beamer. "Jump!" Vargas shouted as he ran to the edge of where the floor had collapsed, leaving Yeon-woo and the others to tend to the warhead. Vargas looked down and watched, hoping Young-gi would make it as the beamer slid diagonally out the opening of the building towards the long drop onto the street below. Young-gi pulled himself up on top of the outer skin of the beamer and stood up, readying himself to make the leap towards Vargas. As the craft slid backwards at increasing speed Young-gi lost his balance and fell backwards onto the skin of the beamer and slid down through the gaping hole through the wall. As he tumbled backwards he reached for the tail of the ship and missed again and again. He desperately snatched onto the lower portion of the rudder only to lose his grip and plummet down from the building landing face down in a loud crunchy splat onto the street below. The onlooking soldiers on the ground floor winced as they saw his body make contact with the pavement. As the dust settled around the impact the beamer slid through the opening and tumbled down onto the street where it landed on top of Young-gi and shattered into pieces from the force of the fall. All the while Vargas stood there at the edge of the hole with his hand outstretched, powerless to stop what had happened.


	76. Chapter 76: Love and Other Acts

Chapter LXXVI: Love and Other Acts of Cowardice

25 Oct 0950 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

Bremer and Tae-yon met up in a trendy cafe between the hospital and the event venue that had been repurposed to serve as the unit's mess hall, a function not too far off from its original purpose. They sat in a booth by the window looking out towards the activity going on in camp while sipping coffee and eating a breakfast of prepackaged bagels and lemon bars. Ironically this cheap low brow food was in fact what this upscale hipster joint had been unwrapping and serving as high end freshly made, earth-friendly fare before the fall. The coffee wasn't half bad for being instant coffee brewed over a trash fire. Both of them had so loaded their cups with about eight packets of non-dairy creamer and four to six pouches of sugar that they could barely taste the coffee anyways. The camp wasn't as busy as it once was; outside all Bremer could see were two men walking on patrol from one building to the next. A decent sized contingent of their forces had gone north to gather equipment from the lab that Vargas had discovered earlier which had considerably quieted the ambient atmosphere. This was odd to Bremer who had grown used to dozens of side conversations going on around him, interrupted by bursts of automatic weapons fire or explosions in the distance. Now it felt a little too quiet. For the most part everyone stayed indoors and hidden when they didn't have something to do so at the moment the camp almost appeared deserted. The quiet wasn't exactly a bad thing; they hadn't been run up upon by the bugs as was the case in Seoul and Gwanju. Bremer could hope that this was due to Seoul and Gwanju being closer to the aliens operations while the bombed out ruins of Seongnam had little value to them. Still he felt anxious to get moving and relocate, even temporarily, before the bugs decided to rush the joint. The only thing holding them back was their wounded, most of which were not critical but several would be difficult to move. They only had one ambulance and it was occupied by Han and his low budget life support system. This was the reason for Bremer's frequent meetings with Tae-yon, to coordinate care and get the worsts of the wounded ambulatory and ready to move as well as calling up more fighters from the ranks of the recovering. Usually these meetings were conducted with all of the senior staff present, addressing also the concerns of the others and dealing out daily objectives but with Vargas up north, Lyndsey otherwise occupied with Major Han's care and Kang taking inventory this was as close to a staff meeting as Bremer would have today.

"This is nice." commented Tae-yon. Bremer looked over at her curious as to what she meant. If mediocre instant coffee by candlelight in an abandoned hipstery cafe was nice then her standards must have dropped considerably since the war began? Well compared to getting shot at by aliens just about anything less that lethal could be considered grand. "It reminds me of how things used to be." Tae-yon elaborated. "You used to go to places like this back then?" Bremer asked. He had always figured Tae-yon to be someone who took her coffee on the run, given how dedicated she was to her work these days. "Maybe not this fancy but yeah. Back when I was still in school I would always stop by this quaint little cafe before my classes and have a vanilla chai tea latte. I would try to make little pictures in them but it never quite worked out the way I wanted it to." Tae-yon told him. Bremer grinned and chortled a bit before he took a sip of his coffee. "That's cute. It's hard to imagine you as being someone all laid back making latte art in places like this." Bremer commented. "Is it really?" asked Tae-yon. "Yeah, you being the consummate workaholic that you are. So were you as ambitious as you are back then?" Bremer asked her. "I'm only ambitious now because I have to be sir, you know that. I have some rather big shoes to fill." Tae-yon replied. "Well you certainly rose to the occasion." Bremer told her. "Wish I had known you before, we could have had some interesting times in less stressful days." Bremer remarked. Tae-yon laughed softly at the remark. "I heard you were quite the wild one before they put you in charge." she said. "Oh you did, did you?" Bremer asked. "Yes, word gets around mister." Tae-yon replied. "Well I must protest; those rumors about me have been greatly exaggerated." Bremer said with a halfcocked grin.

"You probably would have run me into the ground if half of what I've heard was true. I wasn't a party girl or a real go-getter back then, more like somewhere in that bland in-between. Truth be told, before this all started I never really wanted much out of life. I was a simple girl with simple dreams, nothing fancy, no fame and fortune; I didn't want to change the world. I just wanted a place of my own, a secure career with secure finances, my own car, maybe a dog or cat, and someone to fall in love with, get married and maybe raise a family with someday." Tae-yon confessed. "You just wanted security, that's not a bad thing. Personal security, job security, financial security, emotional security, securing your legacy yeah I had most of those tied up before the aliens, and I was pretty happy with myself. It kept my rear covered so I could go have a good time at night and throw it in with advancing my career by day without too much concern for the risks involved. Nowadays any kind of security is a pipe dream; your simple hopes may be asking too much." Bremer replied. He probably had all of those things tied up if he included the likelihood that there are little Bremer-bastards running around out there that he had never been told about, the products of some fling he had over the years. A stable life was never the real goal for Bremer; rather it was a backup plan in case everything else fell through. "I don't want to get married for "emotional security" Major, I honestly wanted to fall in love with that one perfect person for me." Tae-yon said homing in on one specific thing Bremer said. Of course she had to go there, Bremer thought; women are so sentimental with these things. It brought him no great delight to burst her bubble but he would lay it out for her nonetheless. "The only reason people get married is for emotional security honey, they're afraid of being left alone. "Love" as you put it is just the body's biological impulses driving you to procreate and thus continue on the species, nothing more, nothing less." Bremer replied. "It's not that Major. I can't describe it but it's not a sexual thing, it goes deeper than that. I wanted something that would last, maybe not forever but at least long enough that it seems that way from my perspective. I want a real emotional connection between me and that one other person, I can't explain it as a whole but there are a lot of little things that make it all worthwhile. Don't you ever want that? You can't tell me you've never had any romantic feelings for someone." Tae-yon asked Bremer. Bremer chuckled a little bit and held back his laughter, straightening his countenance to look as if he was giving Tae-yon's little speech some serious thought. "I don't believe in romantic love; total mental construct, it simply doesn't exist in the real world. Platonic love, agape, a general feeling of connectedness and brotherhood between all mankind that's real. That's the kind of bond between a father and son, soldier and his brother-in-arms, a good leader and his followers, between close friends, there's no desire, no envy there, it's as close to unconditional as you can get in the real world. Anything more than that is just your nuts talking, or in your case, your ovaries." Bremer explained. It was true that Bremer never loved any of the women he had bedded, nor had any emotional attachment to most of them he was not a true stoic in this regard. In such a way as he had described Bremer had loved Vargas, he had loved Taylor, he had loved many of his men that he had served alongside. He even loved his wife, no not in a romantic sense but in the general platonic sense that Bremer had just described. She had after all ran with Bremer and his circle for several years and they were close friends before they got married, after which nothing really had changed in Bremer's eyes. It wasn't that Bremer didn't understand love he merely had a different definition. By his own definition he had experienced love enough in his life to understand what it meant to him, and by his own definition he indeed "loved" the woman sitting across from him. "That's an awfully cynical way to look at life sir. I mean, what's the point of life without love?" Tae-yon replied. "The old "What is the meaning of life?" question, my dear the best philosophers the world has ever known have driven themselves mad trying to answer that question." Bremer answered. Tae-yon looked down at her cup and stirred away the shape that had former from the cream rising to the top of her latte then looked back at Bremer who had finished his cup. She was surprised with the cold, seemingly emotionless outlook the Major had on what she viewed as the big things in life. She didn't feel Bremer was a bad person only that he didn't understand, nor could she explain to him a concept which there weren't words in any language sufficient to the task. It was like talking to Mr. Spock. He saw the world in a purely rational, logical way and she was driven heavily by emotion. She had seen the rare times Bremer had become emotional before and the man clearly did not know how to deal with it. In the past he had been able to master his feelings and let logic dictate his course, crafty and conniving as he might have been. I guess it took an alien bombardment to knock down his walls, Tae-yon thought, walls which he so quickly had built back up. She sipped her drink to the finish and the two of them talked about more trivial matters until it was time for them to leave to attend to their daily business.

"I'll check back with you this afternoon once you have the light duty roster updated. I need some men cleared for action soon, we've got a lot of work up north to set up a new outpost and I haven't got the fighters to spare." Bremer told Tae-yon as he gathered up their trash onto his plate. "Understood sir. You can't rush time though; I'm not going to clear anyone that isn't ready to fight because if they get hurt worse or die that's on me." Tae-yon replied. "I'm not asking you to do that just don't be too soft on these guys. A little tired and sore isn't something that should keep them on bed rest." Bremer clarified his position. "Understood sir." Tae-yon repeated. She stood up, flashed him a smile and walked away. After she was gone Bremer looked down and smiled. Tae-yon was something else he thought. Having such a caring individual as a medical officer could be a benefit, a pleasant bedside manner counted for much during recovery. Her outlook on life however confounded Bremer. She wanted to bring as much of the way things were back into the way things are as she could. No she wasn't naive enough to believe that the world was going back to what it had been, she only believed more of the things that had been important to her then could be saved and carried on with her into the world as is. This silly little concept of love which she clung to was one of them. Not long ago she was breaking down under the pressure and now she was full of nostalgia and relentless optimism. As if she could really make this elusive and fictitious concept a reality in this world. Whatever sustains her I guess, Bremer thought as he scraped off the empty wrappers from his plate into a trash can and set the plate and empty cups in a wash bin to be cleaned by one of those working the kitchen today. They hadn't really designated a real cook since the reverend and his help had left for Ulsan so the job was done on a rotating basis by those noncombatants or persons on the light duty roster, to varying degrees of success. Bremer thought of how terrible the notion of baked beans and ketchup would be for lunch today as he passed the sign posted in the doorway upon his exit. What bizarre culinary tradition might that have been; one that made him pine for Miss Do's doomsday meatloaf that was for sure. Bremer contemplated working through lunch today as he went off to tend to his business today.

That afternoon Vargas had returned back to camp with the alien warhead in tow. They had carried it in a from Gangnam District in a street vendors cart which they found a few blocks away from the subway station. The fighting along their route which was frighteningly close on the first trip out had fallen silent along the return and thankfully they did not run into any trouble returning their prize to their home base. Though a valuable find an alien bomb could not make up for the loss of Young-gi, such tragic news would have to be reported back to those in camp as well. Ji-hwan had graciously accompanied Vargas' team back and would be returning to his men later that evening. In the morning it was expected that they would start moving into the subway station in order to lead the skitters to believe that they had been driven out by their previous day's assault. It was risky to remain there when the aliens knew of their presence but it was riskier to attempt to move the entire unit at night. With any luck whoever had engaged the enemy earlier today would have drawn their focus away from a tiny little outpost in the south of Songpa district.

Once the warhead was secured under guard in one of the buildings near the even venue Vargas reported to Major Bremer what they had found. Bremer was in the hotel at the time going over the light duty roster with Tae-yon and one of her assistants. "Major!" Vargas called out to Bremer as he came through the front door of the hospital. Bremer and Tae-yon turned to face Vargas as he approached them. "Chico! I hear you had a busy day. Come, let us head upstairs and get a room to discuss this in private." Bremer said, beckoning Vargas to follow him and Tae-yon. The old Bremer would have made some crass joke about having a threesome but this was the new "professional" Major David Bremer.

The three of them went into an empty room on the third floor and gathered away from the window and the door. "I'm guessing first that you have already been notified of the research complex we discovered this morning." Vargas stated to begin the conversation. "Yes, and we have some men up there now locking it down for us." Bremer replied. "Thanks for the tubing by the way." Tae-yon added. "Ok then, now on to the north. We met up with the northern garrison who had come off a bug attack yesterday so they needed assistance in locating a new base of operations. We found them a secure location in what remained of a subway station in Gangnam District and will be helping them move their equipment over there tomorrow." Vargas reported. "Gangnam district? That's a little beyond a hop from Seongnam station Alpha. We're going to have a big hole in our lines Chico." Bremer said. "I know but there was heavy fighting going on in Songpa district today along a wide area and Gangnam was the closest we could find that was out of the direct line of fire." Vargas explained. "Heavy fighting you say, between who?" asked Bremer. "The aliens and I can't say for certain yet. Ji-hwan has been observing them for several days off and on now and thinks they might be other army units that survived the attack. I'm planning on leading a party in the next day or two to make contact with them so we can better coordinate our efforts as a whole." Vargas answered. "Hold off on that idea for now Chico. Our prisoner has been telling us of marauders up north that have been impersonating military units in order to steal their supplies. We might want to check into the situation some more to make sure we're not walking into a trap." Bremer told him. "Understood sir. I'll relay your orders to Ji-hwan and we'll organize a few covert scouting missions to see what we're dealing with up there." Vargas replied.

"Now that isn't even the big news Major, and boy do we have a treat for you." Vargas stepped back and said to Bremer and Tae-yon. "Well come on then, do tell, this isn't Christmas Chico." Bremer goaded him. "We found a crashed zoomie stuck in one of the buildings near our future northern outpost. We had a chance to poke around inside it for a little while and pulled one of its space nukes out and brought it here. It's in the secondary storehouse under heavy guard as we speak if you want to check it out." Vargas told him. "Excellent I'll get someone to check it out as soon as we're done here to make sure there isn't a tracking device on it or a remote detonator. If it's clean that little guy could be our ace in the hole." Bremer replied. Han would have been the best qualified to examine such a device, the technology involved would have been outside of Lyndsey's experience; heck who was he kidding, none of their people would have had any idea of what they were looking at. He just needed someone who wouldn't accidentally arm the damn thing. "You said you had a chance to poke around inside it, what else did you find?" Bremer asked. "The one we found was a drone, there was no pilot, no manner of onboard controls that we could discern, there wasn't even an "inside" of the craft to speak of, it's all one tight package of packed in machinery." Vargas explained. "We did find one of those creepy crawly centipede things at what appeared to be the CPU hub though." Vargas said. "Just like on the kids that were taken." remarked Bremer. ". . .and on the aliens themselves. I guess these might actually be who "they" are after all." Tae-yon added.

"Wait, you say the aliens have those centipede things attached to them too?" asked Vargas. "Yes, except they wear it on the inside." replied Bremer. "When we cut one of them open we found the same kind of creature on the aliens backs beneath the shell." Tae-yon elaborated. "The parasite hypothesis seems all the more likely now." Tae-yon commented. "What if these aren't the true aliens like we first suspected but rather a tool, a piece of organic technology? The internals of the ship seemed to be just as much biological as it was technological in nature." Vargas suggested. "That's just as plausible as the parasite theory I suppose." Tae-yon stated. "Thinking about the centipedes like that has just given me an idea, so hear me out now. What if the ones the aliens wear acts as a transmitter and the others act as a receiver? This could be how they coordinate their drones to fly close air support for their ground forces. As you have probably noticed more of the zoomies lately have been of the smaller drone class rather than the fighter/bombers or transport/gunships. Now suppose we could hijack one of these transmitters or at the very least find a way to jam it. We could potentially be able to turn a portion of the bugs own forces against them." Vargas proposed. "That's a mighty big leap of faith for an untested theory." Bremer remarked. "I know, but seeing as we have the worm that you peeled off the dead alien with us we could poke around with it and maybe get a better idea of what we are dealing with and if we're barking up the right tree how to exploit it." Vargas said. "I wouldn't even know where to begin, these creatures, devices whatever they are, are incredibly complex. They operate more on the molecular level than on the cellular. It would take months just to break it down and figure out what each of the constituent parts do." Tae-yon added. "But given enough time do you think you could? We can bag you another alien if you need one, that's no problem." Vargas asked her." I've already started picking it apart and trying to understand it when I've had the time away from my patients. So far that thing is so far out of my league I don't have the vaguest idea of what I'm looking at. Lucky for me it doesn't decompose like the rest of the creature does so that gives me time but seriously I'm going to need help to interpret my findings. There are textbooks in all of the universities around here and I could probably bone up on the medical side of things but there's more than just anatomy and physiology going on here. I'm going to need scientists, like real scientists across several disciplines, molecular biology, computer science, quantum physics, organic chemistry, engineering and so forth to go over this with me." Tae-yon replied. "What about Young-gi? He's like a baby scientist right?" Bremer asked Vargas. Vargas turned to Bremer and his countenance fell. "Young-gi died on our last mission. He was in the craft when it fell out of the building and smashed onto the street below." Vargas somberly reported. Bremer let out a soft breath and gave a silent pause to show respect for the dead. "I guess that answers the "When are you bringing back the rest of the ship?" question." Bremer remarked trying to lighten the mood and get their minds off of Young-gi's death and death in general. "Yeah the rest of the craft is non-salvageable." Vargas replied. "Well shit, but hey we got the bomb!" Bremer said acknowledging the victory they had achieved. That bomb, provided they could figure it out, could have a decisive impact if used properly. "I guess from this point we'll scout out these fighters in the north and if properly vetted we'll see where that takes us. Maybe they'll have a scientist among them. If not keep doing what you are doing Tae-yon and we'll make do. You've been doing a bang up job sister and I know whatever happens you'll exceed our expectations. Chico, I've got 3 more men released from light duty that we can staff the Seongnam Bravo with or you can take them with you, whatever you feel is appropriate, I trust your judgement. Also try to look for somewhere we can cover the gap in our lines across Songpa district, I'd rather be spread a little thin than let a huge column of bugs in unnoticed." Bremer instructed both of them. Vargas and Tae-yon nodded in unison. "If that is all then both of you are dismissed." Bremer told Vargas and Tae-yon and the three of them went downstairs and split off. Tae-yon went back to her patients. Bremer went to the venue to get the completed inventory report and then go to survey the grounds around the perimeter. Vargas stopped by the ambulance and checked in with Lyndsey and the still comatose Major Han before he headed off to Ulsan on his last run for the day.


	77. Chapter 77: Refugees - Part 1

Chapter LXXVII: Refugees - Part 1

26 Oct 0622 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Vargas' team arrived back in the Songpa District outpost at dawn with a few more soldiers now off the wounded roster to bolster the numbers on their northern flank. It was a clear day now that the last clouds of the rainy season had moved on in the hours before daybreak. Seoul typically had rather dry winters which would be welcome in the coming months after all the wet weather that had persisted from a late monsoon season. It was a brisk morning, a little chilly at first but after a quick march from Seongnam it was quite comfortable. It was the sun's last hurrah before what was expected to be a deep freeze this winter. The dust from the orbital bombardment still lingered in the atmosphere and would make winter come colder and earlier this year so mild pleasant days like this would not frequent the Korean peninsula in the months ahead. Vargas thought little about the idea of skitters in the snow as he drew near to the northern garrison's headquarters; his mind was focused solely on moving these people into their new home.

No one was waiting for them outside as they expected. Ji-hwan had returned the previous evening with orders that they were to depart at dawn. Surely the sentries would have spotted them by now; they approached the block openly as to not trigger a friendly fire incident. Concerned that the location had been overrun Vargas and another soldier entered into the gym while another pair entered into an adjacent restaurant to investigate. Inside they found the sentries asleep on duty along with everyone else minus Ji-hwan, Jae-sung, So-hyun and a handful of others that Vargas didn't know by name. They woke up the sentries and everyone else inside and told them to get ready to move out then went outside again. Vargas' men took up defensive positions while the northern platoon was packing up. A few minutes later a Humvee drove up and parked in the alleyway beside two of the buildings. Vargas' men trained their guns on the vehicle until they saw Ji-hwan hop out of the driver's seat then they lowered their weapons and Vargas came out of the shop he was hiding in to meet Ji-hwan and his men.

"You're late." Vargas said kiddingly as he approached Ji-hwan. "You're early." Ji-hwan replied. The two of them smiled and continued walking towards each other. Jae-sung came out of the passenger seat and So-hyun and the others exited out of the back of the vehicle. "We found us a brand new Humvee on our last patrol. Someone had fixed it up and just left it there. Pristine condition too, not as much as a scratch." Ji-hwan reported. "Someone had to ditch it in a hurry I'd imagine; must've been the troops we saw fighting the crabs earlier." Ji-hwan continued. "Hold up, which troops? Ours or the mystery men?" asked Vargas. "Mystery men." answered Ji-hwan. "Ah, suppose they might have left behind any more heavy equipment?" Vargas asked. They were short on vehicles down south and legit military hardware would be an upgrade over using beat up pickup trucks with machine guns bolted to the roof. "From what we saw they had howitzers and rocket launchers with them. Zoomies took them out but I'd assume they probably abandoned some more of their gear when they were routed." Ji-hwan answered. Damn, the aliens must have hit hard if they pushed back a force replete with Humvees and heavy artillery. "How bad was the fighting last night?" Vargas inquired before they left. "It got pretty intense, I counted at least thirty mechs and seven or eight drones making repeated attack runs. With that level of tech out there I can only imagine how many more crabs were on the ground. Honestly, I'd say the aliens are starting to get the upper hand now." answered Ji-hwan. "What makes you say that?" asked Vargas. "A week or so ago the worst fighting was way off there on the horizon, last night it got as close as a block or two away from us. I was afraid that we would end up drawn into the engagement. Needless to say no one got any sleep last night." Ji-hwan reported. "That explains the sentries snoring when we got here." Vargas remarked. "Don't blame me; I gave them a few cans of monster to keep up." Ji-hwan said with a smile. "Just have them out here and ready to go in half an hour. I want to get out of here before the bugs come back to finish the job." Vargas told Ji-hwan.

The northern garrison loaded their equipment into the Humvee, hand carts and rickshaws. Vargas and Ji-hwan boarded the Humvee and headed out along with a contingent of motorcycle mounted troops led by So-hyun to clear a safe route ahead. Following behind them was the rest of the garrison riding bicycles, on foot or pushing and pulling the carts containing their supplies. The rear was covered by a heavily armed squad of infantry to protect their supply train from ambush. They went south through the northern reaches of the ruins of Seongnam to avoid stepping into the crossfire between the aliens and their unknown opponent in Songpa District. Here in the ruins were nothing but memories, the aliens gave little thought to this graveyard and little to nothing remained for any humans to scavenge. They quietly passed through this realm of ghosts until they reached the limits of what the fire had wrought. An open stretch of road through a field was all that separated them from the standing ruins of Seoul now.

Contact with the mysterious persons that had been engaging the aliens to the north would come earlier than expected. After the head of the convoy had re-entered Seoul and slipped into the side streets to avoid detection they crossed paths with what they believed was one of the factions they were seeking to avoid for now. Just as the Humvee was turning north towards Gangnam District they were spotted by others who were heading south. A group of 17 civilians, men and women between the ages of 16-45, approached the Humvee as it was stopped in an intersection while Vargas and a couple others got out to clear disabled cars and debris out of their path. They had been noticed and there was no point running now. They were evenly matched in case things went sour not to mention the bulk of their forces running several blocks behind them would eventually catch up to the head of the column and tilt the scales further in their favor. Feeling confident that he operated from a position of strength Vargas decided it was as good a time as any to make contact.

Unbeknownst to Vargas this group was not representative of those who had been holding the human battle lines in Songpa District. Rather they were a band of deserters, independents and de facto slaves fleeing from that group, which was the same "Empire" that Jake had encountered in Gangdong District and that Jin-shil had warned the 4th Korea about.

Now military aged men and women in reasonably good health were incorporated into Kwang-su's Imperial Army or into the tax system if their abilities or loyalty were dubious to the leadership. Some women, if their abilities had been proven were also accepted into fighting positions. Select women were also chosen to fill the harems of Kwang-su, his lieutenants and regional barons and earls. The Imperials did not accept young children, the old, infirm or disabled into their ranks; when the Imperials crossed them they were either turned away of killed on the spot depending on the discretion of the unit commander. This group however would have been gladly accepted by the Imperials and in fact some of them had been part of their army for a time. The refugees slowed down and proceeded with caution towards Vargas' men once they had taken notice of them. They shared the same sense of mistaken identity that Vargas and company had, for they also assumed the people they were looking at were members of the "Empire."

"Welcome to Seongnam, population 108; that is unless you count the aliens." Vargas cordially greeted the group of refugees. "Umm, hello." one of the men replied nervously. Vargas could sense the tension in the band of refugees; many of them were nervously clutching their guns, ready to draw at the moment anything got the slightest bit fishy. Vargas' men stopped what they were doing and watched the meeting. The 4th Army's soldiers did not reach for their weapons or do anything to give the impression that they had hostile intent. It was in everyone's best interest here if diplomacy prevailed. "I presume you are the ones that we heard last night fighting the aliens? Have they driven you this far south or are you pursuing them, because if it's the latter I can tell you I have seen no aliens come through these parts all day." Vargas asked the group. "What's he saying?" a woman who did not understand English asked the lead man. "He's asking us if we're with the Empire's militia." the man told the woman. He then turned back to Vargas and stared him down, trying to read his body language and determine if he was attempting to deceive them. "It's not the aliens that drove us out of Seoul, it was humans." the man said after a protracted period of silence. "Humans? Aren't we all on the same side now?" Vargas replied. "Some people didn't get that memo. They're the ones you're looking for, the ones doing the heavy lifting in south Seoul." the man told Vargas. "We're not exactly looking for them we just heard all the fighting last night and assumed that was you." Vargas replied. "Well if you are looking for them I have some advice for you; don't." a second woman stepped forward and said, relaxing her grip on her weapon. "Just because you are with them doesn't mean they are not against you." she warned. "Where are you coming from and what business do you have in Seoul if you have no dealings with the Empire?" asked the lead man. Vargas laughed a little and then hastened to regain his composure. "Sorry, I just found that name preposterous. What could you possibly claim as an empire here; a few bombed out city blocks, nah I think I'll pass on the pomp and circumstance no thank you." Vargas sarcastically remarked. Vargas waved behind his back to signal his men to resume working towards clearing a path. "Back to your question, we're with a remnant of the military formerly based in Seongnam. Our outpost was attacked by the bugs and we're looking for a new place to stay." Vargas explained. Another man drew close to the leader and whispered something softly in Korean in the leader's ear. "I see." the leader told the man then looked back at Vargas. Everyone crouched for cover as a beamer dive bombed a location about half a kilometer northeast of them. Once it was evident that they weren't the ones under attack both groups stood back up and lowered their weapons to present a non-threatening image to each other. Some of them withdrew into hidden places out of view of potential alien scouts. "Who exactly are you?" the leader questioned Vargas. "First Sergeant Antonio Vargas of the Republic of Korea Fourth Army, formerly of the United States 2nd Infantry Division, 8th Army. Some of my men are soldiers from the former First Army; others are conscripts we picked up to fill in the gaps that the aliens cut through our ranks." Vargas replied. There was no degree of deception in Vargas' voice. The leader of the refugees began to feel inclined to trust Vargas and since a firefight hadn't broken out between the two groups yet the rest of the people were starting to feel more at ease as well. Could it be that these men were the remnants of the army that they had heard about the day the sky fell? The way they conducted themselves, at least this man, a foreigner who appeared to be the leader, lent itself to the fact that Vargas' men were the real deal. He wasn't sloppy like Kwang-su's fighters nor did he notice any of the telltale signs of an ambush. The lead man, an experienced former soldier himself many years ago, could pick up on the involuntary cues when Kwang-su's untrained rabble unknowingly broadcast their intentions. They had heard that a portion of the army had regrouped in Seongnam early on but didn't know if they had survived the alien ground campaign. "Well Sergeant Vargas, my name is Hong-gi and my allegiance is to myself and these folks you see here." the leader introduced himself to Vargas. He extended a hand back towards those with him to indicate his affiliation was with them alone. "Sorry to burst your bubble but you won't find safe haven in Seoul that's for sure." the leader then told Vargas. If the aliens didn't sniff them out then the Imperials surely would. "So it would seem." Vargas replied.

The sound of mechs could be heard approaching from the north. There were at least three distinct pairs of footfalls and with mechs there were always an untold number of skitters. "It appears we won't have time to stand around and get acquainted further." Vargas told Hong-gi as he signaled to his men to secure their work and prepare to fall back towards Seongnam. Vargas' soldiers got back onto their bikes and into the Humvee. Those on foot went on ahead of them the way that they had come in order to warn their rear units of the danger. "So it would seem." Hong-gi stated as he too instructed his people to move out. "Mind if we tag along?" Hong-gi asked Vargas. "The more the merrier." Vargas agreed. Hong-gi and Vargas both went back to their units and the whole of their forces withdrew back through Seongnam until Vargas had collected the totality of his forces and led the two groups to pull back further from the enemy, beyond the flattened ruins in hopes of outrunning or avoiding the mech patrol, ready to fight but hoping they would not have to.


	78. Chapter 78: Refugees - Part 2

Chapter LXXVIII: Refugees - Part 2

26 Oct 2310 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

After slinking through Seongnam and Seoul for the better portion of the day keeping a step ahead of the aliens the 4th Korea and the Imperial refugees had finally managed to shake the aliens. They had avoided direct engagement which in turn kept the threat level from escalating, and thus their skillful evasion had bought them a night of peace.

The leadership of the refugees along with Vargas, Ji-hwan, Jae-sung, Shi-woo, So-hyun and a handful of soldiers on watch gathered on the rooftop of a shopping center that night. The rest of their respective units slumbered inside the shopping center and in modest apartments across the street. While a degree of trust had been obtained between the two groups Vargas was not about to show them the new location for the north garrison that he had searched so hard to find the previous day. Alien activity was minimal tonight and there were no engagements between them and Kwang-su's forces within sight or sound of the rooftop. The beamers flying overhead had become so commonplace that it was hardly noticed. Yes everyone knew that the aliens knew where they were but they also knew that they wouldn't bother with airstrikes against small non-threatening groups. It was only when the clattering mechs or stealthy spiders drew near that the fighters would have cause for concern.

"So these people fighting up north, if they aren't regular army where did they get all that fancy gear?" asked Jae-sung. "After the bombardment there was plenty of the stuff lying around, the rest they stole from pockets of soldiers that had survived. I told you, with these people even if you are with them they are against you." answered Da-hee, one of the women with the refugee group. "That isn't too hard to believe. We had to abandon a lot of gear when we evacuated the city." stated Vargas remembering the MRAP that they had left behind. It was plausible that given enough time someone could have dug it out, propped it back up and driven it away. "Yeah and these guys would play into the feelings of comradery the other survivors had; the we're on all the same side mentality and use that to ambush otherwise good people and take everything they had." added Chae-young, another refugee and Hong-gi's apparent second in command.

"What I want to know is how did you know to come here?" asked one of the soldiers. There was still that feeling of suspicion amongst the 4th Korea that these refugees were in fact operatives of this Empire and should not be fully trusted. "Or to trust us? We had someone else fleeing this would be Emperor guy and she shot one of our men assuming we were with him." Vargas added. "Well if you had experience the wrong side of the Empire you would understand why she had every right to be paranoid." Da-hee told them. "We heard the army was massing in Seongnam early on. There were men that came through urging us to evacuate in that direction. We were actually on our way to join you when the Geomis ground forces struck. After that those of us that remained were picked up by the Emperor's army. They were a lot smaller in those days and not quite so depraved. For a time they protected us but we started to see the writing on the wall so we ran, and here we are." Chae-young explained.

"You keep calling this northern warlord the Emperor? Emperor of what?" dismissively asked Ji-hwan. "Of Seoul, he thinks." Hong-gi answered. "Our Napoleon's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder eh?" Ji-hwan derisively replied. "At least he sets realistic goals, not like he's claiming to be king of the world or anything." Vargas commented. "Concerning this Emperor, hmm, Does the name Kwang-su mean anything to you?" inquired Vargas. "Yeah, that's the Emperor's name. We rarely call him that though; it's either Emperor or Douchebag these days." Hong-gi replied. "Or Emperor Douchebag." remarked Myung-yong, another refugee and that group's demolitions expert. "What about before the aliens, do any of you know anything about the man before he went off on this power trip?" So-hyun asked going down a line of questioning the others had not thought of yet. "Yeah, sort of; he was a left-wing twitter activist; I recall the name popping up in the comments section of a few current events websites from time to time. Other than what he did in his spare time I couldn't tell you." answered Da-bin, Da-hee's twin brother. "Yeah I knew the guy, or I should say knew of him before the world collapsed." Da-hee reluctantly confessed. Knowing she was in the company of many who hated the Emperor admitting that she knew the man in the world before would likely draw dirty looks and the feelings behind them from her fellows. "I knew of him only because we frequented the same blogs and likewise he knew of me." Da-hee tried to downplay her association with Kwang-su. "I will admit the fact we were on the same side of most issues helped me avoid the brothels or the bullet early on." Da-hee confessed, sounding all the more worried the more she spoke. "No wait, this is good. We need to know all we can about this guy and his operation. Odds are if we hang around Seoul long enough we're eventually going to have to deal with him." Vargas said hoping to quell Da-hee's fears and the feelings of disdain and betrayal that her colleagues might have felt. "Well Kwang-su, and the people he most closely associated with they were the real deal and a scary one at that. These guys are hardcore revolutionaries; they aren't the armchair socialists or North Korean sympathizers that you see a lot online these people were the true believers. They were the kind of people that would sit around not only fantasizing about how to bring about their ideal vision for humanity should the system collapse but actually plot and devise real workable strategies to implement said vision. For these people the alien invasion was the best thing that ever happened to the world and they were ever so eager to put their plans into action even while the fires were still burning." Da-hee explained. "There's just one little problem with their logic. You see before you can rebuild society in your image on a planet occupied by an alien race, you first have to get rid of all the damned aliens!" mockingly exclaimed Ji-hwan. "People like that rarely think of the aliens." Vargas said. "Hell, people like that rarely think." Vargas corrected himself. "You may be right but I urge you to not take these people lightly. They will do anything to make their vision a reality, death, torture, slavery, they will put every last one of you through hell if they think it would bring them one inch closer to their goals." warned Hong-gi.

"So how was some yahoo like this able to raise his own Mad Max style army so quickly?" asked Ji-hwan. "Yeah, if this guy is so bad then why do all these people still fight for him? There can't be that many people who buy into this grand utopia thing with him." asked Jae-sung. "He offers something that people so desperately need now; that is an illusion of strength. To provide that strength he buys the loyalty of the best fighters with slave girls and uses them to intimidate the others." explained Myung-yong. "Yeah, and us girls we're just trapped between staying with them and being cast to the monsters outside." added Chae-young. "Sounds like some Boko Haram shit to me." Vargas commented. "There is safety in numbers and we were willing to live with their rules so long as they kept the Geomis off our backs. I'd imagine it's the same for most people." said Myung-yong. "It's either that or the aliens and people well, people would rather be oppressed by people than Geomis." Da-hee said. "Stick with the devil you know eh?" remarked Ji-hwan. "We fought alongside these people. They're not all bad, it's just some of the leadership have gone out of their gourds. Unfortunately those people hold a lot of sway over the rest." Myung-yong stated. "Ah to hell with that shit, give me a few solid men and I'll go knock this wannabe Napoleon down to size." Ji-hwan declared, seemingly ready to go out and unify the human resistance and bring it out of the hands of a pretentious would be tyrant.

"Enthusiastic as you may be you can't take him; he's got no less than 1100 men spread out over 5 districts sworn to his command." Da-hee warned. "Seems like Seoul's new overlord is playing by the new over-overlord's rules" mused Vargas. "Spread out over five districts you say?" Let me guess in groups no larger than fifty to one hundred souls?" Vargas questioned the refugees. "Yes. That sounds about right, for the main ones. Some units are even smaller than that." answered Hong-gi ". . .and I bet he can't marshal them all together at once or the aliens will hit you with enough force to wipe you off the face of the earth correct?" Vargas continued with his line of questioning. "I guess, maybe, I thought more along the lines of them being spread out to keep the local populations in line." Hong-gi answered again. "Well trial and error has taught us that the bugs hit large concentrations of people any time they are gathered together." Vargas explained. If this Emperor did not already know this then that was one thing they could use to their advantage. The two groups continued to discuss these matters into the night as they stood guard over their temporary nest. Suspicions between the two parties lessened and trust deepened; not enough that they would be welcomed into their fold but enough to believe what they said was the honest to goodness truth. Vargas had learned much from these refugees. Now the 4th Korea was undeniably faced with a new faction in Seoul and would have to decide upon a course of action concerning them.


	79. Chapter 79: Shield or Bludgeon

Chapter LXXIX: Shield or Bludgeon

27 Oct 0729 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

While the Imperial refugees remained in the company of Ji-hwan and the northern garrison Vargas returned to headquarters to inform Bremer on how the state of human affairs in Seoul had degraded since they had abandoned it to the aliens. As Vargas was searching for Bremer a trio of bicyclists that had arrived with word from Anyang along with a small package crossed his path. The 4th Korea had resorted to more frequently using bicycles to communicate and move a small amount of goods around in order to save on fuel and minimize their thermal imprint from the skies. The few motorized vehicles they had were reserved for bulk transport, quick evacuation and as a last resort for combat duties. Vargas flagged down the cyclists which rode back towards him. Are you taking that to Major Bremer?" he asked. "The correspondence yes. The package is going to the field hospital. It's some prescriptions they needed." one of the cyclists told him. "I'll take the letter, you go on to the hospital with the rest." Vargas told them. After they were gone he opened the letter as he walked along and looked over the reports. It was nice of them to write it in English. "Appears everything in Anyang is going well." Vargas said to himself. That was nice to know. Vargas then set off to find Bremer wherever he might be at in the camp.

He found Bremer at the southern edge of the pond south of their home base outside a small cafe in the woods right before you reached a small bridge that led back to the more urban parts of south Seongnam and Yongin. The cafe was used as a lookout post to guard the approach to their south and was staffed with at least four fighters inside and one in the forest by the bridge. Bremer was standing next to the RV going over something with the driver when Vargas approached. "Just go across that bridge and through the woods a little while and you'll hit a highway going towards parts of Gwanju and Yongin, you'll want to go past it. There are mech patrols on that road which is why we haven't occupied those apartment towers over there. Your best bet is to take the city streets south before you hit the next major highway. It shouldn't take long to get to our boys in Yongin and from there you're on your own. Good luck!" Bremer gave a final set of instructions to the people in the RV wishing them well as he sent them away. Bremer turned to see Vargas coming across the small paved lot in front of the cafe towards him as the RV drove away.

"What was that all about sir?" asked Vargas. "Remember the deep south expedition we had discussed? Well we finally had enough manpower that we could fill that RV and send it out. Both our Yongin and Gwanju detachment have picked up more survivors that we're adding to our ranks, couple that with those coming off the light duty roster and we've got more than enough to spare for the trip." Bremer said. "Speaking of, here, Anyang seems to be doing well too." Vargas said handing Bremer the enveloped. Bremer took the envelope and looked at the message within in quite pleased at what it had to say about the situation there. "Though I think you're probably going to regret sending that expeditionary force out after you here the rest of what I have to tell you." Vargas continued. "Why is that?" Bremer asked. "There are "complications" in Seoul sir." Vargas reported. "What kind of complications? Did you get the northern garrison moved into their new home already?" Bremer asked. "Not quite sir." Vargas reported. "We ran into a group of refugees in Seoul. At first glance that seems like a good thing, more boots on the ground so to speak. The thing about them is they weren't running from the aliens, they were running from humans. Apparently the forces that had been fighting the aliens north of our lines aren't part of the army or any aligned militia group. They're a glorified gang of outlaws that call themselves the Empire. According to the refugees these guys have been killing soldiers and taking their weapons and doing all sorts of god awful things to the people that fall under their protection." Vargas explained. "So they've basically corroborated everything that Major Han's shooter has been saying to me then." Bremer replied. "Basically, yes." Vargas said.

"What's more it wasn't a mistake that we found them. They were looking for us and knew we would be here." Vargas told Bremer. "Early on in the invasion word spread throughout the districts that we were regrouping in Seongnam. These guys caught wind of it then and remembered it well enough to come looking when their new masters proved to be less than kind to them." Vargas reported. "So Major Yu's little plan worked after all." Bremer commented. "Indeed, it appears that way yes." Vargas said. "In that case we can assume that some of Kwang-su's minions had heard the same thing these people did and would know where we were too." Bremer surmised. "Inevitably we will end up being face to face with this guy." he continued. "My thoughts exactly sir. Though I was hoping to delay dealing with them until after we had our strength built back up." Vargas replied. "That would still be the best course of action. We'll pull back and observe but do not engage." Bremer gave his orders. "Nothing says we can't do good things with bad people. Right now they are a bulwark to our north. If we went out and completely neutralized them it would be us having to fight the aliens directly." Bremer explained. "Even now after we know what kind of vile things these people are doing up there? Shouldn't we do something for the people suffering under them?" Vargas asked. "You've got a big heart Chico but this time you've got to think with your head. Remember I had the same problem when it was one of our own I was trying to save. We're not repeating that mistake for complete strangers. No, it's better to let this pack of scum and villainy take the punches for now while we lay low and recover our strength. To the aliens I think us and the Empire are one and the same. So long as they are killing humans they think they are winning and I'll be damned if it's our humans doing the dying when it could be these sons of bitches. It's just like you said Chico, we have to avoid direct confrontation for a while if we're going to have any chance of success." Bremer explained. It was a cold way of looking at the situation but a logical one. When Bremer had made up his mind about something he was difficult to sway. Vargas' did not have a rational case for action this time, in fact he would be contradicting the very advice he fought so hard to get Bremer to consider after they lost the hospital. His motive was solely driven on emotion this time. As much as it pained him as both a human being and a Catholic he was forced for the moment to consign the people living in Seoul to their fate under the Empire until such time that circumstances would force the inevitable conversation. "I understand sir." Vargas reluctantly consented to his superiors orders.

"Seeing as we've got a new threat rising in the north and all the while we're still planning the Incheon offensive do you still feel it was wise to send men south so soon?" asked Vargas. "It isn't too late for me to stop them in Yongin and bring them back." he suggested. "That will not be necessary Chico. We really must extend the reach of our operation beyond the capital region. If we keep waiting until we are in the perfect place to risk sending people out it will never happen. There is always a more pressing issue at our doorstep that requires our attention. We've got to show people in other places that someone is standing up to the bugs. We have to show them that there is still hope and most of all we will need their help. For all we know some spots may have fared better through this than we did." Bremer explained his rationale. "Between our new volunteers and your defectors we should be able to handle any troubles to the north." Bremer asserted. Vargas could see his point, if they were kept pinned down in Seoul eventually they would be worn down and destroyed. They had to expand; they had to stay mobile, stay active if there was any chance to outlast the aliens' resolve. Still Vargas felt incredibly nervous about the situation. They were faced with a hostile adversary ten times their strength who unlike the aliens would not been so dismissive and naive. A human adversary would be understand human nature, and not underestimate their cunning. Yes, Vargas considered them an adversary even though no hostilities had occurred between the "Empire" and the 4th Korea. If any of the stories the refugees brought with them were true then Vargas knew there could be no peace, no alliance in a common cause.

Bremer stepped back away from Vargas and looked north then back at Vargas again. He also thought to take precaution as well when addressing the situation in the north. "If we're good, I need to go pay a little visit to our esteemed guest. Seems I owe her an apology." Bremer told Vargas. "We're good sir. I'll see you around." Vargas answered. Vargas then went to clean himself up while Bremer headed back to the venue to pay Jin-shil a visit.

Bremer entered into Jin-shil's room unarmed, leaving one guard posted outside the door. Jin-shil was no longer bound; she had been free to move about the room for a while now. She had her own water and personal hygiene supplies and was brought hot meals when they were prepared. She even had a small stack of books and magazines to help her pass the time. "Glad to see you're starting to adapt to life here. You're a lot easier to deal with when you're not such a salty bitch all the time." Bremer said to Jin-shil. "What do you expect when you keep me locked up in this filthy cage? I think I would have a right to come off a little salty." she asked in return. "I wouldn't call it a "filthy" cage. We've taken good care of you while you were here, better than some of our own. You haven't been want for anything so it would be nice if you showed a little gratitude, or maybe I'm just expecting too much." Bremer replied. "Yes, you provide a more comfortable cage than my previous captors but it is still a cage." Jin-shil replied. "Very well a cage is a cage even if it's all the rage, I get you." Bremer conceded.

"On to business, I didn't come today just to chat and brighten your day. I came because I need information about the people that you were with before us. Seems like we've come across a group of exiles from Seoul that can corroborate most of what you have been saying and seeing as if it's inevitable that we're going to face these guys in the near future I would like to know everything I can about what I am dealing with." Bremer told her. "I've told you everything I know about them but you didn't believe me." Jin-shil said. "Not everything, I would assume. I need to know tactics, what's their M.O., how did they get so strong, what's keeping them together and so forth. Seeing as I believe you now, how about we clear the air and you just open the book on these guys one more time." Bremer said to her. As bitter as Jin-shil was with her new captors she hated her old captors more. "So you finally believe me now?" Jin-shil sarcastically asked. "I was locked in their brothel the whole time so I know very little. What I do know is what I heard the fighters discussing in the hallway. I had also had the "privilege" of knowing one of the high ranking lieutenants in Kwang-su's army. Whatever you need to know I will tell you. I would like nothing better than to help you send each and every one of those fiends straight to hell." Jin-shil answered him. "You are going to take them down aren't you?" Jin-shil asked. "Yes, but we can't be brash about it." Bremer lied. He needed whatever information Jin-shil had and would say anything to get it. So Jin-shil told him everything she knew. Eventually Bremer knew that he may have to take the Empire down but not today. He would try to use them, work around them, and even cooperate them when their interests coincided. Bremer understood the big picture, that the aliens were the real enemy. All out war between humans was to be avoided, but not at any cost. Nevertheless even if conflict was inevitable Bremer would seek to delay it as long as possible. If he had to align himself with the little demons in order to defeat the big demons then so be it.


	80. Chapter 80: Guile and Gusto

Chapter LXXX: Guile and Gusto

30 Oct 1951 KST

Incheon, South Korea

For those outside of the grip of Dong Zhao's organization in Incheon and the neighboring parts of Seoul to the north life remained difficult but cautiously optimistic. Even with mixed feelings between them concerning the proposed attack on the aliens they all hoped that some level of success would be achieved in this mission. Even those who would not join in the effort for various reasons would be glad to disrupt the choking alien presence in Incheon and deal Dong Zhao an embarrassing defeat. While on supply runs they had rescued and taken in a handful of people who had escaped the expanding influence of the aliens' human allies. From what they heard Dong Zhao's join or die mantra was a promise that he consistently kept.

As alien patrols started to creep closer to their tucked away little corner of town the survivors of Flight 1437 and their allies had decided to divide themselves among several disparate locations. There they would wait out the occupation until word came that the 4th Army was ready to attack. Corporal Ryu had reestablished a presence at his former location along with a handful of people from the hardware store to keep him company and prevent him from sliding any further into madness. Harrison had also set up a new colony in a residential neighborhood outside of the frequently patrolled alien held sections of the city. Though things had been quiet there none of them ever truly felt secure. They were always one misstep away from annihilation. At every location where the survivors took refuge they did so knowing that they could have to abandon their dwelling place at a moment's notice. This was another advantage of having their people spread amongst several locations; if one of them were to fall those who were forced out would have a new home waiting for them and not have to start from scratch.

Back at the fire station it had become clear that they could not support such a large number there with the resources available nearby. Foraging runs meant the risk of casualties and exposing their presence to the aliens. The more frequent and further ranging these missions became greater too were the risks involved. While they had power, shelter and security at the firehouse, with the alien presence in the area hampering their supply runs many of the children and teens would likely starve. So the decision was made to relocate the youngsters to safer locations, though nowhere was truly safe anymore, and replace them with a small, dedicated team at the fire station which had all signed on for the offensive action that the 4th Korea was planning for some time in the future.

The kids were split between a larger mobile unit and the more permanent outposts in the north of town. The mobile unit consisted of a greater share of the older children which could also serve as fighters to provide strength in numbers as they moved around from one location to the next in northern Incheon like locusts constantly in search of supplies and always trying to stay one step ahead of the aliens. The younger kids were housed back in the perceived safety of the hardware store and the houses Harrison had assumed residency in. Some of the best fighters among the older teens such as, Ho-jun, Hyo-ri, and Seok-min had thrown their lot in towards the planned offensive and remained at the firehouse. Ji-yoon still was held at the firehouse as well for the survivors still were wary about trusting her. She was now allowed to freely move about the fire station under the supervision of Officer An but was locked up in the boiler room at night for the protection of everyone there.

In the cool stillness of the evening air one of two scouting parties sent out from the mobile unit was checking out the area to the southwest of the apartment building where the unit had bed down for the night. In the dim twilight following the sunset the full moon shone brightly overhead and the stars began to twinkle in a clear cloudless sky. To the comfort of the scouts there were no loud mech noises or the sounds of the skitters skittering feet to be heard. The scouts, two clean cut boys 16 and 17 years old respectively, crept through the streets and down the alleys between them. While somewhat filthy themselves, they were dressed in fresh clean clothes they had just taken from a department store earlier that day. They each carried single shot, bolt action rifles; the older scout had a scope on his while the younger scout did not. Their orders were simple, check the area surrounding their new base for threats and if possible bring back another backpack full of food and water. They were instructed not to engage the enemy unless absolutely necessary as such would certainly attract more attention to the area. They did not have to worry about this tonight; it would soon be the scouts themselves that found themselves attracted to something else.

After clearing a shelf full of jerky at a small street corner market they turned north and then west following the larger roads. After passing a few restaurants and tall buildings they stumbled upon someone else. No, it wasn't an alien or some rough and tumble post-apocalyptic marauder. It was just a girl, about the same age as the scouts walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction the boys were headed. He was slender, petite, rounded out in all the right places yet looking innocent and cute beyond belief. She was pristine, clean and well-manicured with smoothly layered shoulder length hair and a more thorough perfect application of makeup than either of the boys had seen since before the fall of the world. The way she carried herself was simply adorable and utterly alluring especially to the younger of the two boys. She was like an angel set down in this hellish nightmare of a world. Strangely neither of the scouts thought it strange of her to be walking the streets dolled up like a movie star just before a photoshoot. Their raging hormones blocked out most if not all of their better judgement. She smiled cheerfully as she approached the two. Clearly under her spell they lowered their weapons towards the ground and stopped as she drew near.

She stopped a few feet in front of the two boys and perked up on her tip toes then went back down to standing flat footed while appearing to check them out. "Hi." she greeted them. "Uh, hi." the younger of the two scouts blushed and answered. She smiled and giggled in a coy fashion while twisting at the waist and pretending to look away. She bashfully looked over her shoulder at the boys and winked. "My, my, you two are a sight to behold. I didn't think I'd run into any cute guys out here. These days it's all crusty crunchy aliens running around and we all know those things are icky icky." the girl flirted with the scouts. "We didn't expect to see such a hot girl out here at night either. Like damn girl you are. ." the younger boy started to obnoxiously flirt back before he was smacked upside the back of the head by the older boy who did not want to be made the fool by association. The girl laughed playfully and raised her hand to her chin. She extended her pointer finger towards her lower lip and curled in, pulling her lip down and pretended to be nibbling on her nail as if it were a nervous tic. "My friends and I are out here all alone and are looking for a place to stay. Would you know of somewhere we could go to get away from all the monsters out here?" she asked the boys. "Are your friends as hot as you?" the younger boy asked. The older boy slapped him again across the back of the head. "Like she isn't enough for you? Ya greedy bastard." the older boy chastised him. "Hee hee, why yep, they are!" the giddy young woman replied. "Well you are in luck because we in fact are. . ," the younger boy began to nearly betray their camp to this strange lovely lady before his partner jabbed him in the small of his back with the top of the butt of his rifle. "We are actually out looking for somewhere to stay for the evening ourselves." the older boy finished the sentence. "Oh really?" the girl asked. "Yep. Hey, would you and your friends like to come along with us?" the younger boy asked. The older boy did not object this time; they could lead them around, maybe even stay the night with them somewhere else but wouldn't take them back to the group until they were properly vetted. "I'd love too! My friends would love to as well." the girl happily and excitedly answered. The girl batted her eyes at the boy and brushed her hair back seductively looking over the teenage scout like a cat who had just cornered a mouse and was about to make it her next meal. "Come on then, I'll take you to my friends. They would love to meet you both!" the girl exclaimed and hopped up off the ground in excitement. "Hey, doesn't any of this seem a little odd to you? I think we better slow down." the older boy whispered to his partner. "Relax; she doesn't have one of those wormy things on her back. I think we can trust her." the younger boy looked over his shoulder and replied. The younger boy was so taken by the young lady that he did not think to question her motives. He thought no deeper than the surface; this was an extremely attractive girl that is incredibly interested in me. If he only knew a crisp clean shirt and a gun were the ticket to getting chicks before. "Let's go! I can't wait to show you to everyone and then we can find somewhere to get off the streets before the night gets real crazy. Come on, come on, come on!" the giddy young woman enthusiastically exclaimed before taking the younger scout's hand and running off with him in tow. Now nervously second guessing his partner's impetuous decision the older boy followed them at a walking pace. He was hopeful too that they would get to spend the night cozied up to a pack of lovely and appreciative young ladies but only now as they were led away by this siren to wherever these friends of hers were hiding did he start to think something fishy was going on. First of all this girl threw herself at them way too easily. Second of all what was she thinking wandering through a city packed with space spiders and killer robots without so much as a BB gun or a fork to protect herself. Regardless he had to follow his partner and hope that this would pay off for them both.

As night fell the girl stopped, turned to the younger boy and took a gentle hold of both of his hands while they waited for the older boy to catch up. She had led them a considerable distance off their intended route at this point and she was only getting started. The girl let go of the younger boy's hands and bade the boy to follow her. Being thoroughly seduced by her tricks the boy was led even further off his route into a narrow pathway between two large warehouses. At the end of the walkway she turned down a small street heading west. "We're almost there." she said once again placing her hand softly in the boy's hand and pulling him along. She led them past the warehouse and by several alleys between the warehouse and rows of small domiciles beyond it. As they approached a broad cross street ahead of them she let go of the boy's hand and he stopped where he was. The girl then walked a distance ahead of him, turned back around to face the boy, put her hands behind her back and twisted her hips side to side and smiled with a wide faced grin as she looked at the eager yet confused boy. "Where are they? Your friends?" the boy asked. "They're coming" the girl replied. Just then an electric pulse zipped through the air from an alleyway to his right and struck the boy in the side of his ribs. The pulse, invisible to the naked eye, had the effect of a wireless tazer and made the boy's body go completely limp. As he crumpled to the ground a skitter came out of the alleyway to his right and another skitter emerged from the alleyway to his left. The older boy, following a few blocks behind stopped just beyond the warehouse and raised his rifle towards one of the skitters. The sound of many feet moving across the pavement behind him made him freeze in his tracks. He turned to see three skitters standing behind him. One of them lunged forward and struck the rifle out of his hands. The other two overpowered him with ease even before he felt his body go numb from an electrostatic pulse. Behind him one of the skitters was holding a wand like device that was used to generate the pulses while the other skitter picked up the younger boy and slumped him over its back. The two boys were carried by the skitters into the cross street where an alien craft landed to pick them up. The girl stared off into space as the skitters passed by her and smiled. She closed her eyes in a display of deep satisfaction and when she opened them again her left eyelid release a small silvery worm with a multitude of legs and feelers like a centipede. The worm crawled down her cheek and onto her upper lip where she swept her tongue over it gracefully before pulling it into her mouth and swallowing. Seconds later the outline of the worm could be seen moving up the side of her neck just beneath her skin. With a wicked smile on her face the girl turned around and skipped merrily towards the alien ship. Once she was onboard the entry ramp retracted into the vessel and the hatch sealed itself up. The ship rose straight up into the night sky and flew off towards the southwest bearing with it two new prisoners spending their last night of free will immobilized and restrained.


	81. Chapter 81: Skitters and Outlaws

Chapter LXXXI: Skitters and Outlaws

24 Oct 1843 KST

Incheon, South Korea

The sky was grey and overcast with thick storm clouds when Ryong-ho had arrived at the manufacturing sector of Incheon near the port where Dong Zhao's organization still held sway under the graces of their alien overlords. He had stealthily made his way through Incheon to get here, proceeding slowly through the city mindful enough not to raise any alarms as he drew towards what he believed was the heart of alien operations in the capital region.

As he drew closer to his intended destination he could see smoke rising in the distance above the rooftops. This smoke was different from that which had blotted out the sun for days at a time, a welcome gift the aliens had given themselves prior to setting foot or claw on earth. This was not the smoke of destruction, but that of creation. This meant that the factories were running again. Without stopping to consider how the factories were being powered with the grid in shambles and what they were producing Ryong-ho entered in through the front door of one of a row of houses. Unsurprisingly it was left unlocked; its occupants must have exited so hastily that securing the doors behind them was an afterthought. He could imagine that first night and the panic that ensued. It was all "Run for your life!" and your average person thought of little else. Ryong-ho went through the house and out the back door into the small yard behind the house. He had been cutting through houses this way because it offered an easy place to hide in case an alien patrol happened to come upon him without warning. He could move quicker when he was out of sight from the street now that he was deep within enemy held territory.

This house should be the last one before he started getting into the industrial area Ryong-ho presumed. He went over to the backyard fence and climbed part of the way up it to peek over at what lay beyond. It turned out his calculations were correct, he had reached the edge of the industrial district where it had been reported to him that Dong Zhao's organization held sway in some kind of loose partnership with the aliens. How exactly that was negotiated confounded Ryong-ho. By his experience the aliens weren't ones to use words as weapons to ensure compliance with whatever their agenda was for this world, they had always preferred to use weapons as weapons. Looking out from the backyard Ryong-ho saw a large warehouse complex surrounded by a tall barbed wire fence. Beyond the warehouses was a pair of factories churning out smoke from the smokestacks. Even more astonishing was the fact that several of the buildings and streetlamps nearby were lit up, with electric lighting. The ground sloped gradually from the houses along the ridge until you reached the fence, then beyond the fence was a steep drop onto an outer pathway between several small maintenance buildings surrounded by gravel. He spotted the shape of two alien mechs outside one of the two factories. One of the mechs was stationary and the other was walking around. Closer to where Ryong-ho would make his entry there were only humans to be seen, and not many directly across from where he would have to descend in order to get inside the compound.

Ryong-ho waited for the visible guards and personnel outside to all be looking away from his position before he stealthily made his move. He climbed over the fence and crept carefully from the row of houses towards the outer fence of the complex. He ducked down and crawled the last few yards down the gentle hill until he reached the fence. A guard on top of one of administrative buildings adjacent to a nearby warehouse turned in his direction but the sentry's stare went over Ryong-ho and ignored his advance. Using a small pair of wire cutters Ryong-ho cut an opening in the chain link fence and slipped through unnoticed. He then slid down the gravel and dirt slope from the fence onto a walkway between the fence and a corrugated steel building. He went around the corner of the building and upon hearing footsteps he climbed up an access ladder to the roof and hid between the now silent air conditioning and heater unit and blower motor mounted up there. He crouched down and peered out from behind his hiding place to observe what was going on. A row of Dong Zhao's conscripts marched in single file around the fence line and were approaching his location on a routine patrol. Here in what would be presumed to be an alien stronghold the guards consisted principally of human traitors; a move that seemed peculiar to Ryong-ho. It was a lackluster effort in patrolling; none of them saw the cut section of fence or noticed Ryong-ho on top of the building next to them. These minions looked as if they really didn't want to be there right now. They marched in single file along the path provided more as a show of their presence to anyone outside rather than an actual patrol. The fighters' minds were wandering, sleepy and apathetic; they didn't really believe they had anything to be worried about, after all the aliens were presumably on their side. Their equipment and dress was inconsistent. Some of them wore street clothes, others wore jackets and foul weather gear, others wore tactical gear, military or military style equipment while others were dressed in work clothes. They carried an assortment of rifles, handguns and machine guns. The only thing consistent about their appearance was that they were all dirty, a fact that would make Ryong-ho fit in perfectly. His combat gear stood out no more than the man in a yellow and blue button down flannel shirt and cargo shorts that marched third from the front of the line. As the last man passed Ryong-ho jumped down and nonchalantly joined them in their rounds as if he was one of them. The men were too tired, unaware and unconcerned to notice that someone new had joined their ranks. The fact that some of them were intoxicated aided Ryong-ho in infiltrating them as well. The last man looked back and did a double take when he saw Ryong-ho behind him. The fighter thought he was covering up the rear but was too tired and absent minded to remember for sure. So Ryong-ho's presence was chalked up to an error on the fighter's part. He walked along their route with Dong Zhao's men making mental notes of all the structures he saw. He noted all the strong points, the hiding places, the number of people and where they were at. He saw some heavy weaponry on the rooftops and on the ground. There were no aliens here but several of the basic mechs as well as a lighter model with thinner limbs and no arms, instead it had a single turret at the base of its smaller egg shaped core. The mechs here augmented a primarily human force that held dominion over this industrial sector and the docks beyond.

Ryong-ho continued with the patrol until it went inside a large open warehouse connected to a factory building. The single file formation now spread out and became more of a disordered lump. The faux disciplined silence melted into grumblings and casual banter with other men and women hanging around inside the warehouse. Others passed by them walking alone or in pairs in either direction. Ryong-ho observed a few people organizing supplies, cleaning or working on some piece of machinery. To either side of the patrol group there were groups of people standing idle, chattering on as people do. Since he knew nothing of what was truly going on here Ryong-ho paid close attention to every stray utterance, every background conversation and every whisper within earshot.

"It's a shame Man-seok died, he was one of our best recruiters." one man bemoaned to a group standing around a stack of crates drinking either cheap beer or grape soda. "What a way to go too. Sad, he had been with us from the beginning." added another man. "We haven't been able to replenish our ranks since then." continued the first man. "That's not all on Man-seok; our allies are partially to blame for that, after they moved all those people to the island all we get are the crusty intransigent ones to work with and those usually come to blows before they see the light." a third man said. "If they see the light." cynically quipped the first man. "If only they knew what they were fighting against." a fourth man lamented. "They would be so much better if they embraced the change that is to come rather than resisting it. Fewer would have to die that way." the fourth man went on to say. "Sooner or later this train will have left the station and whoever's not on board with our new overlords will just be out of luck; they'll be some dead branch cast aside as evolutionary refuse from the tree of life. We'll have a better world to inherit when it's over." the fourth man finished with his sermon. "Looks like someone's been drinking the Kool-Aid!" the second man laughed. "I don't really buy this grand new world thing that some people have bought into but if you're going to pick a side it might as well be the one that's going to win." the first man offered a more balanced view of things. "I don't think the boss buys into the "we're here to help" nonsense either, he just knows he can get a better deal with our new masters from space than he could with the human authorities." the third man added. "That's what I just said!" the first man exclaimed.

Ryong-ho walked past them and their conversation faded into the background. He heard other people talking about different facilities that the organization ran throughout Incheon and operations that Dong Zhao had in other countries. He took note of the locations mentioned and the activities that were going on in each location. Every little detail Ryong-ho heard was fully committed to memory. Another man was extolling the aliens for placing the mechs at their disposal while a woman in that group was deriding the aliens for being too trusting. "It's not like we're able to really control them." the first man shrugged the woman's suspicions off. Ryong-ho showed no signs of his astonishment when he saw a trio of skitters walking amongst the people without imposition along the far west wall of the warehouse. These people, they really were aligned with the aliens after all. "What made them so eager to sell out their own kind?" Ryong-ho wondered.

Ryong-ho stopped by a concrete pillar with boxes and barrels stacked around it. He leaned down, reached into an open box and took out a warm beer. He twisted off the top and took a sip. At this time he was approached by two men who didn't recognize him. "Haven't seen you around here before. Where did you come from?" asked one of the men, a fat beefy man in a white shirt, dark brown pants and rainbow suspenders. "I had been down in Songdo-Dong with Man-seok before he died." Ryong-ho answered. "It's sad he's gone now. He was a good guy, I met him once before the aliens came." the man said. "At the law firm?" asked Ryong-ho, remembering that Man-seok was a lawyer and had been frequently employed to represent Dong Zhao's interests in the past. "Nope, at a fast food joint. I was short a couple won and he picked up the tab for my meal. We talked a little about life and money and things and he went on his way." the guy explained. "Ah synchronicities, funny how things tend to turn out." Ryong-ho replied. "Yeah, you wind up meeting the same people in different places and never really realize how connected everything is." the man said. The second man dressed in forest green suede wearing circular sunglasses, reached into the box and took himself out a beer. "Some people out there still don't get it. I mean the world got a raw deal but at least we're getting to live under it. Most people aren't even given that option." the second man stated. "I hear you brother, if people would just come on board instead of resisting we could all get through this quicker and with less pain along the way." Ryong-ho responded acting as if he believed in whatever cause it was these people were working towards. "Amen brother." the second man concurred raising his drink to Ryong-ho's. They clinked their bottles in a toast and downed their beers. So it seemed he would be accepted after all. That didn't take a lot of effort, Ryong-ho thought. He just had to be smart, act natural and sure enough he could fake his credentials among this group of planetary traitors. Now that he was among them he would work to learn as much as he could about them. To do so effectively without rousing suspicion would require quite some time. Fortunately for him the planned attack was a long way off and within the enemy ranks was in fact the safest place on Earth to be right now.


	82. Chapter 82: A Fair Trade

Chapter LXXXII: A Fair Trade

28 Oct 1750 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul South Korea

Jake and Sun-mi took a long route around to the east before heading south again to avoid the alien activity that had flared up since the firefight with the Baroness' crew. When they turned south they passed by the MRAP that Jake had started this whole crazy journey from. It was still there, lying on it's side and smashed up against so many cars. Someone had since come along and pulled off the gun mounted on top of it which was not surprising. Jake was also horrified to see the badly decomposed bodies of some of the people that were left awaiting rescue and still trapped within their vehicles lying there where they had been before. He hoped none of the bodies were people that he knew. There were fewer than he remembered so maybe help did come after all and his efforts that left him stranded from his unit were not in vain. He presumed those that remained were the most serious of the injuries that could not be moved or didn't have a reasonable enough prognosis of survival. He understood in situations like that rescue personnel were left with the difficult choice to pick and choose who they could save.

Further to the south and then to the west Sun-mi and Jake crossed over a collapsed section of the highway. They must have made too much noise because before they had reached the top of the concrete rubble three skitters scurried out of a shop facing the highway. Jake tossed a gun to Sun-mi allowing him to be more agile with the weapons he had and opened fire on the lead skitter, raking it across the neck from one shoulder to the other, effectively stopping it. The second skitter used its long arms to shield it's face and neck from mortal blows and continued to advance on them. Sun-mi took out the third skitter after running up upon high ground and firing down on it from the side. She charged down and bayoneted the second skitter in the side of the head just as it was upon Jake. The skitter in it's death throes kicked Sun-mi backwards and she slid across the jagged concrete chunks, tearing her clothing and scraping her skin up a bit. Jake staggered back, reloaded and shot two more skitters that emerged from the business before running over to help Sun-mi up. A sixth skitter ran outside and leaped up onto the mound of rubble. Sun-mi cast aside the rifle Jake had given her and drew her revolvers, taking out the front two knees of the skitter causing it to stumbled forwards face first onto Jake's waiting bayonet. Jake retracted his weapon and picked up the discarded rifle. The two of them hurried over the rubble and into Songpa District before any more aliens arrived.

28 Oct 1828 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Jake accompanied Sun-mi back towards the apartments where her group was staying. Once they had gotten south of the highway and into Songpa District the alien activity was minimal and easily avoided. They stopped across the street from the apartment complex in the space between the ruins of two buildings. "This is as far as I go." Jake told Sun-mi. She looked at him and without saying a word she walked out onto the street by herself. Halfway across the street she looked back at him as if to say "Thank you." but the words did not pass through her lips. In silence it was understood. This was the part where their tale ended and each would go on in their own way; Jake back to his friends at the hotel and Sun-mi to her sister and compatriots trying to placate the aggression of both the aliens and the Empire. He felt empathy for them but there was nothing he could do to help those who wouldn't help themselves. Jake waited until Sun-mi was all the way across the street until he stepped out of his hiding place. He started heading south, thinking too much and not paying as much attention to his surroundings as he ought. He had spent all this time and still would be coming back empty handed. He didn't have it in him to try and steal the water from Sun-mi's people now that he knew what it meant to them. There was nowhere else he knew to find a large enough quantity between there and the hotel and he should at least check in before he went off to Hanam to gather the supplies he had left for in the first place. He worried most about how Hyuna had held up in his absence though he knew Min-jung would be the one that would be the most pissed off at his absence and especially returning home with nothing. He knew he could talk his way out of trouble with Min-jung but Hyuna wouldn't be angry, she would be hurt and hurt in a way that simple words could not repair. That girl had attachment issues, Jake thought. He never had really picked up on the fact that she was the type who used her cutesy-cute antics to seduce guys for fun. Back before the invasion this gave her a bit of reputation though every guy she roped in was left hanging before anything actually occurred. Jake had just chalked up her behavior to fear, desperation and the overwhelming need for companionship in a crisis. She had gotten better with that as time had past and they had a strong platonic bond he felt. Though he worried that with him being gone that the progress they had made would be lost and she would go back to being extremely clingy, possibly to the point of not allowing him to go out for a while. Boy that would irritate Min-jung as she would have to ration her beauty supplies and save the water for drinking. Jake chuckled to himself pondering these things as he walked away leaving his temporary lodging and somewhat comfortable prison behind him.

He hadn't gotten far, maybe 3 blocks away before trouble found him. A shot rang out hitting the ground three feet from Jake's right foot. Without even looking he whirled around and fired two quick bursts from one of his captured rifles. His shots made contact with nothing but pavement and air. His assailants now revealed to be Min-ji and Min-ho returned fire hitting the ground in front of Jake and sending a few bullets whizzing by his right shoulder. Startled and expecting to experience the pain of being hit, Jake tripped over his own feet falling backwards onto his butt. He sat back up and placed his hands on both sides of the ground next time him preparing to stand up. "Don't move!" shouted Min-ho as he and Min-ji advanced on Jake with their guns pointed in his direction. Jake did as he was told and remained seated as the two of them came over. Min-ho stood Jake up with Min-ji disarmed him. "Hold on a second!" screamed Sun-mi as she ran towards them having been drawn back by the sound of gunfire while she was coming up the stairs to their primary residence. "Sun-mi! What the hell happened? I thought you were going to trade this guy in for us?" Min-ho yelled back at her. "I can explain! Hold on!" Sun-mi shouted back, gasping for breath as she ran towards them. Min-ho firmly grabbed Jake's arms in a hold behind Jake's back and started to march him forward towards the apartments with Min-ji behind them with the weapons, one of which was pointed right over Min-ho's shoulder at Jake. "Do you understand what you have done?" Min-ji chastized Sun-mi when she stopped in front of them. "You've brought the wrath of the Empire down upon us. Now what are we going to do?" said Min-ho. Before she was given the chance to explain what had happened she was handed several of the guns Min-ji had taken from Jake. "Take those inside." Min-ji ordered her. "But. ." she started to protest. "Just take them inside! We can talk later, it's not safe to hang around outside." Min-ji demanded. Sun-mi took the guns and looked back at Jake apologetically before going ahead of him and his captors to take the weapons inside. She never intended for this to happen. She should have made Jake leave her sooner but after their fight at the skitter nest on the way out of Gangdong District she was afraid to go it alone.

Jake was brought back into the old familiar apartment and saw all the familiar faces he had come to know over the last several days. Dae-hyun and Seo-hyun were shocked to see him back and frightened by the specter of what his return brought with it. Finally after everyone was inside Sun-mi was given a chance to explain herself. Seung-won and his brother were away at the moment so Seo-hyun was left in charge. She forced Min-ho and Min-ji to hear Sun-mi out before anyone could rush to judgement and act upon it. Sun-mi throughly explained what had happened altering only the fact that she had initially let Jake go, instead stating he had escaped during a skitter attack. "You see we handled things in a way that the Baroness would blame the Geomis and Jake for her misfortunes not us. When she fled she left with the image that I would fight and die for her. It's safe to say we're redeemed with the Empire until tax time rolls around." Sun-mi concluded. "Or we could be really optimistic and hope that bitch still isn't alive ." remarked Dae-hyun. None of them had any reason to doubt what Sun-mi was telling them was the truth. "If the Baroness thinks this man had a hand in attacking her then I think we have no choice but to let him go. He can't be found among us." Seo-hyun stated, "It looks like you are free to go." Seo-hyun turned and said to Jake. "We could kill him and hand him over to the Baroness when she comes back?" suggested Min-ho as an alternate solution. Sun-mi glared at him for even speaking of such a thing. "We don't have to kill him, just hand him over. We'll say we caught him after the attack." Min-ji told her brother. "I don't know that sounds awfully suspicious and you know how the Baroness is, she'll make any excuse she needs to blame us for things going wrong." Dae-hyun said, unsure that having Jake anywhere near them would be a good idea. "We're not killing anyone Min-ho." Seo-hyun firmly declared. "We're not animals; and we're not letting the Baroness do the killing for us. I've made up my mind, we're letting him go." Seo-hyun told everyone. "Shouldn't we at least wait for Seung-won to come back?" asked Min-ho. "It could be late tonight when he gets back and I don't want to risk this guy still being here in case the Baroness makes a surprise inspection once she gets her shit straightened out up there in Gangdong District. If he has a problem with it then it's on me. I can handle the consequences." Seo-hyun replied.

"Alright then sir, you may leave now." Seo-hyun said to Jake. "Sun-mi, give him back his guns." Seo-hyun instructed her. "I know you came here seeking water but I'm afraid you're going to have to leave empty handed. We need all of that water in order to make our quota. I'm sorry. We will give you back the weapons you came in with. I hope you understand we are not cruel." Seo-hyun told Jake. "I understand." Jake replied as he was handed back his guns by Sun-mi. He walked away towards the door and just as he placed his hand on the knob and was about to open it he had an idea. "Say, how many bottles of water would a shotgun, a couple rifles and an empty magazine go for?" Jake asked, hoping to strike a deal. "But you will be defenseless!" protested Ji-eun who had been silent all this time. "I'll manage. How much water can you give me for them?" Jake insisted. "If you're willing to trade, whatever you can fit in that cart you had would be fine." Seo-hyun answered. Guns fetched a far higher rate of value to the tax collectors than food and water did. In fact in this new economy of vassals and lords Jake was actually getting screwed on the deal. The weapons he traded in would be worth that entire truckload of water; a fact that he was unaware of and would still be more than happy to accept even if he knew, he had plenty more guns back at the hotel and could only carry so much water. "Take what you need and if you come across any trouble just mention my name and that I said it was ok and you should be fine." Seo-hyun said to Jake. Jake nodded in agreement, it was a fair enough offer. He would get what he came for and it only took him four days. The people inside the apartment wished Jake well as he stepped out the door. Now as the sun was setting he would go return to the hotel to find out what he had left behind.


	83. Chapter 83: Return

Chapter LXXXIII: Return

28 Oct 2011 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

It was another sleepless night for Hyuna; she rolled out of bed and paced around the room. Do-yeon slept peacefully on his bedroll next to the dresser clutching a plush monkey in his arms while Min-jung stood watch on a clear starry night, now with the knowledge of what those stars contained. Again Hyuna's thoughts were on Jake and they would not leave her alone. Her heart and her mind both warred against her body. It was two on one so her body and its need for rest would just have to wait.

"Would you prefer to take the first watch? If you can't get to sleep I sure can." asked Min-jung. "Yeah, I'll do it." Hyuna replied. She walked over to the side of the window and took the gun from Min-jung. "Sweet dreams Min-jung." Hyuna told her. "Thank you, and don't worry about your boy. I'm sure wherever he is he's fine." Min-jung reassured her. Hyuna halfheartedly believed her, she had to, she had to believe that Jake was alive just to go on living herself. Even if she believed, and she tried very hard to, she still wished that he was there with her instead of being wherever he was. She even entertained the possibility just now that Jake had met another girl out there, fallen for her and abandoned them. Was that jealousy she felt? Jealousy towards an imaginary creation of her own mind? How could she even think of such things? With how awkward and oblivious Jake was around women a girl would practically have to knock him out, tie him up and rape him to get the point across. No, no, some vixen hadn't come along and seduced her Jake. Maybe he was gay? Maybe it was some male idol with the physique of Bruce Lee in his prime that came along and swept Jake off his feet. Nah, that couldn't be it either, Jake didn't strike her as gay, just disinterested altogether. Maybe he was a robot or an alien clone? That would explain everything, including why the aliens hadn't stormed the hotel and attacked them. Oh the silly musings Hyuna would come up with, all nonsense but it helped her make sense out of a world that simply did not.

She sat through the night watching and waiting. She hoped with a forlorn hope that tonight would be the night Jake would come back to her. Every night since he left she was certain that it would be the one that he came walking in that door and each time she was wrong. Why would tonight be any different? Still she wished that the skitter she saw scampering past on its way to something more alien-tastic in the south was Jake. No it was just another stupid skitter. She didn't even pause to be relieved that the alien did not so much as look in her direction as it passed by, it just ran down the street and vanished into the night. No, her mind was elsewhere, in a place where skitters simply did not belong. She thought about the life she could have had with Jake in the old alien-free world. In that world they would have had a better chance to connect; there was so much more that they could have done together. Here it was just eat, sleep, talk, hide from aliens, and so on. Still so long as she was doing those things with him it made her happy. Never had she thought something so simple could make her happy when she had always been so easily bored in the past. So lost in thought she became that she even thought she saw Jake walking down the street towards the front of the hotel. This was exactly what she wanted, what she had hoped for. For a moment she got so excited and almost went to wake Min-jung until she realized it was just her mind playing tricks on her. "Damn it Hyuna, you're losing it girl." she told herself. Some watchstander she was, hallucinating things, what if the aliens really did attack and she was off in La La land. "Focus girl, Focus!" she whispered to herself.

Then as if an answer to her prayers there was a knock on the door followed by the idiotic password that Jake had left them with being spoken in an all too familiar voice. Hyuna turned on her flashlight pointed it towards the door stumbled over the chair, dropped her gun and flashlight on the ground and proceeded to jump over the bed. She ran to the door, flinging it open so hard it slammed into the wall and waking Min-jung in all the commotion. In panic Min-jung rolled out of bed and grabbed a pistol and another flashlight thinking they were under attack but had the sense enough not to shoot when she saw what was going on. There in the doorway was Jake, tired, sullied and scuffed up. Hyuna lunged at him and gave him a big hug, slamming him against the far wall in the hallway. She was overjoyed to see him return unharmed. She cried her eyes out in pure bliss and pressed Jake between the wall and herself with a force highly unexpected from someone her size. In her overly ecstatic state she had this adrenalized rush of energy that gave her strength beyond what she was normally capable of. She then broke the embrace, backed up a few steps, gave Jake a forlorn look with tears flowing like a river down her soft cheeks and then out of nowhere reached back and coldcocked Jake across the face. "Don't you ever leave me again!" Hyuna yelled at him. She then dove back in and hugged Jake, drying her eyes on his clothes all the while Jake's mind had yet to process a single thought since the door had opened. Hyuna leaned back and looked Jake in the eyes, still holding onto his sides. "What happened?! Where have you been?! Are you alright?! Oh my god you've had me so worried! Please, please, please don't scare me like that again!" Hyuna exclaimed, grilling Jake with questions before he even had a chance to collect his thoughts or touch the stinging spot on his cheek where Hyuna had popped him. Jake stood there dumbfounded as his mind caught up to what Hyuna was saying. The anxiety was radiating off of her as Jake looked back at those eager, moist, bloodshot black orbs of hers. He leaned in and hugged her tightly in order to help ease her worry before he stepped back away from her. "Let him come inside first jeez!" Min-jung yelled at Hyuna in a groggy voice bogged down with the weight of her sleepiness. "Sorry to have worried you, I was held up by another group of survivors for a while. There was a bit of a mix up and I was taken hostage. I wanted to come back so bad, I really did, and I tried, oh I tried my damnedest to get away but I couldn't leave." Jake explained. "Did they hurt you? Are you alright?" Hyuna asked as she led him by the hand into the room and closed the door behind him. "I'm fine." Jake answered. "Who were these assholes that took you away? Should we go kick their asses?" Hyuna inquired. She stepped away from him and allowed him to take a seat in the chair she was sitting in. "I've gotten pretty good with the long guns." she added. Thoughts of vengeance burned through her mind for the pain which these mystery men had caused her over the past four days. "There won't be any need for that Hyuna. It's all taken care of." Jake told her. In her mind she chose to believe that he killed all of them, because that is what she thought they deserved. Min-jung lit the lamp on the nightstand and forced herself to wake up. Jake's return at least warranted her being awake for the occasion. "So you're alive?" Min-jung grumbled with fatigue, trying to seem happy though she was more sleepy than anything. "Of course he's alive!" exclaimed Hyuna jumping up and down. "Calm down, you'll wake Do-yeon." Min-jung told her. "I glad you're happy to see me but yeah, we need to keep it down lest we attract the spideys over here." Jake said to Hyuna. She pretended to calm herself down but it was all a show, inside she was still exploding with elation.

Jake looked over towards Min-jung now after she illuminated the lamp nearby. "What the hell happened to you?" Jake asked upon noticing Min-jung's bruised and battered face. "I fell." Min-jung replied with the cliché response of the battered woman. "No, really it's just a long story. I'm fine now though, it'll heal." Min-jung confessed. Jake didn't press her any further on it. It was possible she suffered the wounds making a supply run in his absence. She would talk about it in time; he only hoped that other more unsavory individuals didn't know where they lived. "Oh snap, I forgot the water, it's still out in the hall." Jake said getting quickly back up onto his feet. "Really? All of this and you're worried about the water?!" Hyuna exclaimed in disbelief. She accompanied him to the door and helped him wheel the cart inside and unload all the jugs of water in the corner between the bed and the outer wall. They then pushed the cart back out into the hall and moved it all the way to the end of the stairwell by the ice machine. They would leave it there for the night; in the morning they would hide it in another room on another floor.

"So about these jerks that kidnapped you, who are they?" Hyuna asked Jake when they got back inside the room. "They're part of some coalition that's been building up since we bailed on society. Some guy calling himself the Emperor is raising an army to fight the spiders." Fontaine explained as he sat back down by the window and picked up Hyuna's gun. Hyuna sat down on the bed on the opposite edge of the window facing Fontaine. "That's good right?" asked Min-jung. "They didn't think so. The way they described this Emperor fellow sounded more like a mafia don than a hero to me." Jake elaborated. "So what did Don Emperone want with you?" asked Hyuna. "These people operate on a system of vassals and lords, kind of like medieval times, and the lower guys on the totem pole have to pay tribute to the higher ups in the form of people and supplies. I was captured by one of the junior members of this coalition who intended to trade me to their superiors to cover their "taxes" for the current period." Jake explained. "So why didn't they?" asked Min-jung. "They were going to do that at first but then we had a bit of a breakthrough so to speak." Jake told her. "They didn't want to drag any more people into the lifestyle they had been forced into. That and the fact I helped save their asses didn't hurt either." Jake continued. "Here I was hoping that you broke out of there guns blazing, no survivors, that kind of stuff." Hyuna sarcastically remarked. "As badass as that would have been these people didn't deserve it. They were good people trapped in a desperate situation. If you feel the need for me to have blood on my hands we did have to give the Imperials a black eye and take down a lot of aliens. The experience left me only with a warning; that not every human out there is playing on the same team. Some groups aren't to be trusted." Jake answered. "I could have told you that." Min-jung derisively commented. "So wait a minute, I don't get it, is the Emperor working with the aliens?" asked Hyuna. "I don't think so. From what I was told he is fighting the aliens too, he just doesn't treat humans much better than the spacemen." Jake answered. "What an ass. I hope he gets his ass handed to him when the army comes." Hyuna said. She still believed the army was coming. Jake loved her sense of optimism; it was refreshing in light of the despair he was surrounded by the past four days. After his recent experience though he wasn't sure that the army was still out there, let alone that they were coming to help.

"So this doesn't happen again I'm going to have to direct all of our supply runs into Hanam now." Jake said. "This Empire's reach doesn't extend out that far so all I will have to worry about are the aliens." Jake explained. "You shouldn't be going out at all. At least for a while." Hyuna admonished him. Her concern was understandable; they had almost lost each other. "We're good on supplies so yeah, it will be a while before I have to go anywhere." Jake replied. Hyuna looked over at him lowering her eyebrows. He better not go anywhere she thought. "Well if you don't mind I'm really tired and would like to get back to bed." Min-jung said. "Get some sleep Min-jung. We'll have plenty of time in the morning to catch up." Jake replied. "I'd say you can get some shut eye too but I know you won't be able to." Jake told Hyuna as her excitement was still clearly visible. Min-jung extinguished the lamp, turned off her flashlight, laid down and pulled the covers back over her. Jake reached down and picked up the light that Hyuna had dropped on the floor and turned it off. "I'll keep the watch with you." he said to her. Hyuna scooted back further on the bed to make room for him to sit down. "You'll get a better view of the southern approach from the street over here." Hyuna suggested, inviting Jake to sit down next to him. Jake obliged her request and sat down next to her. She leaned her head onto Jake's shoulder and moved her hand around his back. Jake followed suit and held her around her waist with one arm and steadied his gun next to his leg with the other. He knew how she felt about him and while he wasn't ready to be what she wanted him to be he would be what she needed him to be. They both needed each other; she needed him for strength and companionship and he needed her to show him what was still worth fighting for in this world. With his hope for the army to save the day fading fast it fell on him to fight to carve out a space to survive in this new world. If he merely fought to endure another day of struggle it wouldn't be enough, with Hyuna and the others it meant something. They were the all that was left of the world to him. On a similar yet distinctly different note he was the only part of the world that mattered to her. Together he and Hyuna stood watch that night. It was their first night back together; it was a night they would remember forever.


	84. Chapter 84: Embedded

Chapter LXXXIV: Embedded

31 Oct 1205 KST

Incheon, South Korea

Ryong-ho had spent a week silently living among Dong Zhao's organization, observing them, listening to them and working with them. He was not asking sensitive questions or acting as one would expect a spy to act early on The clouds of doubt and suspicion that would have otherwise been prevalent if were fading away.. He was now accepted among their ranks and most of those who worked alongside him now believed he had always been there. Just by his presence he had learned plenty that there was no need to dig deeper. He felt his espionage was productive enough while he was being integrated that there was no need to risk blowing his cover just yet. He had learned that beyond this complex that a fast swath of Incheon's industrial, warehousing and shipping facilities had been taken over and were all under the sway of one man, Dong Zhao. Ryong-ho had seen enough of an alien presence here that he knew the people here were under constant supervision. This flew in the face of the apparent fact that many of the mechs appeared to be under the control of human commanders. Also Ryong-ho had observed considerable armaments both human and alien in nature that had been amassed within the factory and warehouse complex.

The men around here were not tight lipped about their operations at all. In fact you could say that they were more open about their intentions now than when humans ran the world. The criminal element among them was chugging on doing as it had always done, peddling in narcotics, arms shipments and human trafficking, only now it had an extraterrestrial element to it. Beyond that Dong Zhao was building the groundwork for his governorship under alien rule, setting up the way things would work in his region once the fighting was over and ensuring his minions would do their part to bring the fighting to a quick and complete end. No one really knew what the world would look like under alien rule after ultimate victory was achieved; right now all efforts were focused on concluding the war.

The recruiters would come back every so often with people they had flushed out of hiding. Most of these people were single adults who had agreed to change sides and serve the occupiers. Orphaned children along with the children of those who refused to join; those who had no relations to remember them by, were handed over to the aliens. Families who joined with the cause were sent to the factories and kept together. That way the fear of aliens abducting children would not be widespread among their allies in Dong Zhao's organization. From them Ryong-ho learned what the typical lifestyle of a recruiter was and ingrained that knowledge into his mind. With each new tale he refined the character of a former recruiter which he now played.

While the recruiters had a cold yet realistic outlook on life those who remained within the walls were more optimistic. They hadn't seen what was going on outside to the degree of those who were living amidst it. They had seen the invasion and knew full well what the aliens were capable of so the fear was there, only time and new more pleasant experiences had dulled that fear to some degree. The fear of the aliens was slowly being replaced by the fear of a new war initiated by humans. The belief propagated by the agents in the employ of the aliens is that there would be no more killing so long as the human population did not invite it with unwarranted acts of violence. For those who took these words to heart they were willing to fight their own kind to prevent another great bombardment from coming down. Truth be told those who had the actual dealings with the aliens did not believe the aliens would launch another large scale attack on Earth. Such would be akin to using the Tsar Bomba to kill a flea inside the world's richest gold mine surrounded by a miracle herb that could instantly cure all human disease which grew nowhere else. The belief that a new bombardment could occur however was all the motivation the collaborators needed to ensure a zealous conscript force.

After the first couple weeks post-invasion the pace of life had slowed down within the complex which Ryong-ho now lurked. The fighting was becoming ever more distant. Stories of destruction and despair were only heard from the new recruits as they passed through the gates. For those who had remained inside things didn't seem so bad. With the assistance of the aliens they had electricity again, clean water, security and leisure time. In the spring they would sow crops in a small field they had cleared from the ruins of what had been peoples' homes. There was a sense among the people here that a total alien victory was close at hand. It wouldn't be long before wartime life was traded in for what they believed would be peaceful coexistence with their otherworldly masters. Life could be normal again.

Today was a day much like any other for those living behind the fence. The factories were humming and guards were posted at their usual positions. The morning roving watch had come in for lunch while those who were not needed goofed off and rested. Unlike those who lived beyond the fence rest and relaxation was not hard to come by here. At this time Ryong-ho was now serving as the bodyguard to Huang Chi, one of the longtime members of the organization, a station that he more or less fell into rather than weaseled his way towards. Ryong-ho's associate had been an attorney in Dong Zhao's employ that had performed in a more professional capacity before the world ended. Now he served as both a recon scout during sensitive operations as well as his primary job overseeing training and personnel management at this facility. It was him who was tasked with assigning new arrivals to their tasks. Huang Chi had seen potential in Ryong-ho since he had come to meet him by chance in the yard. It was more of a gut feeling than anything on the former lawyer's behalf who for the past couple days had paid Ryong-ho a fair amount of attention. He accurately deduced Ryong-ho's abilities and took a chance bringing him into his inner circle. The chances of Ryong-ho simply being lost in the mist now had been significantly reduced. Ryong-ho's story of being left kind of floating in the system after Man-seok died wasn't particularly unusual. No written records existed by which Ryong-ho's story could be checked out. This was a gang not a bureaucracy after all. They weren't accustomed to the level of responsibility the aliens had placed upon them. Many men just did as they pleased until they were needed for something and only the best were really noticed by the decision makers. This allowed a lot of lower level goons to slack off most of the time and not have to do any real work. For what had been considered organized crime Dong Zhao's operation wasn't very organized. This loose system of organization proved advantageous to Ryong-ho.

Furthermore being paired with a trusted mid-level if not upper tier man in the organization allowed Ryong-ho access to information the riffraff would not have been privy to. Ryong-ho could see that it was thinking people who had a clear plan steering the ship, not simply a band of mindless thugs. The ethos was opportunism but it was not blind. From what he learned the upper echelons of the enterprise even had some pull with the aliens in this quarter. Not only could they utilize the alien mechs and fly in their transport/gunships but they seemed to have some input on policy concerning humans for as much as the aliens were willing to share such policy with them. This surprised Ryong-ho; it was an attribute truly "alien" in his own culture that such a dominant, aggressive power would acquiesce to the desires of their inferiors. It was like humans taking orders from hamsters, or more accurately ants. Speaking of the aliens Ryong-ho also learned that the aliens communicated with them through a human representative psychically linked to one or more of them that served as an interpreter. The aliens communicated with each other through both verbal and non-verbal means; however the verbal means were in frequencies outside the range of human hearing which was why they appeared stone cold silent to the unknowing observer. It was believed that they employed a form of telepathy for long range communications which is why no one had ever seen the aliens using any kind of radios or communications devices of any kind. How far this ability could extend was unknown, a few miles at the very least based on observations made by free human agents embedded with alien patrols. It was suspected to be able to operate at much greater distances but this has never been confirmed.

Being a wallflower in the room when Dong Zhao had visited twice prior to leaving the country Ryong-ho had learned a few things about the broader war. He learned that control of the Korean peninsula was of importance to the aliens for two reasons though no one here knew what those reasons were. Through the comings and goings of the big shots within the gang he also caught wind of events going on in other places in the region. Unlike the common man being hunted in the streets Dong Zhao, his captains and inner circle were permitted by the aliens to travel freely throughout the areas which they were given authority over by them. There was presumably a large resistance group gaining strength in northern Japan that worried the gang's leaders. Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and the Philippines were believed to be completely subdued. Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Guam, and numerous other Pacific islands as far away as Hawaii had been utterly obliterated by the tsunamis generated from the orbital bombardment. In these places the foundation was being laid for new alien cities to replace the human ones that had been burned or washed away. The existence of these tsunamis was unknown in Seoul because the city had the good fortune on being on the opposite side of the peninsula from where the giant wave had struck. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam had suffered similar but not quite as severe levels of devastation. The alien stranglehold over these nations was said to make the situation in Korea look like complete human-run anarchy. The Chinese coastline and its major cities were also said to be in ruins however rumors of a fierce resistance in the interior of the country was a persistent thorn in the aliens' side and as a consequence their human allies had not yet been able to reestablish themselves on the mainland outside of a small dockyard in Shanghai. Remnants of American, Chinese and British naval forces were also said to be unaccounted for giving rise to speculation that these ships could have found safe harbor. Australia was speculated to be largely untouched by the aliens following the bombardment of its military sites and coastal cities. Hearing these rumors and reports from other lands actually made Ryong-ho feel better about his situation knowing that other places had it much worse. It also gave him hope knowing there were fighters elsewhere standing against the aliens though it was likely these groups were just as scared and isolated as the Korean resistance was. The situation in Australia in particular intrigued Ryong-ho. If they had left an entire continent alone there had to be a reason for it. It was something that made no sense from a tactical perspective when he heard the sailors and gang leaders mention it. Granted it was located far from the reaches of Dong Zhao's authority and his ships had no business straying thousands of miles off their routes, assuming the aliens would even have let them. It was either a rumor they picked up that had been passed between crews sailing in the employ of similar pro-alien collaborator groups that had been given different jurisdictions who probably got it from others in a chain of six or seven degrees of separation and was probably dated information at best given how slow travel was these days even if some of the reports traveled by beamer-taxi. Either that or these people just made it up, sailors did like to tell sea-stories after all but why would they? There were reasons of course, hope being the foremost one of them. Perhaps it was Ryong-ho's foolish hope that made him want to believe. Whether Australia was a safe haven or not didn't matter now. It was so far away and so removed that it might as well have been on Mars. Ryong-ho had to concern himself with what was going on here and now.

In spite of all that he had learned he really didn't find out too much concerning the specifics of the defenses of the industrial complex and similar facilities in the city. There was still plenty that Ryong-ho had left to discover. At the present time Ryong-ho walked through an adjacent office building that connected to one of the larger warehouses. Here within the second floor offices were some of the brain trusts that ran what used to be a criminal enterprise. If anything these gangsters were now the only law abiding citizens in the capital region, being that the invaders now constituted the new law. He went downstairs without saying anything to anyone and turned down a hall that led towards the warehouse floor. In the hall he met up with Huang Chi and together they both continued on together. After passing through the office building and into the warehouse Ryong-ho and his associate walked by a group of skitters heading in the opposite direction. It was so unnatural for Ryong-ho for them to be harmless as they were here. Every time he saw them his body tensed up expecting a fight; it had been ingrained in him to the point of muscle memory after fighting the creatures for almost a month now. He tried to appear calm and in fact succeeded in giving off the appearance of someone that had accepted the normalcy of the aliens presence but his thoughts continued to focus on them for several minutes after the aliens had left their immediate area.

"Do you still get nervous when you see them?" Ryong-ho turned to his associate and asked concerning the aliens that were among them.

"Not really, well maybe sometimes but it's just life now. You got to get used to it or you'll go crazy in this place. I'm surprised you're still a little freaked out after how long you've been down with us." Huang Chi replied as the continued down the hallway onto the warehouse floor.

"That's because I was out in the world most of that time, running goods, dealing with the locals, trying to recruit those I didn't have to kill." Ryong-ho explained.

"Ah, I see. The life of a runner doesn't see too much of the space critters unless they're shooting at you. They can't always tell us apart out in the world; but we've been working on that." Huang Chi said.

"Now that you're staying here they will start seeming more normal after a while." Huang Chi told him. "Turns out that we're actually more alien to them than they are to us. I haven't spoken to their representatives personally but what I gather from those who have is that they're both fascinated and disgusted with us at the same time. Was that the right word? Maybe horrified would be more like it." Huang Chi explained.

"Hmm, interesting. Makes you wonder sometimes." Ryong-ho replied.

"Since it was never well explained to me when I was drafted could you explain to me why the aliens agreed to work with us to begin with?" Ryong-ho asked.

"The way I understand it is that in spite of how it may appear the aliens don't have unlimited resources. So they formed a partnership with us in order to free their own forces up to perform other tasks. In return once their operations conclude we will be made the overseers of a specific region of the planet consisting of specific cities along the coasts of Korea, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines where Dong Zhao had extended his operation into before the invasion. We weren't given a huge amount of actual territory per se, but the distance between these cities gives our influence a wide reach. Presumably we will be transforming these cities into beacons of the new order. We are to be an example of how both of our species can coexist when united under a higher purpose." explained Huang Chi.

"I figured you would have gathered all that from those meetings we have with the out of towners." Huang Chi commented.

"I kind of shut out all of that stuff when I'm in those meetings and keep my eyes solely on any potential threats to your person. That is what you brought me on for. I figure the less I know the better. With all the politics within the organization and all you can't be too careful." Ryong-ho replied.

"Besides, I don't want to paint a target on my back the next time I go recruiting. The things those people outside the wall would do to me if they thought I knew something. I shudder to think." Ryong-ho stated.

"I don't see you having to go back out for a while. I like having you around. You're not an incompetent jackass like my last bodyguard." Huang Chi said.

"What happened to him?" asked Ryong-ho.

"Took a bullet to the chest." answered Huang Chi.

Ryong-ho needn't inquire further as he could fill in the rest.

"There are some guys around here that seem to think the aliens are going to make things better for mankind in the end but that's all wishful thinking. The Geomis' little ambassador can blow all the smoke she wants to up our asses but in the end this is just a business arrangement." Huang Chi told Ryong-ho when they stopped to allow four skitters followed by a team of their men to cross in front of them on their way out to one of the loading docks.

Once they had passed by Huang Chi and Ryong-ho started walking again towards the back of the building.

"If you're going to pick a side then pick the one that's going to win. That was my rationale for joining up when this whole thing began to come down on us." Ryong ho mentioned.

"Join or die, that's a pretty obvious choice right there." Ryong-ho's associate said.

"Yeah, a no brainer." Ryong-ho chuckled.

"Whatever's going on with them it doesn't really matter. They're the people, or things, we have to deal with now and that's just how it is. Once we get all the amenities back up and running again it won't be any worse than how it was before. They actually can be quite lenient masters. So long as we don't get in their way we can do pretty much whatever we want, which is more than I can say about life under the old order." Huang Chi said.

"That's sort of odd coming from a man like you." Ryong-ho commented.

"Why do you say that?" asked Huang Chi.

"Weren't you some kind of lawyer before the invasion? A few of the OG's said that you were counsel for the boss on a couple occasions. You made your stock in trade based on the way the old order worked, so I figured you'd be a bit sad to let it go." Ryong-ho clarified.

"The kind of lawyer I was would be the kind that looks for ways around the way things were supposed to work. You might have called me a weasel or worse but that's what I did; I made the dirty deeds look clean. Having that system come crashing down just makes it easier on me." Huang Chi stopped right before they reached the double doors leading outside and explained to Ryong-ho while making some mild hand gestures as he spoke.

"I see, makes sense. "Regardless of my feelings this is the way things are now. There's no point in holding on to the past right?" Huang Chi remarked as they both then walked outside.

Once they were outside two men came running up to Huang Chi. One of the two men was covered in blood that was not his own.

"Our recon team was ambushed seven blocks north of here. It got intense for a moment or two till an alien bird dropped a bomb on our location. They got the rebels but fried half our squad in the process." reported the bloodied man, panting from exhaustion.

"Thanks for update, get yourself cleaned up. I'll deal with this." Huang Chi told the men before dismissing them.

"Well damn, looks like I'm going to have to pull people off the wall to send back out there." Huang Chi said.

Ryong-ho figured he would be one of those sent to replace the lost scouts. This would end up giving him the opportunity he needed to escape from the complex unnoticed and return to the 4th Korea when he had finished gathering intelligence on the alien activities and defenses in the area. So he would run a few missions for them and come back under less supervision than when he was trailing Huang Chi. This would allow him to quickly wrap up his espionage and make his departure on one of the following missions.

Huang Chi however had different plans.

"Seeing as you have already spent some time outside the walls I'm going to give you a break and keep you on perimeter watch for now. I'll pull some guys off the wall to send out with the scouts. One of you is worth three of them around here easy. If we need you to go out I'll come grab you but I think it would be best if you hung around here for a while. It'll help with your alien jitters if you're around them more often in a peaceful setting. Believe me I know things can get a little dicey out there. We lose just as many guys to friendly fire as we do with the holdouts and rebels." Huang Chi turned to Ryong-ho and said.

"Yeah I know what you mean. It really is like they can't tell us apart." Ryong-ho commented.

"It's just like how they all look alike to us; we must all look the same to them. We're trying to work on a way for the aliens to identify us in a battlefield scenario but everything we do, from arm bands to jackets eventually gets around to the outsiders. They'll start copying us and the whole process begins again. The aliens mentioned something about an implant they would be able to sense before but the boss is way too wily for that trick. We might be working on the same side as these guys but we're not going to let our bodies be tracked, let alone controlled by them." Huang Chi said.

"You've seen the kids out there with their "implants", haven't you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I've seen a few." answered Ryong-ho.

"Don't you worry, that won't be us. Our boss is firm on that part of the deal and ET hasn't pushed for it ever since." Huang Chi assured him.

"That's comforting to know. Well if you need me out there just let me know, until then I'll do whatever has to be done around here." Ryong-ho said.

"I like your attitude guy. That's one of the things I've always liked about you. You're a guy that gets things done. You don't complain you don't jack around; you just go out there and get it done. Half these fucksticks around here don't want to lift a finger yet they bitch and moan if they don't get their three squares a day. They just don't make them like you anymore." Huang Chi praised him.

"Well let's go get you started." Huang Chi said leading Ryong-ho off in a different direction than he had originally intended.

Ryong-ho followed Huang Chi behind one of the maintenance buildings and caught up with one of the roving watches. Huang Chi stopped the two men and sent one of them away before introducing Ryong-ho to the senior member of the pair.

"This is Ki-jung; he will be your partner for the time being." Huang Chi informed Ryong-ho.

"This is Ryong-ho, my bodyguard. He's going to be standing watch with you until we get more men on the recon and recruiting squads." Huang Chi told the man.

"I'll leave him to show you around the place." Huang Chi then turned back to Ryong-ho and dismissed himself.

Ki-jung then led Ryong-ho from the maintenance building to the walkway around the inside of the fence on a tour of the facilities within. "You probably already know this but half these buildings we don't use for anything. That's probably going to change once the warehouse space starts getting limited with all that alien junk their bringing in." Ki-jung told Ryong-ho while pointing out several useless buildings.

"The garage next to the onsite fire station is where we keep most of our vehicles. We don't get to use them outside much because the aliens are jittery dicks though." Ki-jung explained.

"You probably already know where the armories are so I don't need to show you that. Same applies to living quarters." Ki-jung continued as they went along the path.

"There is something cool I want to show you down this way though. Follow me." Ki-jung told him and sped up his walk.

Ki-jung took Ryong-ho up on the roof of a factory near the fence line to the north. On the roof they had a mounted a cannon similar to the gun arm of a standard scout mech. Next to the cannon a sentry was smoking a cigar and thumbing through a magazine as he leaned against the weapon. When he heard footsteps he stood up and noticed Ki-jung and Ryong-ho coming towards him.

"You coming to take over up here?" asked the sentry.

"Nope. I'm just showing this guy around the place." replied Ki-jung.

"Who is he?" inquired the sentry.

"Some recruiter turned Huang Chi's bodyguard that's been sent back down with the dogs." replied Ki-jung.

"Well, well, well since you've been out in the world before you've probably seen one of these babies on the arms of those bots out there." the sentry said to Ryong-ho as he slapped his arm down on the cannon.

"These suckers pack one hell of a punch. You know it's not just the chemical propellant that launches the bullets out of those walkers but they've got this tube of electromagnetic rings and rails that accelerates the bullet on its way out. You can turn it off to save power but why would you want to when you can see a bullet tear through a tank at one tenth light speed? Only the reserve mecha around here have that capability though so the common folk out there never get to see this awesomeness in action." the sentry boasted.

"Pretty cool huh?" asked Ki-jung.

"Yeah if it's for real. Why did the put such a powerful feature into their weapons platforms only to not use it in the theater of battle?" asked Ryong-ho.

"They didn't need to, regular rounds perform just fine against anything the unconverted holdouts can throw at us. All in all I think they disabled the accelerator unit in the field units out of fears we humans could salvage them off of inoperable units and use them back against the mecha ourselves." the sentry explained.

"More risk than reward, makes sense." commented Ryong-ho.

The aliens it appeared were not as foolish as many of their actions since they landed had made them appear to be. Ultimately without knowing the alien objective Ryong-ho couldn't be certain if the conquering entities were clever or foolish in war at all.

"That's not even the half of it. The original versions of the mecha that landed here could fire both energy pulses from the cannon as well as their own style slugs using solely the railgun feature. It's cleaner and they could carry more onboard ammo that way. Come to think of it, there would also be no cartridges to store and empty shell casings to eject. Once they captured our munitions plants and armories they quickly yanked out the pulse cannon and replaced it with a system to fire human style ammo from drum-magazines. These fuckers are super stingy with their power reserves for some reason and prefer to fight as low tech as the situation allows them to. Makes you wonder what they really have in reserve if they come across someone a lot scarier than us." the sentry told him.

These aliens seemed to take the notion of proportional response to a whole new level given the minimalist handicaps which they imposed upon themselves Ryong-ho thought.

"Luckily that rule doesn't apply to us. Now that we're pumping out the power around here we humans are at liberty to play." the sentry said to Ryong-ho with a grin.

He hoped for an uninvited guest to wander too close so that he could show off the gun's capabilities to Ryong-ho. The human bosses under Dong Zhao here frowned upon shooting up random things or stray animals just to goof around as it had caused too many instances of the defenders here being summoned out to expect a firefight only to see a garbage can or some poor dog splattered out over a several square yards. Not wanting to risk a flogging the sentry would wait until a potential threat appeared before attempting to impress his guest.

"Hey wait, don't you want to stick around to see this beauty in action?" the sentry asked as Ryong-ho was being led away by Ki-jung.

"No one has come sniffing around this place in six days. I doubt you're going to have anything to shoot today either. We'll come back for a demonstration when you do." Ki-jung replied.

The sentry frowned as Ryong-ho and his escort climbed back down off the roof.

The next thing Ryong-ho was shown were a pair of small pole-like alien towers studded with glowing blue bulbs at random places along their length and on top.

"These skinny towers the aliens have been building they're a relay system for the psychic link they use to communicate with each other and send commands to the ships and robots. They kind of function like cell phone towers more or less so that they can extend their range beyond whatever it is they are naturally capable of." explained Ki-jung.

"The bigger one over there is a docking station for the remote flyers." Ki-jung said drawing attention to a larger, thicker tower with broad flat extensions like leaves expanding outward from its central stalk.

"I think it serves as a command processing hub for them too, maybe a refueling station, I don't know. You'd have to ask one of the guys that works with the spider than runs that thing." Ki-jung continued.

"I'm having to guess one of those globular structures they built next to the factories is the power generator but humans aren't allowed near those. The aliens said we would die from exposure if we got too close to those things." Ki-jung said turning around to show Ryong-ho some roughly spheroid structures composed of a murky alien substance with blue and green glowing ribs cut into its surface.

These structures blossomed at the top like a flower whose petals were smaller than the base of the plant. Power supplies or not they appeared to be something important given the number of mechs that were guarding them.

Ki-jung then took Ryong-ho up the fire escape to the roof of an administration building between two active factories. They were now overlooking six large warehouses between the train tracks and the west end of the facility. Rows of active railcars were lined up outside the factories filled with crates or metal ingots and coils. Out of the factory bays came newly fashioned mechs of all the designs Ryong-ho had seen plus a few others he had not encountered. The mechs marched out of the factories and into the open spaces between the warehouses for the warehouses were already filled to capacity when brand new alien hardware, both mechs, body armor and small arms that Ryong-ho had not seen used in battle by the creatures.

"They've converted the factories to produce their equipment and we've been churning out robots and spider gear 24/7 ever since." Ki-jung said.

"Where do they get the raw materials to make them from?" asked Ryong-ho.

"I don't know. It comes in on the trains or the ships bring it sometimes. It's mostly automated in there; they just keep a human staff on hand to push things along manually in case something breaks down. The process they use to make all that junk is a mystery. They don't allow us near it and the people that work in there aren't allowed to mingle with the rest of us; trade secrets I assume." Ki-jung answered.

Just then they witnessed a large cigar shaped landed in the large open area in between the warehouses, hovering just above the tops of the mechs. The back of the craft opened up and the mechs below cleared a path for the loading ramp to be extended before they all marched up it and packed into the transport. Once the mechs were loaded human workers wheeled crates of ammunition, small arms and armor into the ship and returned to the warehouses to get more.

"There's so many. Where do you think they are taking them?" Ryong-ho asked.

He had never seen so many mechs gathered in one place before. He probably had never seen this many mechs in the totality of his journey before.

"Shipping them overseas, or off world perhaps" replied Ki-jung.

"We don't want to be in the way when they're loading up over here so let me show you around the rest of the yard." Ki-jung told Ryong-ho urging him to come along as he left the area.

As he finished up his tour of the grounds he was meant to patrol Ryong-ho could safely say he got a snapshot of all the information he needed to bring back to the 4th Army. Now he simply had to wait until the opportunity presented itself for him to make his exit and return to them.


	85. Chapter 85: Sirius Business I

Chapter LXXXV: Sirius Business - Where Fools Rush In

Sirius System

8.6 light years from Earth

The Espheni craft that had departed the Epsilon Indi system now had arrived in orbit around the fifth planet orbiting the white dwarf star Sirius B. There were a total of 17 planets, many of those with multiple moons and a multitude of smaller objects orbiting the binary star system. The world which the Espheni craft dropped to sublight velocities over was a "Snowball Earth" a planet similar to our own in terms of size, gravity, geology and atmospheric content but covered by an ice sheet from the poles to the equator. Across the planet's surface were several domed cities built both above and below the ice with artificially constructed geothermal shafts that tunneled deep into the planet's crust. These shafts utilized the world's active geology to provide a source of both power and heat for the cities above. This world had no moon but in orbit around it were three large space platforms. These platforms at one time were bound to the planet by long tether cables and functioned as a space elevator until the world's inhabitants mastered the use of antigravity technology. Nowadays the cables were gone but the renovated space platforms served as spaceports for the large transport ships and smaller patrol craft that frequently traveled between this world and others in the system.

The Sirius system was home to the Cetan race, a species of humanoids who dwelt upon twenty three planets and moons throughout the system. The species was not politically united, instead a myriad of different governing entities held sway over the different worlds and regions of worlds. There were accepted standards and practices among them regarding the usage of space lanes, dealing matters of trade or piracy, and a near unanimous treaty organization that managed the operation of the stargate. Aside from that these worlds and nations were as independent and diverse as any that we here on earth could imagine. These worlds and nations traded and warred with each other throughout their long histories. With 140,000 years of recorded history on several of the inhabited worlds in the system they had no certain knowledge which of these planets or moons their race had originated from. Several worlds carried competing claims to be the Cetan home world, each with similarly dubious anthropological data to support them. In fact given the age of the star system they resided in, relatively young in cosmic terms, and the level of society they had achieved it was speculated by some outlying scientists and philosophers that the Cetans had come to Sirius from another star system over a million years ago. They were an interplanetary civilization but not quite an interstellar one. The method by which the Cetans achieved FTL travel involved the construction of extremely large "gates" which were incredibly power intensive to operate; the only functioning gate in the system was located in near orbit to Sirius A and drew its power from the host star. Given that limitation and the likelihood any interstellar voyages would be a one way trip, the Cetans' efforts to explore beyond their own star system were largely limited to unmanned probes.

Among the systems which the Cetans had been observing with their telescopes and their probes was the Sol system, home to the Earth and its human race. The name of their own star, Sirius, was coincidentally the same in one of the dialects of their common language as it was on Earth, though it referred exclusively to the bright blue star of the system and not the white dwarf which was nearer to the main planetary system. The official designations of the stars however were Ceta Prime and Ceta Minor. Much as Sirius had factored into many myths and legends throughout the Earth likewise Earth's sun had featured prominently in many ancient Cetan myths. This made the Cetans' interest in the Sol system one of particular curiosity. It was there that the Cetans first discovered intelligent life outside of their own. While manned missions to the Sol system had been planned and debated for four centuries they were never undertaken. The consensus among the advanced Cetan worlds was to wait for the humans to make contact with them instead of initiating contact themselves. Until that time they would observe from afar and wait.

It was through these observations that the Cetans had witnessed the invasion of Earth at the hands of the Espheni so that when the Espheni vessel appeared in orbit of one of their worlds they understood all too well what was happening. Unlike the humans the Cetans did not give the Espheni space to analyze them and calculate how to most efficiently subdue them. The Cetans did not attempt to contact the Espheni or reason with them, or make any effort not to appear hostile. The Cetan response to the Espheni light cruiser entering their system was divert patrol frigates from their scheduled lanes and launch interceptors from each of the three space platforms and the planet below. The planet that would be under attack managed to broadcast a general distress call pleading for aid from its neighbor worlds and colonies prior to the Espheni cruiser jamming its communications.

Before the Espheni cruiser could take any further action a swarm of Cetan interceptors sped towards them in an apparent disordered formation like a great cloud. A number of heavier patrol craft also departed the orbital platforms and came off the distant space lanes on the opposite side of the Espheni cruiser from the icy planet ahead of it. The interceptors were small diamond shaped craft, about half the size of the former Space Shuttle. They were elongated and pointy towards the front and shorter and rounded towards the end. It had four upside down "V" shaped fins, which each contained a hollow triangular space within them, on both its vertical and horizontal axes. These fins extended out further than the craft was wide and ran from the rear of the craft along three quarters of the craft's length. At the base of these fins were four forward mounted cannons that could shift from a high powered laser weapon to a concussive pulse type weapon. The craft was bluish white or grey with some yellow, black and red markings at various places on the vessel. On some of the craft the red markings were replaced by blue or green markings which indicated which squadron they belonged to. The patrol frigates, most of which would not arrive to the battle for several minutes, were a rough, segmented, generally cigar shaped craft 80 meters in length and 20 meters in diameter. Its outer shell was highly angular and jagged appearing crystalline in structure. The crystalline blocks of the ship were divided into three distinct segments; a jagged, blocky rear segment with multiple points on the back, a cylindrical mid-section and a rough bullet shaped front segment with a curved protrusion on the top capped with a shiny white sphere which resembled an anglerfish's illicium or "rod." The crystalline shell was an off-white color and translucent in some places and the thin bands of solid material between the segments were black and dotted with two rows of circular yellow lights shining through longitudinal windows.

With a swarm of interceptors at the fore, four patrol frigates closed in on the Espheni cruiser. Soon the Espheni would learn that the orb on the extension of the Cetan craft was not just for decoration. The Cetans had a defensive capability the Espheni did not expect; forward directed energy shields. When the cruiser fired a pair of green laser beams towards one of the frigates the energy shield completely scattered the beams and deflected the attack. The shield was not impenetrable but it was extremely resilient. Incoming attacks that could not be scattered or deflected had to be absorbed which put a strain on the shield generator which could in time overwhelm certain key components and cause the system to fail. If the shield generator capacitors were given enough time to cool down out of the line of fire the system could recharge itself so long as no irreversible damage had occurred. Now the rear of the craft was unshielded and vulnerable but the crews of these frigates were well trained to fly in facing any potential harm. A broad battery of beam weapons tore into the swarm of interceptors, taking out several of them as they continued on their attack run. Squadrons of beamers were released from newly opened hangars on the sides of the Espheni disc which rushed in to engage the interceptors in spacebourne dogfights. Two squadrons of beamers bypassed the incoming Cetan interceptors and headed towards the furthest two of the space platforms. While the interceptors were tied up with the beamers the heavier frigates opened fire with potent beams of white light that pierced through the outer hulls of the Espheni disc, dealing the vessel its first blows. The drawback of the frigates weapon was that it utilized the same projection apparatus as the shield so that when it fired the shield was lowered for a brief moment. This weakness was capitalized when an Espheni beam cannon sliced through the frontal hull of one of the frigates as it was firing, badly damaging it's navigation and control systems. The crystalline shell of the frigate reduced the effectiveness of the beam preventing it from completely piercing through the vessel but nonetheless the damage was significant. The damaged frigate was knocked off course where a second beam pierced through the material between the crystalline sections leaving a brief trail of flame issuing out from the puncture until oxygen within the breached compartment was exhausted. The frigate hurtled further away from the mothership and the planet, easy prey for the beamers to dispose of if they could disengage the interceptors for long enough to strike.

The interceptors would not allow this to happen and doggedly held the beamers attention on them. A cloud of tiny spacecraft zipped and zoomed around the Espheni mothership. Long beams of light shot out here and there from the disc while flashes of bluish-white energy streamed from the beamers. Smaller red beams streaked out of the interceptors and burning white beams were emitted from the frigates. Adding to the orbital light show were bright and fleeting explosions as beamers and interceptors alike met their end bursting in a brief blaze before their remains froze in the cold vacuum of space.

In spite of the continuing space battle surrounding the mothership the Espheni made preparations to attack the planet below. The disc rotated to where the underside faced the planet with the nearest space platform in between. A ring near the center of the craft illuminated, dim at first and then brighter. "All craft stay away the underside of the primary enemy vessel." a command was issued by the captain of a nearby frigate that noticed the activity beneath the mothership. The interceptors retreated from the line of fire and quickly hooked around towards the sides of the mothership, engaging beamers and evading the mothership's defenses. After the lower ring had charged sufficiently a bright flash was emitted which obscured the mothership behind a brilliant white light which faded almost as quickly as it appeared. The space platform was first to feel its effects, losing power in all unshielded systems and going dark. Afterwards the effects reached a wide circular region of the planet, knocking out many of the Cetans' electronic systems within that area. The effects were not as devastating here as they were on Earth, the more critical systems such as life support on the platform and military installations on the surface were immune to the effects of the EMP-esque pulse. The cities below went dark only for moments later certain sections of them rebooted under auxiliary power. In a few more minutes the redundant systems on the platform would also kick in and light back up the station. The Espheni would not defang their opposition so easily this time.

Towards the Cetan space platforms the free squadron of beamers engaged the limited defensive measures on board. Prior to the disabled platform rebooting itself a group of beamers disengaged the Cetan interceptors and headed towards the disabled platform. With interceptors in hot pursuit the beamers took out the defensive systems on the platform before they could be activated and flew past it to strike targets on the planet before they had a chance to come back online. Above the active platforms their eight laser cannons were not sufficient to repel the attack and while suffering minor losses the beamers easily destroyed one of the platforms and badly damaged another before reinforcements came in from the space lanes. The fresh frigates fanned out their forward mounted beam cannons in wide slicing arcs, tearing through multiple beamers in a single shot. While the beamers did manage to slip several shots in through the frigates shields their pulse cannons could not deal considerable damage to the well armored craft. Warfare was not a foreign concept to the Cetans and their ships were adapted to combat in space. Their frigates and interceptors were of superior design to the beamers and their heavier gunships not to mention the Cetans were better pilots.

Superior fighters and dogfighting skills still did not negate the sheer power of the mothership and when the threat to the remaining two platforms was eliminated the reinforcements turned their focus towards the Espheni disc. While the interceptors, accompanied by a fresh wave of fighters launched from the planet engaged the swarm of beamers surrounding the mothership the frigates converged in a tight formation, overlapping their shields and alternating their firing patterns so that none of the Espheni attacks could get through. They first took out the EMP generator on the underside of the ship so that it could not be employed again by blowing away sizeable sections of the formerly luminous ring.

To counter the threat the Espheni prepared to raise shields of their own. Rectangular panels began to extend on thick square rods around various portions of the Espheni mothership's hull. When fully extended these towers would project a force field around the ship, however due to damage the Espheni cruiser had already suffered the force field it produced would be incomplete, leaving several gaps by which attacks could still get through. As the frigates skated around the ship taking pot shots at it when possible they noticed some of their attacks beginning to be absorbed by the force field. They launched missiles towards the mothership but they too were absorbed by the Espheni force field.

The Cetans hadn't the power to overwhelm the Espheni shield generators by force alone so they would have to utilize their superior tactics to win the day. The frigates moved out away from the mothership and the interceptors now flew towards it. The frigates sliced through the blackness of space at the beamers in pursuit allowing a few dozen interceptors to break free and make an attack run on the mothership. The Cetan fighters flew through several of the gaps in the shield and made attack runs upon the base of the Espheni shield projectors. With the Cetan ships flying so close to the surface of the mothership its primary beam cannons were highly inaccurate against the fighters so the Espheni had to rely on beamers and smaller plasma batteries to fend off the attackers. While more accurate at close range, the plasma guns took several hits to destroy the interceptors allowing them more time to evade and proceed on their attack runs. As more Cetan ships arrived to the battle from the transport lanes and a military battle fleet launched by the ice world's closest ally was on its way the fighters took out a large section of the Espheni shield generators to allow the frigates to use their powerful forward weapons to poke holes through the mighty mothership. Even with the continued attack the Espheni launched their gunships to board the damaged and disabled platforms before the Cetan fleet arrived. Some of these ships did not make it to their destination but many more did as the majority of the defenders were concentrating to lowering the Espheni shields. Soon skitters, crawlies and "mini-mechs" would be storming into the platforms and overwhelming the Cetan crews within as they struggled to repair the damage done during the earlier attack.

As fresh reinforcements continued to arrive the Espheni mothership found itself sustaining heavy damage throughout. The war fleet promised to aid them was led by a Cetan battleship in the shape of a 180 meter jagged, spiky, multi-layered carrot speckled with lights and bristling with gun batteries. Like the frigates the battleship was equipped with energy shields, now projected by six different generators which covered both the front and rear of the ship. There was no gap in their defenses so long as certain combinations of their primary weapons did not fire at once. The battleship had smaller lasers and missiles as well that could be fired through the shields to take out the beamers and gunships that had been sent to harass it.

Even with the Cetan fleet pounding it the Espheni cruiser was very adaptive and quickly sealed off compromised sections of the hull preventing large scale decompression within. What made matters worse is that the semi-organic internal structure of the ship was regenerating itself and expanding to repair the damage done by the Cetans. While the new bioskin of the mothership wasn't as durable as the metal outer hull it effectively sealed off the breaches and restored functionality to damaged systems. This regenerative ability coupled with the redundancy of the mothership's power, propulsion, life support and weapons systems meant that the Cetans would have to deal a massive amount of damage in a short period of time to destroy the vessel. The battle fleet being confident in its abilities to destroy the mothership did not request another wave of reinforcements when it was en route and now it's communications were jammed in proximity to the Espheni mothership. There would be no further assistance unless distant observers could ascertain the situation warranted their help and they launched relief on their own accord.

Given the difficulty of destroying it with a direct attack the Cetan fleet now initiated a plan to board the mothership. The fighters focused their attack on taking out the shield generators and weaponry around a certain section on the top side of the mothership. Once the defenses in the area were nullified two of the frigates flew in close and extended docking tubes onto the ship's hull where the outer hull was cut open and boarding parties proceeded to enter the invader's vessel. The battleship and two rounded rectangular star carriers covered the frigates approach by launching their full complement of interceptors and heavy bombers against the mothership and its remaining beamers guarding it.

Once an entry point had been cut into the Espheni hull the Cetan soldiers lobbed flash grenades into the breach ahead of them, clearing the way. They then dropped down into a corridor running around the inner circumference of the ship. The Cetan soldiers wore white, jointed suits of armor capable of scattering some energy weapons and absorbing the physical impact of others. The suits had no neck so the bucket shaped helmet joined directly onto the shoulder pads, back and breastplates. The helmets had two bulbous black eyes which could see into the infrared and UV spectrum just as the skitters could. Other than that the Cetans' "faces" were completely featureless. The soldiers varied slightly in height, standing within 4 inches in either direction of 5 feet tall and had a build similar to that of a small to average sized human. They carried boxy looking pulse rifles, shock batons and a couple had a tripod mounted laser cannon with them.

There were no skitters in the immediate area where they had boarded; it appeared the Espheni were not prepared to repel boarders. Instead they flooded the corridor with a lethal dose of radiation, however much like the skitters exoskeleton the Cetans armored suits were capable of attenuating the gamma rays to less than lethal levels. The corridor itself had more in common with the living inner skin than the technological appearance of the outer hull and machinery of the ship. It was oblong shaped and covered with a stretched biofilm in places much like a thicker, translucent spider web. It was very dimly lit, only a pulsing orange glow from deeply embedded light sources within the walls and ceiling broke the shadows of the corridor. The Cetans tapped the sides of their helmets and the eyes refocused to the low light conditions and allowed them to see just as well as any skitter. The Cetan soldiers from both the ships proceeded around the corridor in opposite directions scouting out anything they could think to destroy that would disable the ship.

Outside more frigates attempted to board the ship in other places, some of which were obliterated by Espheni beam cannons before they reached the surface of the mothership. The space battle raged, interceptors and beamers continued to drop like flies and the Cetans lost more frigates in their continued assault on the mothership. The Cetan battleship now went toe to toe with the mothership dealing considerable damage at close range. In exchange a large number of bright green beams managed to breach the shields and strike through the hull of the battleship. It was unclear at this time which ship would be standing at the end of the engagement.

Inside the mothership a new squad of Cetan soldiers had made its way through the ship and now blew open a floor hatch to emerge by happenstance near one of the six main reactors of the vessel. Here they encountered two overlords, a four armed serpentine slave race which serviced the mechanical components and a horde of skitters. The Cetan soldiers opened fire on the skitters which shielded the overlords with their bodies. The overlords backed away and retreated down the hallway behind the engineering enclave. The skitters fell like ants before the Cetans' weapons. A couple of the Cetans were overwhelmed and beaten to death by the skitters but the unit maintained its cohesion. The slithering four armed creatures fired electric bolts from what appeared like a longbow. The bolts pierced through the Cetan armor upon a direct hit but would be absorbed harmlessly on an indirect or glancing blow. A pair of Cetans set up their laser tripod and fired it towards the engineers. In the process of chopping up an overgrown cobra the beam sliced through a tube going from the roof of the compartment into the side of the spherical reactor containment vessel. The contents of the tube flashed instantly into hot steam and the reactor fail safe shut it down. The Cetans fled in one direction while the engineers and skitters retreaded in the opposite way from the sparks and hot gases spewing out into the reactor compartment. While retreating through the adjacent corridor the Cetans saw worm things attached to wires swimming in the walls. Instinctively they shot them and unknowingly did more damage to that reactor and the ship's power grid.

This lowered a full quarter of the topside shields just as the mothership and battleship continued to exchange heavy fire with each other. The battleship's weapons blasted through the mothership setting off a tremendous succession of explosions within. A full sixteenth of the mothership was blasted out into space and much more of it was left a skeletal ruin. This damage would not be so easily repaired. Cetan frigates rushed in and fired through the open interior of the ship accelerating the damage done to the alien command vessel. The group of soldiers that had lowered the shields had incidentally been lost when the section of the ship they were in was consumed in a tertiary explosion.

Elsewhere another group of Cetan soldiers encountered two platoons of armored skitters wielding staff-like energy weapons. In the exchange of weapons fire the skitters managed to send the Cetans fleeing in the face of their superior numbers. Two of the skitters crept up to one of the wounded Cetans that had been left behind. In the distance an overlord appeared around the bend in the corridor accompanied by four more skitters. One of the two skitters lifted the head of the Cetan fighter and using its thumbs smashed through the eyes and gouging out the eyes of the true Cetan creature underneath. The skitter closed its hands and with the help of its partner it pulled the helmet off the Cetan soldier to reveal their enemy's true face. The skitters dropped the body and shrunk back in fear after looking upon the being underneath. The other skitters also appeared to be in shock and disbelief. The overlord leaned over his minions and turned his head to the side to observe what the skitters had uncovered. The overlord did not display an emotional response; their expressions did not give much away about what was going on inside their minds. For it appeared the overlord thought nothing of the find though that was not the case. While it was not fear that had taken over the ancient alien being, the overlord found himself perplexed by what he had seen.

Outside the ship the battle fleet continued to ravage the mothership, now taking out its main propulsion system and two more reactors. It was left totally unshielded, with a dwindling supply of beamers and boarding parties wreaking havoc within its interior. The Espheni in their desperation sought to scorch the inhabited portions of the planet's surface and relocate their forces to the world below. The light cruiser did not have the capability to utilize mass drivers to bombard the planet with asteroids however it still had the capacity to devastate the planet's surface. It launched its full complement of missiles which each split into hundreds more individually targeted fusion warheads that spread out like a net around the entire planet as they descended towards the upper atmosphere. "They're going to nuke the surface! All fighters intercept incoming missiles!" was the command that was broadcast to all the Cetan interceptors. Meanwhile the battleship and the frigates diverted their fire to try and stop the missiles before they made it out of range. The interceptors broke away from their attack and chased after the Espheni missiles with beamers in hot pursuit. As they tried to shake the beamers the interceptors saw the distance between themselves and the missiles increase up until the multitudes of warheads broke apart and slowed down in anticipation of entering the atmosphere. The interceptors fired blindly towards the distant warheads hoping to take some of them out before they reached the upper atmosphere while the beamers fired upon them. Some missiles were hit from beyond the working range of the interceptors, but these warheads were stopped with a price as many more of the interceptors were lost due to the beamers behind them.

Ground based weapons systems launched a vast array of missiles to intercept the incoming Espheni warheads along with long range lasers and plasma pulse cannons. Just as on Earth the guidance systems on the Cetan missiles were useless and the missiles they deployed against the Espheni nukes traveled in a straight line up and away into the skies. Fortunately the Espheni missiles fell straight down and did not take evasive action so many of them were destroyed in the atmosphere. Despite their best efforts however the Cetans could not stop all the missiles and several of them struck the planet obliterating entire domed cities and installations. In places the ice, which was upwards of 2 kilometers deep, cracked straight through to the liquid oceans or solid ground beneath.

As the Cetan fleet attempted to mitigate the destruction of their world the Espheni evacuated the mothership onto transports and gunships and flew around the Cetan forces under heavy escort. They left a skeleton crew behind to use the mothership to clear a path for the evacuation. While adrift and unable to move, the mothership still retained a sizeable number of beam cannons which it used to clear a hole through the Cetan fleet encircling the sky above their world as detonations speckled the planet below. The battleship and frigates shifted their firepower back onto the mothership and tore it asunder. At the destruction of its primary distribution node and FTL actuator core at the center of the ship the mothership cracked in half. One half already badly damaged broke apart into millions of tiny pieces. The other half drifted out away from the planet as the frigates pursued it, retrieving their surviving soldiers still inside before ensuring the craft's complete destruction.

As the Espheni descended into the skies of their world and made landfall near several cities the Cetans knew the war was not over. The enemy would be amongst them and they would have to fight down and dirty on the ice and within their urban areas to expunge the Espheni filth from their world. The imminent threat however had been decisively dealt with. Their communications were now restored and the Cetans felt that they had the upper hand. It was the Cetans who were blocking the Espheni's communications this time, effectively trapping and dooming the aggressors to the fate wrought by their own arrogance. Now they could press the fight on their terms, mourn their losses and rebuild. In the midst of all this chaos they knew this wasn't the last they would see of the Espheni; through their telescopes and probes they knew that a whole armada of similar craft were parked, in interstellar terms, a short hop away. The Espheni had underestimated them once; it would be foolish of them to do so twice.


	86. Chapter 86: Blood and Circuses

Chapter LXXXVI: Blood and Circuses

29 Oct 1245 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Within an enclosed sporting arena a crowd of newly drafted Imperial fighters were gathered together for a display which was promised to be both instructional and entertaining. The arena and surrounding sporting complexes had lost much of their splendor since they had once hosted the Olympic Games in the previous century. The monuments had been cast down and the surviving structures were scorched and chipped away at. Overturned cars and fragments of cars that had been launched from as far as the other side of the river remained as a reminder of the aliens' power. Outside a plane had smashed into a track and soccer field nearby and the area was surrounded on three sides by a moat that was formed when the Han River broke its banks and the local geography had changed that fateful day in the beginning of the month. Nearby hotels had been leveled or flooded out. Inside the gymnastics arena where the assembly was to be held there was glass and debris littered all over floor and in the seats. Even after some refurbishing those in attendance still had to brush off their space before sitting down. The dome over the arena had been shattered and replaced by a tarp over the twisted and mangled framework that remained. This tarp wasn't made of any common material however; the new dome of the arena was fashioned from the outer skins of slain skitters woven together to form one giant sheet. It was learned that the aliens' skin could block detection from thermal, gamma and X-ray imaging systems alike. It also had a dampening effect on sound waves effectively making whatever ruckus was going on inside the building seem silent from the outside. To put it plainly the alien airships could not see underneath their own skin.

The arena floor was lit by torches on poles both mounted on the floor and around the stands. On the floor were three skitters with their arms and legs spread out and bound to a giant "X" fashioned from heavy steel girders and weighted down with burnt out engine blocks of defunct vehicles welded to the X-beams. The skitters bonds were several coils of thick chain locked together with industrial grade tungsten alloy locks. The bonds were further cemented on the skitters by steel railroad spikes driven through the wrists and ankles of the creatures and welded onto the beams behind them. These spikes were carefully positioned to hinder the use of the aliens' mighty muscles in their attempts to break the chains. Around the skitters various implements of torture had been fashioned ranging from a pair of bolt cutters to a blowtorch. A series of car batteries wired to a crude generator operated by an exercise bicycle through a gear assembly formed a power source to the left of the third skitter.

It was this skitter to which Dong-suk, the presenter of today's instruction would begin his first demonstration. Dong-suk was a tall, muscular man in his mid to late 40s. His highly athletic body did not portray his age but his face capped off with long dark brown hair on the sides and back that was bald on top, a "skullet" if you will, did. He wore a plain white T-shirt that was tight against his chiseled chest and had a length of chain slung over one of his shoulders. His poofed up dark green snow pants were tucked into rubberized electrician' boots and he carried two long knives and a .45 caliber pistol on his thick leather belt. "Ladies and gentlemen! Fine new members of our great and glorious People's Empire of New Korea! Please direct your attention to center stage!" Dong-suk announced through a bright red bullhorn. The way he spoke was a bad imitation of a Western circus ringmaster that came through more as a heckling carnival worker. He had done these shows to enough new "classes" of fighters that the stage persona had begun to become his own. The crowd quieted down to a light chatter and looked towards Dong-suk. "Now I suppose you all want to see me and my associates here chop up some of these nasty Geomis?" Dong-suk asked the crowd eliciting cheers from them while motioning to his assistants to his left and right. Dong-suk nodded to one of his assistants who picked up a pair of bolt cutters and snipped off the finger of one of the skitters and handed it to Dong-suk. The skitter shook and rattled the chains as its appendage was taken from it but could not break free. Dong-suk held the skitter's finger over his head, presenting it to the crowd. "Now we could do that, and believe you me, I would love to get some revenge on these space jockeys but what would we learn from that?" Dong-suk announced. He then walked over to the left skitter and scratched its face with its own claw.

"See here Mr. Geomi, now that you're good and awake you might be wondering why we stuck those bolts in your neck?" Dong-suk taunted the skitter as he leaned in towards it. He then stood back up and turned around to the crowd. "No folks it's not to make him look like a Frank-en-Stein's monster! You see, Geomi-skin makes for a damn good insulator so in order to conduct a current like so, you have to provide a conduit for the juice to flow on through the body." the man announced as his assistant picked up a pair of jumper cables and clipped them first onto the last of the series of batteries and then clamped one of the cables onto the left bolt in the skitter's neck. The remaining clamp was handed to Dong-suk. With a wave of his hand he directed his second assistant onto the bike to maintain a charge on the batteries. Dong-suk then first placed the clamp on the skitter's skin to no effect. "This would be what you would probably face in the field. Nothing." Dong-suk informed the crowd. "Now just to show you there was juice running through this here wire." Dong-suk announced. He then removed the clamp and fastened it to the other bolt. There was a spark and the skitter shook and convulsed. Steam rose out of the opened wounds in the skitters' exoskeleton. Dong-suk was content just to sit there and let the monster fry. The stench was horrifying, it did not smell like steamed lobster that was for sure. The chains rattled and shook as the creature violently jerked around but they remained intact. Once the skitter was thoroughly cooked Dong-suk and his assistant removed the clamps and the cyclist stopped pedaling. The skitter was completely burnt to a crisp inside but its outer armor remained completely unscathed.

"For our next demonstration we will show you the effectiveness of fire on these terrible creatures." Dong-suk announced. While he was speaking one of his assistants doused the middle skitter with gasoline. "It may behoove many of you to think you can just whip up a Molotov cocktail and throw it at these guys. While it would scare them a bit as you can see. . ." Dong-suk spoke as he lit the blowtorch and set the skitter ablaze. The skitter panicked and twisted around having no more of an effect and removing its bonds as the first one did. Even as the creature was engulfed in flames the crowd could observe that it was not harmed. ". .it is not effective." Dong-suk concluded. He stepped back and waited for the flames to burn themselves out leaving a warm and ever more frightened skitter in front of him. Dong-suk spun around with his arms outstretched to the crowd. A mixture of oohs and aahs came upon them as they saw the alien still struggling to free itself. The one on the right violently shook and rattled in an effort to get away as well. It was well aware of what was going on. The screams of that skitter's compatriots were not audible to the human ear but to each other they were deafening. With fear and adrenaline fueling the third skitter's already superhuman strength one of the chains bundling its right cluster of legs together began to weaken. A single link began to elongate against the repeated and steady force the alien exerted against it.

Meanwhile Dong-suk continued with the show. "Don't let this fool you my friends! They are not completely fireproof. You just need something that burns a little bit hotter and will be so easily extinguished." Dong-suk informed the crowd and then reached into a bag on the ground and removed a white phosphorus grenade. He hit the skitter with the grenade whose contents began to slowly burn through the armored skin of the creature. A louder round of oohs and aahs and chants began to rise from the crowd. "Now this process will be slow and agonizing for the poor Geomi, so why don't we get along and put this fellow out of his misery?" Dong-suk posed to the crowd. The crowd responded with boos and chants of "Let him burn!" Dong-suk instead decided to ignore the crowd's wishes and proceed with the lesson.

He then took a long hand-made pike off the ground. This pike had a hardened tip capable of piercing through the skitters' skin with not as much effort as one would assume. "Now for a little lesson on anatomy!" Dong-suk proclaimed as he turned away from the crowd and towards the middle skitter. "You may be tempted to shoot at these guys as if they were human, going for the head, heart and so forth." Dong-suk spoke as he poked the skitter lightly with the pike in the center of the chest and forehead. "That would be a fatal mistake gentlemen. Their vitals are not quite were we would expect them to be." Dong-suk said as he rammed the pike through where the heart would be if the skitter was laid out like a human. The skitter writhed back in pain but remained alive, trashing as the phosphorus burned down towards its inner skin. "The brain is in much the same place but watch." Dong-suk said as he impaled the skitter between the eyes. The skitter appeared to recoil and fall limp, seeming to most to be dead. "One, two, three, four. ." Dong-suk counted down out loud. "There it goes!" Dong-suk exclaimed as the skitter seemingly came back to life and resumed twisting, turning and shuddering in its excruciating pain. "These slippery bastards have a backup system, in the back, you see." Dong-suk informed the crowd while making a lame pun. "In order to take out both brains you have to hit them here, in the neck or through the jaw." he continued pointing to the locations from which an instant kill could be achieved. "Poking them through the mouth is one of the softest places on these guys too. I saw a man kill one with a broom handle that way." Dong-suk remarked. "Now as for the other vital organs don't look so much to the chest than to the lower abdomen. You can spear them right through the gut, provided they're not wearing armor of course." Dong-suk said making the motion to impale the skitter but not following through. "Or you can lance them between the legs." Dong-sunk mentioned while his assistants pulled on two steel cables that yanked the skitter back exposing the area on its underside where all the legs came together. Dong-suk then ferociously skewered the skitter through the underside and effectively terminated its existence.

"Some more points on their shells. The thickness varies from place to place and between individuals. The younger ones are a little softer than the older ones. You can't really tell age on these things unless you cut them open though." Dong-suk said as he moved toward the last skitter. "As you've seen the lower face, neck and the underside are vulnerable to most attacks. The chest, shoulders and forearms are considerably harder and thicker." Dong-suk explained while pointing all these areas out on the last skitter. "You can also take out their limbs on the joints. This slows them down and gives you a better chance of getting through the engagement that going straight for that kill." Dong-suk told the crowd while one of his assistants took a wood cutting axe and chopped off the left arm at the elbow joint. The skitter strained viciously against the chains, now flailing its freed left stub around. Dong-suk backed away and walked behind the skitter. "You might think you've being clever sneaking up on them and shooting them from behind." Dong-suk proclaimed. He took out his gun and from the far side of the area shot the skitter in the back of the head. The bullet nicked off the upper crest of the creatures head leaving the skitter very much alive. When the gun was fired the skitter broke one half of the chain link that was beginning to fail around its legs. With the combined effort of its arm stub and its other arm it began to weaken its arm restraints as well. "That would be very foolish gentlemen! The backside of these overgrown termites is strongest part of their shell. There's a little soft spot at the base of the skull where it connects to the neck but you pretty much have to at point blank range to hit it. As a rule of thumb always fight facing forward." Dong-suk informed the crowd. Just then the chains around the skitter's right arm and leg cluster broke loose and the skitter whipped its body around towards Dong-suk. "Looks like we are going to have our gladiator contest ahead of schedule!" Dong-suk announced with no sense of concern in his voice. He was very much amused. The skitter started to shake its left legs loose as Dong-suk's assistants picked up weapons to strike it. There was no need however. Dong-suk calmly shot the skitter just above the upper lip with his .45 and killed it. "Demonstration complete!" Dong-suk proclaimed and brought the assembly to a close.

29 Oct 1904 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

A pile of the freshly slain bodies of the latest victims of an Imperial raid sat in the center of a street with empty cars and buildings on both sides. As the sun slid down towards the horizon turning the sky a blazing orange with somber undertones of red Sang-hoon and a squad of Imperial troops waited in buildings a couple blocks away from the aliens to walk right into the ambush. Surprisingly enough they still fell for the same trap over and over again. Kwang-su had given them a few freebies just to throw them off and make them second guess all their attempts to scavenge in Seoul. Dead bodies were the bait this time. Most people never stopped to wonder why there were so fewer bodies lying about than there should have been following the initial bombardment. Most people, if they thought about this at all assumed that the bodies were vaporized during the blasts or burned up in the fires that followed. Scores of millions were also washed out to sea by the great tsunamis generated by offshore bombardment near coastal regions. While this was true for those who perished in the first wave the hundreds of millions who died due to radiation poisoning from the second wave of the bombardment and those slain at the onset of the ground campaign were also largely unaccounted for. Truth was that the aliens had been harvesting the bodies and Kwang-su had seen it happen. While nowhere as effective at luring the creatures in as were live children, whom the aliens always would go for, fresh corpses were plentiful in ways live bait was not. Even now the aliens had been known to harvest the human dead from time to time and carry them away, for what purpose no one knew. It really wouldn't shock Sang-hoon if they were eating them.

Now the bodies had to be fresh, if they sat around for more than 6 hours or so the Geomis wouldn't be coming to get them and all of Sang-hoon's hard work setting this trap would have been for naught. Then they would be left with just another mound of rotting flesh and a waste of time and material. The further sweeten the deal Sang-hoon had propped up several of the bodies like a series of mannequins carrying corpses in preparation for a bonfire to make it seem as if there were still living humans among the dead. All he had to do now was wait for a couple of hours and see if his efforts would pay off.

After several flyovers had undoubtedly spotted the collection of bodies Sang-hoon noticed a steady trail of skitters proceeding down the main street to the bait they had laid out for them. "There you go you Geomi bastards, fresh beefy steaks just for you." whispered Sang-hoon with no small sense of self satisfaction. As the long shadows fell over the trap more aliens were drawn in by the bait. A trio of mechs and more skitters crawled into position around the pile of human flesh. One of the skitters reached into the pile and lifted the arm of one of the bodies and let it drop. The skitter quickly backed away and cowered somewhat. When nothing happened the skitter returned to the body and examined it closely. Another skitter came as if summoned by some unspoken word and carefully removed the body from the pile and laid it out on the ground. The two skitters eyed it over curiously; to an observer unfamiliar with the carnage the aliens had wrought this month would have believed the skitter to have a saddened, almost sympathetic look about itself. The same aura of forlorn despondency was given when the first skitter picked up the crushed body of a small child and held it in its hand. If skitters could cry, the same unaware observer would suppose this one to be bawling. The first skitter handed off the small body and proceeded to drag the broken vessels of other former men and women out from the pile. Other skitters then approached and removed a body or a body part from the pile as well. After a while their activities accidentally set off a pressure switch that triggered a rapid chain of events ensnaring them in the trap Sang-hoon had set for them. The cars lining the sides of the street detonated sending shards of glass, BBs and nails flying everywhere. Simultaneously detonations from improvised land mines disguised as street garbage erupted at the feet of the aliens for two blocks in either direction. The explosions ignited larger bombs packed into 55 gallon drums inside the buildings that also blasted out flame and shrapnel into the street. The shrapnel ripped into the skitters and cut the entire company down almost simultaneously. Two of the mechs were obliterated by the explosions leaving a single mech standing alone. The skitters further away from the explosions tried to run but their retreat was cut off by Imperial fighters which gunned them down mercilessly. When the dust had settled several mortally wounded skitters lay dying in the street gasping and twitching as their life left them. Others limped along with missing and defective limbs, trying to escape with their lives. Sang-hoon grabbed a loaded RPG launcher and ran down the alleyway along with his men to finish off the last of the aliens. His minions came out of hiding and raced in from all directions, gunning down the wounded skitters while Sang-hoon blasted open the top of the remaining mech. He dodged the mech's retaliation by charging through the door into a store. Meanwhile one of his men tossed a grenade into the open gash atop the mech and blew it apart from the inside. Sang-hoon stood proudly over his victory while his men quickly finished off the last remaining skitters strung out upon the ground. It was a fine kill, not bad for half a day's work.


	87. Chapter 87: Struck A Nerve

Chapter LXXXVII: Struck a Nerve

29 Oct 2259 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

In retaliation for the Empire's latest efforts to cleanse Songpa, Gangnam and Seocho Districts of their alien presence the aliens initiated an intense bombing campaign that night. The airstrikes came with an intensity not seen since the initial invasion, a reminder of the force the occupiers could still bring to bear. The ordinance deployed was not nuclear equivalent this time. It was assumed that the aliens had to make precision strikes to avoid damaging the nascent infrastructure of their own that had begun to break ground on the other side of the river. With the sheer volume of bombs dropped however, nuclear or not, the effects felt the same to anyone unfortunate enough to be on the ground at that time.

The earth shattering roar of the explosions and the shaking of the ground and walls around them woke Ji-hwan and his friends from their slumber within their new home in the Gangnam District train station. They ran topside to join the night's watch to see bright flashes of light repeatedly illuminate the blackest night. Beamers screamed over the battered cityscape releasing controlled ordinance to scour the alien free areas of the city. So far the attacks had not yet come this far south but the bombs had been falling close by. "Somebody pissed the bugs off big time today." remarked Ji-hwan. "Everyone get down below!" Ji-hwan ordered as the attack showed no signs of relenting. The watch and Ji-hwan's now fully awakened compatriots rushed back down into the train station. Once everyone was underground Ji-hwan himself ran down and hoped that the aliens wouldn't see them in here. He was reasonably sure he had brought everyone down since anyone left topside would be dead meat. The heat of the explosions and the incineration of whatever was left standing up there would mask their thermal signatures and all the steel, earth and concrete over their heads should mitigate the effectiveness of X-rays Ji-hwan thought. In what felt like an earthquake the people of the northern garrison fearfully huddled together in groups, worried that the next big jolt they received would bring the roof over their heads crashing down on top of them.

The ground shook again and again; dust and pebbles fell from the overhead like a light rain. Outside the detonations shone through the train station doorway like a strobe flashing over and over. The bombs would land further away for a time, then another round would hit closer. Sometimes it felt like the blast occurred right on top of them. The people shuddered and winced as a large support pillar cracked and slipped to the side a little. The same pillar lost a chunk of its outer plaster coating with the next blast. Soon after in the same wave of attacks a loud crashing thud was heard outside and a huge cloud of smoke rolled into the station from outside. Some people ran inside the derelict train cars that had become severed from the rest of the train they were attached to by a collapsed tunnel. Ji-hwan quietly directed the people to move away from both the weakened pillar and any openings to the outside as flames and hot ash had been known to trickle in from time to time.

Above ground the beamers continued to carpet bomb the area, flooding the streets with flame and burning up much of what hadn't burned the first time around. The alien airstrikes focused heavily on visible military equipment and potentially operational vehicles in an effort to deny the human resistance of the means to effectively oppose them. Inadvertently, this also cleared many of the masses of disabled vehicles that had so clogged the streets. Come morning, driving would become a little easier for what vehicles managed to survive the night. The Seoul garrison was fortunate as it would be that their motorized vehicles had been taken to Seongnam earlier in the day for minor repairs and to deliver requested items to the 4th's central command. From the aliens' vantage point Seongnam had been pacified and laid to waste, only the Imperial areas appeared to be a hindrance to their ongoing operations.

After the bombing had stopped legions of skitters poured through the streets in groups of seven or eight. A few of these groups contained a mech or two but most of them did not, presumably because the noise of the mechs might scare any surviving pockets of humanity that may have ventured back out to flee back into their hiding places. "Stay absolutely silent." was Ji-hwan's whispered command to everyone under his watch. You could hear a pin drop when the first group of skitters passed by the entry hall to the train station. Every footstep of each of their six skittering feet was heard and noted. Outside once again good fortune had been bestowed on Ji-hwan and his people. The remnants of neighboring structures had blocked the entrance to the train station leaving not a space large enough for a skitter to squeeze through. The overall appearance of the area looked to be total devastation so the skitters simply passed over it. The debris could be cleared easily enough to allow humans through when Ji-hwan was ready to ascend to the surface again though. Once again silence fell over the survivors. Every so often a momentary burst of gunfire, screams and explosions could be heard when the skitters had located their prey. These battles were brief and far between as silence prevailed through the rest of the night. Like the proverbial termites they were Ji-hwan's group had escaped the exterminator once this time. As for the Empire, he could only speculate; they would be weakened but undoubtedly they would endure. The aliens would not be so kind as to alleviate the 4th Korea of their troubles among their own species.

29 Oct 2303

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

The repeated detonations from the airstrikes kept Jake and his friends from getting any sleep that night. He stood several feet away from the window watching wave after wave of beamers fly in silently over them, shrink in appearance as they moved into the west and discharge their payload. The bombs went off like a rapid pounding of drums. The bright flashes of the explosions along the horizon, stretching from north to south, stripped away the contrast of black on black that had concealed the billowing clouds of smoke against the night sky. Each flash would banish the shadows of their own room for a time as well before the night returned, desperately kept trying to reclaim its dominion. There was little if any ground fire directed towards the beamers. This battle looked completely one sided as the Imperials were either vanquished or hunkered down in places hoping to ride it out. While Jake quietly observed the attack Hyuna stood close to Jake's right side holding onto his upper arm for comfort while Min-jung leaned in and peeked out the window from several paces to his left. Do-yeon was behind them, sitting on the far corner of the bed looking past them and out the window. The fear was there among them as it always was yet it was tempered. The fighting may have been more intense tonight but it was still far enough removed from them that they felt confident enough that they would see the sun rise.

In the midst of seeing an already devastated city be destroyed twice over Jake couldn't help thinking about the people who had held him captive for those four days. They were there on the edge of the horizon somewhere where all the explosions were going off. How were they faring through this? Did they have any chance to survive? He hoped they would make it to see the dawn. They were good people caught up in a bad situation. Their masters, these so called Imperials, Jake could care less about them, in fact he felt the deserved to perish in the flames. It was sad that he could think that way about fellow humans in a world where there weren't all that many of them left. Still he couldn't help the way he felt; to Jake the aliens had made them no longer human. As much as they deserved it Jake knew that not all of the Imperials would die tonight. They were surely smart enough to know when they can't win and were probably hiding like cockroaches. When the smoke cleared tomorrow the "Emperor" and his resistance would still be alive and kicking. He could only hope the same for those people he had come to know.

A bright flash followed seconds later by a deep and resounding boom completely derailed his train of thought. A bomb landed too close for comfort this time. The walls shook violently and dust twinkled down from the ceiling onto them. A stack of books on the nightstand and Do-yeon's toys on the dresser slid off onto the floor. The rifle that Min-jung had left leaning against the bathroom door fell down onto the ground and further frightened her. At the sound of the detonation Do-yeon crawled under the bed and Hyuna flung herself upon Jake and buried her face in his chest. Min-jung ran to the bathroom then ducked and covered next to the tub and toilet.

A few moments later when everything had settled down and the fire and fireworks had moved back towards the west Min-jung got up and peeked out of the bathroom. "What do we do?" Min-jung asked Jake who had stood his ground and looked to be in an awkward position with his arms wide out to his sides while Hyuna clung to him. "Nothing." was Jake's first response. There really wasn't anything they could do. If the building came down it came down; they couldn't run outside lest they draw the aliens' attention to them which would almost ensure that they all would perish. He then remembered that there might be a safer place in the building to wait out the alien attack. "Everyone get away from the window and into the hall." Jake told everyone in the room. Min-jung came out of the bathroom and got Do-yeon out from under the bed. There were tears in his eyes and great fear in his expression. Min-jung knelt down and comforted her son, trying to get him to calm down. "It's just like the first night mommy. The night dad died." Do-yeon cried. "There, there. I've got you honey. I won't let anything happen to you." Min-jung assured her son. "What about you? I don't want anything to happen to you. I need you mommy." Do-yeon cried and shook his head back and forth. "I won't let anything happen to me either." Min-jung assured her son, making a promise she alone could not keep. She had no power over whether the structure stood or fell, all she could do was wait and hope for the best; her fate was in God's hands. "We need to go now dear. We'll come back in the morning." Min-jung told Do-yeon before she stood up and they all got ready to leave.

Jake, Do-yeon and Min-jung each took a flashlight before leaving the room. Jake also took a pistol and Hyuna took Jake's rifle along as well. They looked at each other and nodded that they were ready before Jake opened the door. Jake took them out into the hall and downstairs to the ground floor to an unmarked door in the center of the main hall that did not belong to a room. Jake opened the handle and led the group downstairs into the basement laundry room. The room was at the center of the building and was the most likely to remain intact if the building collapsed. Provided the collapse occurred in such a manner that would not suffocate them then the four of them would survive.

Hyuna, Min-jung and Do-yeon looked around the room that they had found themselves in. Jake was the only one who had been here before. There were several rows of industrial sized washers and dryers in the room. Around the cinder block walls of the room were the openings to each of the laundry chutes that reached up into all the upper floors. Next to each of these chutes were large carts, some of which were filled with towels and linens. Between two of these carts Jake had inconspicuously placed many large water bottles that they didn't have room for in the room. His laziness in leaving his a portion of his haul down here might in the end have saved them, from thirst at least. Next to the staircase was a wall locker containing laundry detergent, bleach, dryer sheets and an assortment of cleaning products. While they were looking around Jake braced the door shut with a broom handle. It wouldn't stop the aliens from getting in but it would make enough noise to alert him and give him time to wake the others, assuming that eventually they would rest. He then walked back down the stairs took out some of the linens and towels. He laid them out on the floor to make three beds. There was enough padding there to make it feel like they weren't lying on cold concrete. "You can lay down whenever you want. I'll be up standing guard." Jake told the others. A loud crash from outside followed by an intense vibration in the walls frightened Do-yeon back into his mother's arms. "That might be a while." remarked Min-jung.


	88. Ch 88:Of Near Misses and Sullied Virtue

Chapter LXXXVIII: Of Near Misses and Sullied Virtue

30 Oct 0739 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

Jake awoke having slumped forward and to the side from a seated position on the stairs in front of the door to the laundry room. His gun was laid across his lap with the barrel pointed away from him. His flashlight rested on the step beneath him. The right side of his body rested snugly against the door while his back was pressed up firmly against the square vertical support rods of the stair rail which were placed about an inch or two from the cold, gray stone walls of the stairwell. The vertical rods were really uncomfortable now that he had regained consciousness and honestly, Jake thought, they were completely unnecessary from both a structural and aesthetic standpoint. He pulled himself up groaning of the discomfort in his back and looked around. It was quiet, there were no more bombs going off outside, no clattering of alien mechs to be hear or zoomies racing by in the sky. Downstairs Do-yeon was fast asleep in his mother's lap who in turn was reclining against a large washing machine. Hyuna was buried within an immense pile of towels and blankets. Jake could only tell that she was there by part of her right foot sticking out of the end of the mountain of linens she had made. Part of him wanted to go outside and check how the building fared through the attack. The other part of him told him to let the others sleep for it had been a frightful night for them all. The one thing he could agree with himself on is that he would not go outside alone; Hyuna would have a panic attack if she woke up and he was gone and Jake certainly didn't want to get punched in the face again. So for the time being he sat back down with his back up to the door, laid his gun across his lap and waited.

Later on when Hyuna, Min-jung and Do-yeon had awoken the four of them were ready to go upstairs. Jake opened the door not knowing what to expect. Being fearful of fallen debris crashing down on them he backed away and covered his face when the door opened. It was a delightful surprise when they found the ground floor hallway just as they had left it. Hyuna started off towards the stairs at first but Jake spoke up before she got too far ahead of them.

"We should take a look outside first; see how the structural integrity of the building is holding up before we head up." Jake advised.

The others then followed him outside. When they exited the hotel looking towards the south everything looked normal. When they went around the west side of the building which their room faced the buildings across the street on that side were intact with no more damage than what superficially they had sustained in the initial bombardment a month ago. When they proceeded down the alley around the north side of the hotel past a few more buildings they came to it. A mere two blocks to the north of them everything was completely flattened in a wide swath were the bombing had brought down numerous structures. They stood in horror at the edge of what from above looked like a diagonal line several hundred feet in width running from the northeast to the southwest. It was reminiscent of the damage left behind when a tornado tore through a populated area; on either side everything looked pristine but within the blast radius there was not a brick left standing one upon the other.

"Oh my god." softly gasped Min-jung.

"It was so close." Hyuna whispered.

They were awestruck at how close and how severe the destruction was. That could have so easily been them buried beneath tons of brick and mortar smashed to pebbles and dust. It was a near miss and for that they were all grateful. Jake could only hope with the severity of the alien offensive last night that the aliens would believe there were none left alive in this neighborhood and its surroundings and in doing so leave them alone to ride it out in peace. He also reflected on the dire fates of those he met on the fringes of Songpa District with deepening sorrow. He too gave thought to what had become of the old battle site where he had left the message for the remnant of the army to find. At this point he truly didn't believe there was a rescue and following last night's affair the chances of one occurring were greatly diminished. Still you can't blame a boy for hoping he told himself. Rescue, escape, fighting back, those things weren't particularly on anyone's mind here. It was all about survival now. After gazing at the scene for a while the four friends turned back and left to inspect the remaining east side of the hotel before going inside.

30 Oct 1501 KST

Anyang, South Korea

Two female scouts from Headquarters Company in Seongnam arrived at the school in Anyang where their smallest detachment maintained an east-west link across the city. The scouts were impressed by how little alien activity there was in Anyang. It was almost serene.

"This place is so quiet. I don't see anyone or anything. We should seriously think about relocating HQ here." one of the scouts commented.

"It's precisely because it's so quiet that you don't see anything here. Remember all the bugs guarding the roads around this area. They probably assume there are no humans left here and only seek to deny people from passing through it." the other scout told her.

"I guess there's not enough bugs for them to be everywhere." the first scout remarked.

"Exactly, they probably think their troops could be put to better use elsewhere." the second scout replied.

"I tell you what though, I bet if we moved everything in here the bugs would step up their game and it wouldn't be so peaceful anymore." the second scout told the first.

"I suppose so." the first scout said.

They came up to the front door of the school where they were met by Hamza. They greeted him, first in Korean and then in English when he looked at them funny.

"Are you the only one here?" asked the first scout as she looked around inside.

"No. There are two junior soldiers with me; one is covering the corners, the other should be taking a nap. Upstairs there is also a pack of harlots and their pimp." Hamza told the scouts.

"Even pimps and hos will rally to the cause." joked the first woman, unaware of what Hamza labeled pimps and prostitutes were nothing more than an aspiring dance troupe.

The second woman laughed briefly then turned towards Hamza "Any word back from Incheon yet?" she asked.

"Nothing yet. I wouldn't worry though. It takes time to get through the defenses over there and the American probably doesn't feel comfortable with attempting it until the other one finishes his intelligence gathering mission." Hamza informed her.

"Looks like I'll have a big goose egg to report back to HQ when I return." the second scout commented.

"I'll take the word back to Seongnam. You can stay here." Hamza abruptly told the messengers.

"I wouldn't mind kicking back here for a few days." the first scout gleefully accepted as she looked around the building, magnificently devoid of alien influences in the architecture.

"You sure?" asked the second woman.

"Yeah." replied the first woman.

"Yes." said Hamza at about the same time.

"I can't stand another minute of babysitting the lot of them up there." Hamza complained.

"Very well. If you could pick up whatever food you can carry on the way out it would be appreciated. We've been having difficulties keeping up with the appetites of the new people coming in." the second scout told Hamza.

"As well as our own. My stomach's growling just thinking about all the unclaimed groceries we saw on our way over here." the first scout added.

"I'll do what I can." Hamza replied and with that he packed his things and left.

30 Oct 1828 KST

Gwacheon, South Korea

Hamza entered into a seemingly deserted neighborhood of red brick houses or townhomes as evening settled over the land. He was averted from taking the most direct route pack by a unusually large battalion of skitters sweeping through the hills heading southwest in the direction of Hwaseong. Not willing to risk detection Hamza opted to take the long way around going first up into Seoul and then going west before turning back south to enter into Seongnam. It seemed like a suitable strategy for avoiding the enemy he thought. He was unaware of the existence of uncooperative human factions in Seoul nor of the intensity of the air campaign which was waged the night before. Those explosions which could be heard from Anyang were still distant enough as to not wake Hamza from his slumber.

After weaving his way into the neighborhood he heard the clanging of a small mech and hid in the bushes on the corner of one of the red brick townhomes. The mech passed by, seemed to "look" in his direction and then turned and faced the other direction. It was a smaller mech than he was used to and it was without arms. Still he knew not to underestimate its capabilities. So Hamza waited for it to pass and sure enough it did. Once the coast was clear he proceeded to cut his way through the neighborhood using the houses, bushes and trees to cover his movements.

After Hamza was about halfway across this subdivision he heard screaming and shouting coming from a couple blocks away followed by the sound of glass shattering. He tightened his satchel and readied his rifle before hastening his pace towards the sound. He moved swiftly staying up close to the houses for cover. Hamza stopped just before coming onto the street in which the scuffle was taking place just as a gunshot rang out. A loud wail followed and encouraged Hamza to peek around the corner to investigate. He saw a middle aged woman on her hands and knees wailing loudly before the body of a slain woman in her early 20s whom Hamza could deduce was a relative of the older woman, a daughter or niece perhaps. The slain woman had obviously died of a gunshot wound to the chest at point blank range which left a sizeable stain on her torn clothing from both the entry and exit wounds. A middle aged man, an elderly gentleman, what appeared to be his wife and two other younger adult women stood back away from the mourning one on the ground. Across from them were three men, clad in partial body armor, thick pants and boots wielding semi-automatic rifles. They had knives tucked onto their waistbands and one had a fireman's axe clipped to his belt. One of the three men had his right arm wrapped in skitter skin to serve as a sort of shield in melee combat. Another man had a petite young woman, appearing a few years the junior of the slain woman bound by the hands and legs and slung over his shoulder. Behind these three men next to their motorcycles was the body of a bald man with his throat slit lying in a pool of his own blood. One of the three men was shouting something in Korean to the people in front of him while the one carrying the captive woman struggled to restrain her as he attempted to mount his bike. The people nervously spoke back to the man giving the orders while the woman on the ground still cried out in her sorrows. Hamza had virtually no understanding of Korean so he could not make out the words that were being exchanged but he knew full well what was taking place. He had known men like this in his home country, shameful animals whom Allah would not turn his face towards. These were those who would take up the crusade against the aliens only to satisfy the sins of their flesh. Hamza watched the scene unfold as anger built up within him. The lead man picked up the grieving woman from underneath her right arm and stood her up. She woman shouted something, a curse word most likely, at the man who slapped her across the face. He slapped her again before she could say a word then shook a finger pointed at her and scolded her. She tried to pull away which only drove the man to pull her back towards him and slap her harder across the face. This time the woman's face was scratched by the rough spots in the man's glove leaving a bead of bright red blood dripping from the upper one of two long scratch marks like a tear down her cheek. The lead man turned to his cohorts, said something and laughed. He then proceeded to tear the woman's shirt open down the middle of the front side. It wasn't clear to Hamza if this was to humiliate her as words were exchanged or it was the beginning of something worse. The woman kicked at the man who causally batted back her feet with his free had while gripped the woman tightly with his other hand.

It was at this time that an old friendly foe decided to join in. The mini-mech that Hamza had seen earlier came around the back of the house which the incident was occurring in front of. The unarmed persons fled back towards the house as the leader of the three armed men released the woman and took up his gun. The woman ran sobbing towards the house as the leader and one of his cohorts opened fire on the mech.

"Idiots." Hamza whispered to himself as he observed the ineffectiveness of their bullets on the small mech.

The mech had first turned to engage the fleeing civilians but appeared to change its mechanical mind when the others fired upon it. It turned and pointed its front side towards the two men shooting at it and a flap fell forward from the lower forward section, the chin if you will, of the small walker revealing a small Gatling gun looking device. The mech burst forth with a continuous stream of bullets shredding through the apparent underling that was assailing him. The second henchman and the captive girl attempted to zoom away on one of the bikes but the mech quickly shifted towards the fleeing motorcycle and shot up its engine as well as hitting the man in the back and in the legs. The bike slid to the side and the man tumbled over as it fell, dropping the woman who skidded along the ground past him. The leader then finally decided to do the smart thing and utilize his under the barrel grenade launcher but it was too late. The moment he fired the grenade the mech turned back towards him and sawed him through the mid-section with a barrage of bullets. The grenade struck the mech as the lead man fell to the ground in two barely connected pieces and detonated. The blast demolished the core of the mech sending gnarled panels of its wafer thin armor flying. When the smoke cleared the legs stood still, connected to each other and little else. As the other men and women fearfully cowered inside the house Hamza emerged from his hiding place around the corner. He glanced over the dead as he walked past and went towards those who had been thrown from the motorcycle. He saw the woman roll over, still bound at her hands and feet, look at Hamza and with a sigh of despair she let her head drop to the pavement. Hamza ignored her and went straight for the man who had been carrying her. He could see her wounded captor twitch and pull himself forward with his arms as it appeared his legs were in too great of discomfort to be of much use. Hamza slung his rifle back over his shoulder, unsheathed one of his two blades fashioned from what were hedge trimmers and held it to his right side as he closed in on the man crawling away. Without a word Hamza stepped on the back on the man, raised up his weapon and plunged the point of the blade into the back of the man's neck, swiftly terminating his existence. Hamza retracted his blade, wiped it clean on the dead man's clothing and sheathed it back on his belt. He then turned back from whence he came intending to leave the area and continue on his way to Seongnam via Seoul.

As he passed back in front of the house the women and the middle aged man emerged from the home to see what had happened. Seeing that their young relative that was to be taken from them had survived the man ran to her aid. One of the women shouted something at the man, who then knelt down and talked over some things with the woman on the ground. The same woman shouted in a menacing tone towards Hamza who ignored the indiscernible comment. After the man shouted something back to the women all of the women then turned to Hamza and called out for him. It seemed as if they had some business to do with him; what exactly it was Hamza could not know. Their voices were replete with emotion, often conflicting ones at that. He couldn't pick out anger or sadness or fear apart from each other. Hamza looked towards them puzzled, unable to grasp what exactly they were trying to convey. Were they thanking him? Were they pleading with him, begging for mercy? Were they threatening him? Hamza shook his head and walked away. As he left the supplications of the people behind him intensified, still he knew not what they wanted. The old man then slowly came out of the house to join his family.

"Sir, sir!" he called to Hamza in English.

Finally a voice he could understand. It would have been clearer in his native Arabic but English worked well enough. To Hamza Koreans speaking in Korean sounded like a cat dying.

"Yes?" Hamza looked over his shoulder towards the old man, walking at his slothful old man's pace towards him.

"We thank you for taking care of those men." the man thanked him.

"That wasn't me. That was the robot over there." Hamza said pointing his thumb towards the mech legs standing off to his right.

Two of the women then implored Hamza beyond his capacity for comprehension. Hamza turned back and walked towards the people. All this noise was going to attract more aliens if he didn't deal with it.

"I do not speak your language. What are they saying?" Hamza asked the old man.

"They want you to stay the night with us, as our protector." the old man told Hamza.

"I'm no one's protector. I am just a man going from one place to another." Hamza coldly replied.

"Please sir. We can offer you a warm meal and your own bed for the night. There are few aliens in this area. That one was first in two weeks. They do not want us for we are too old." the man pleaded with Hamza.

The thought of a free home cooked meal was appealing to Hamza. Surely anything was better than cold beans out of a can. Neither those sluts of a dance troupe and their flesh peddling manager nor the two hormone stricken teen soldiers could cook as much as a hot dog without a microwave.

"This meal, will it have any pork in it?" asked Hamza.

"No sir. We have only fish for meat. Salmon or cod vacuum sealed or tuna in can." the old man replied.

"Very well then. I shall stay for the food but let it be known I shall depart before the sun appears again in the east." Hamza accepted as the sun behind him was being slowly devoured by the hills.

The old man turned and relayed his response to the women who immediately went inside to prepare the meal. The younger man cut the bonds of the injured woman and helped her limp back into the house.

"Come, come." the old man beckoned to Hamza as he too returned inside.

Lastly Hamza went inside but before doing so he gathered up a scrap of the former mech's armor paneling and took it with him. When he got inside he closed the door behind him and took a seat on a worn out cloth covered couch in the corner. The old man went around lighting candles in jars to prepare for the coming night while his wife and another woman were in the kitchen cooking on a gas stove. The grief stricken woman was in another room being consoled by the injured woman, who was in fact her niece and over the loss of her husband and daughter today. The injured woman's mother who was also the grieving woman's sister was in the room as well tending to her daughter's wounds while her husband, the younger man was seated in the living room across from Hamza. The man watched Hamza closely as Hamza looked back at him. Neither of them said a word, it would have been useless anyways for they did not understand each other. The young man's father was the only one who spoke any English in the house and thereby the only one whom Hamza could communicate with.

The scent of fish grilling on the stove along with the scents of savory oils and spices tossed with canned peppers and greens drifted in from the kitchen making Hamza salivate with anticipation. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until now. Perhaps it was the tension of always being one step ahead of the reaper as he traveled that made him blind to the fact he hadn't eaten since early that morning following his prayers. This made him realize that he had not yet prayed the Maghrib so he asked the old man if he could be excused and went around behind another building and heeded his call to prayer. When he returned the food was nearly done so he did not have to wait long in awkward silence before they all ate in casual silence.

"Who were those people that attacked you earlier?" Hamza asked.

"They claim to be our saviors. They are those who wish to fight the creatures." explained the old man.

"So what did they want with you?" Hamza inquired.

"They wanted my granddaughter and her cousin. They claimed it was a just compensation for fighting on our behalf." the old man told him.

The younger man said something to the old man who then said something back to him. The younger man replied to the old man again and the old man turned back to Hamza.

"He says that we never asked them to fight for us." the old man paraphrased the discussion he just had.

"Then why do they demand compensation?" Hamza asked.

"They do as they please." the man replied.

It was as he had suspected all along. These men were unclean animals. How quickly had uncivilized times visited a region which prided itself on its civilization. This further convinced Hamza of the vaunted arrogance of the West. They had sown this corruption upon themselves long ago and only now following the collapse of the world was it in full bloom. There was no virtue among men, only corruption. Uncivilized times indeed required an uncivilized manner of doing things and when Hamza encountered their kind again they would see what righteous judgement looked like. He would be restrained by no more shackles than they were today. So he silently vowed to cut out the corruption wherever he found it.

As promised Hamza stayed through the night, though he did not doze off until he was certain all the rest had gone to sleep. He stayed up, playing with the thin, foil-like sheet of mech metal in his hands. He wondered if he could melt it down over the stove or another hotter burning flame and recast it into the shape of a sword. He wouldn't do that here with these people's stove however; they had shown him great hospitality and he was obliged to do the same. In a way he would be their protector from the night. He watched over them as they slept off the horrors of the day's events onto to surely face more terror in the days ahead. At that hour of the wolf just before midnight Hamza observed his final prayer and afterwards he himself turned in for a night's sleep.


	89. Chapter 89: Logistical Nightmares

Chapter IXC: Logistical Nightmares

30 Oct 1112 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

While the aliens and the "Imperial" resistance fighters were on the move in the wake of the intense bombardment the night before, Seongnam stood quietly untouched but not unaware of the stirrings that going on around it. Although the fires of battle had kept their distance from the 4th Korea's heart the struggles against privation and despair persisted.

Seongnam itself had become something of a supply desert. After all the fighting and destruction had taken its toll and diminished the available foraging ground the actions of the 4th Korea were akin to locusts moving through a sparsely planted field and in doing so had exhausted most of certain nearby resources in a matter of days. Seoul, Yongin and Gwanju still held a tremendous store of resources but the fighting to the north and the alien presence all around them made it difficult to move these resources to where they were needed. Food shortages had become commonplace in the Seongnam camps. This led to the long term food stores being rationed when the foraging parties failed to bring home a sufficient haul. If things didn't improve soon starvation could become a real problem in the foreseeable future. Ironically those who had put so much emphasis on watching their figure before the attack were now those at the greatest risk. The Korean obsession with maintaining a rail thin physique, one that was even in excess of the unreasonable standards of the West, had now come to haunt them. Those who had a little bit extra on themselves to spare were asked to skip meals in favor of diverting rations to those who were in a greater need to keep up their strength. Vitamin supplements were used in lieu of food when they could. The force of circumstance helped the pudgy to slim down in a way that no diet ever could. Though in top notch shape themselves, Bremer and Vargas had lost twelve pounds between the two of them since the 4th had moved into this place. If this continued to drag on for weeks and months to come they too would find themselves suffering with fatigue and malnourishment. What food they did have in abundance was sorely lacking in variety. Predominantly dry goods and canned fruits and vegetables were the mainstays of the 4th Korea's rations so when the scent of fresh meat started emanating from their kitchens today it drew quite a crowd.

"Smells good. Either someone's got creative with the tuna fish or we've got fresh meat on the grill." remarked one soldier.

"That sure as hell doesn't smell like fish." commented another fighter salivating at what was distinctively the aroma of beef.

"Could've soaked it in the beef stock for a few hours to make it smell like that." suggested a woman waiting a few places behind them in line.

"Even if it is fish, I'll take it. The Imperials were giving us nothing but cold rice and pears out of a can for the past week" commented Hong-gi.

Hong-gi and some of his associates had been brought down from the northern post earlier that morning to counsel Bremer and Kang concerning the Empire following the wave of alien attacks last night. Bremer's interest in them was renewed for the need of a strong ally to hold back the alien horde in Gwanju. He figured that after last night's events they may be more willing to find common cause and go against the aliens together. In order to entreat them successfully he needed to understand the people, tactics and the ethos that drove that organization from as many perspectives as he could find. In spite of uneasy feelings Bremer had authorized that the defectors be brought to the main camp. They wouldn't be allowed to leave right away as many in the 4th did not trust them. When they did leave they would do so under Bremer's personal supervision.

"I hear you there brother, I've been moving around so much the past two days I almost forgot what I warm meal tastes like." Seo-jun turned around from his place in line and said to Hong-gi.

"You were over in Gwanju the other day right?" asked one of the soldiers ahead of Seo-jun.

"Yeah, for a couple hours at least." answered Seo-jun

"How was it over there? I hear its pretty bad." asked the soldier nervously.

"The aliens made a thrust at us with a couple of their heavy walkers and a whole shit ton of spiders. We held together and pulled to the north after they withdrew." Seo-jun informed him.

"To be honest I'm scared of going over there." the soldier confessed.

"It's not as bad as it seems rookie. The important thing is to take that fear and focus it, control it, use it, don't let it control you. You do that and you'll get out of there alive." Seo-jun offered some words of encouragement to the young man.

"Are they thinking of sending out that way?" Seo-jun asked.

"Not that I know of. I worry though. Are you ever afraid that they'll break through over there and come after us here?" the soldier asked in response.

"All the time. It doesn't seem like it will happen though. They seem to be more interested in protecting their routes than they are about hunting us down. The bugs would chase us further than they do if they wanted us gone. Makes you wonder what they are moving on those highways that they have to stay close to them." Seo-jun replied.

Further up in line Yeon-woo had arrived at the serving station where the cooks had prepared bulgogi, rice, carrots and the old South Korean standby, kimchi. It smelled great but as all the members of the 4th knew that it was the taste part which their cooks had a hard time with ever since the good reverend and his people went down to Yongin with the kids.

"Where on earth did you get the meat to make Bulgogi?" Yeon-woo asked one of the servers.

"Don't ask questions, just eat." happily advised the server.

"It's some mystery meat isn't it?" Yeon-woo asked with a slight chuckle.

"Seriously, you don't want to know." the server replied.

Yeon-woo stared at him with a smirk while he scooped some rice and carrots onto his plate.

"Its crab." another server chimed in.

"Like the aliens or real crabs?" asked a soldier behind Yeon-woo

"Real crabs. You think we're going to be feeding you space slop. Come on man, give us some credit." the second server remarked.

"Crab right, that's why it's red meat." mentioned Yeon-woo as he left with a plate of the mystery bulgogi.

"Mmmm mmmm! Soylent green is my kind of people." Seo-jun remarked after hearing the conversation and stepping up to the serving line.

"Give me a little of that blonde over there and a few strips of brunette on the other side of the kimchi." Seo-jun instructed the server pretending it actually was people that they were frying up.

None of them really believed the kitchen was cooking up something that far-fetched as they all took some of the meat on their plates. It was a rare and pleasant occurrence to have fresh meat with a meal so whether it was rat, cat, dog, frog, or squirrel they were all happy to eat it. The cooks also learned to use the term pork to describe meats of dubious origin rather than crab for the obvious cues on its texture and association with the aliens. With poultry-like dishes they had other terms; for example, tomorrows planned meal of deep fried pigeon would simply be dubbed KFC

While the off duty sections of the 4th sat down for lunch a couple of patrols along with the supply company had returned to camp from the north. Vargas was among them, escorting back the second supply run into Seoul of the day. After his men finished their duties and were dismissed to join the chow line Vargas went to report his findings to Bremer. He found Bremer and Col. Kang where they were expected to be, in their makeshift headquarters within the venue offices. When the guards opened the door and let Vargas in the two officers looked up from what they were planning and faced him. Vargas took two steps in allowing the door to be shut behind him and saluted them.

"Sir requisition squads Echo and Kilo reporting in." Vargas reported.

"At ease First Sergeant." Bremer replied.

Bremer turned his head slightly to the side and smiled. "You don't have to do that anymore Chico. We're on a first name basis here, besides I don't want any sneaky space spies getting wind of who's who around here. We have enough targets on our backs as it is." Bremer mentioned.

"My apologies sir, force of habit." Vargas replied.

"All is forgiven Chico. So what have you to report?" Bremer inquired.

"Kilo squad located three boxes of electrical equipment, sixty four liters of water, five cases of crackers and three quarters of the medications on Tae-yon's list. Echo squad pulled off seven tires that match those on our vehicles and is working on changing the two flats out. They also brought back nineteen liters of gasoline and six liters of diesel fuel." Vargas reported.

"What about weapons?" Bremer asked.

"A hand grenade and three loose shotgun shells." Vargas answered.

"That's all?" asked Bremer.

"Yeah, the streets were picked clean." Vargas answered.

Bremer groaned in displeasure. "One thing these Imperial assholes have done is significantly reduce the amount of military hardware lying around. As such, making our own bullets and seeking alternative weapons should be a priority." Bremer informed Kang and Vargas.

"I concur." Kang agreed.

"Sergeant, we still have that research facility in the northwest corner of the city under control correct?" Kang turned to Vargas and asked.

"Yes sir but without Young-gi we don't have a lot of people that can make smokeless powder from scratch. I'm always off running between outposts and there's like four or five others I know of off the top of my head and three of them are in Gwanju." Vargas replied.

"Gwanju's alien central. I don't want to take guys out of there unless we absolutely have to." Bremer spoke softly to Kang while looking over the map on the table.

"Chico, find that one other guy and send him up to the lab to start churning out bullets. Throw a few other guys that aren't doing anything productive over there as well to make the shell casings and learn a thing or two. We probably should all be learning to make our own bullets by now." Bremer told Vargas.

"Right away sir. Anything else you would have me do sir?" Vargas replied.

"Not at the moment First Sergeant. You're dismissed." Kang said.

Vargas then went to locate the man who would be tasked with kicking off gunpowder production before he went to grab a bite to eat. Along the way he passed the practice grounds in an empty parking lot next to an open field. There the fighters of the 4th Korea practiced their skills with melee and medium ranged weapons. Pairs and groups sparred with each other while others were involved in archery lessons. They had the outer skin of a skitter nailed against a back board in order to test the effectiveness of the weapons they had fashioned against it. Rudimentary arrows, spears and darts were chucked, thrusted or launched at it and their effectiveness was measured. Portions of skitter skin were also tested against chemical and thermal agents to find out what their armor protected them against and what it did not.

Vargas then passed by the buildings that had become the 4th Korea's workshop. There implements of war were being fashioned from common household and industrial tools. Bicycles and motorcycles were being patched up and maintained; bombs and boxes were being constructed, as well as new methods of cartage. A man was busy fashioning together rickshaws out of billboard panels, loose lumber and bicycle tires. At the present time rickshaws were the most available and efficient means of moving around supplies through the relatively safe areas between the major highways. They were could carry more than bicycles, didn't tire people out as quickly as moving goods by hand or on their backs and didn't generate the heat and noise of motorized vehicles. He then went on to one of the secondary storehouses on the other side of camp from the event venue. They had spread out their supplies throughout the camp as to soften the blow in the event that headquarters was bombed or otherwise destroyed. Here Vargas found the man he was looking for and relayed the instructions he had received. The man immediately got his things together and went to meet with his escorts to go up to the research facility.

On his way to the chow line Vargas noticed the Imperial defectors seated with other members of the 4th Korea as well as several new faces that had been recruited or rescued from pockets of human survivors in Gwanju. He was pleased with the progress that the 4th Korea had made towards reconstituting itself in spite of their material deficiencies in Seongnam. That he assumed would be a temporary problem for he had heard Bremer and the others planned to relocate the headquarters company to Yongin once the wounded from the hospital withdrawal had recovered sufficiently to do so. Whether they would keep a small detachment here to keep eyes between Seoul and Yongin was still undetermined.

After he finished outlining the days affairs Bremer headed over towards their field hospital to check on the very thing that was keeping them tied down in Seongnam. Along the way he stopped by the ambulance outside to pop in on Major Han and give his dear friend Lyndsey a hard time.

"How's your boyfriend?" Bremer asked after walking around to the back of the ambulance and surprising Sobieski.

"The usual, out cold but still warm. He's hanging in there." Sobieski answered.

"Ah ha! You admitted it!" Bremer toyed with her pointing at her with point hands as he rocked his arms back and forth while taking a couple steps back away from her.

"Zip it Major. Shouldn't you be off banging Tae-yon or something?" Sobieski retorted playfully.

"I'm working on it." Bremer replied with slight laughter.

"Not working very hard I see. It never takes you this long." Sobieski chided him.

"Now you zip it Sergeant. I don't have to bang everything I see you know." Bremer remarked.

"You don't have to but you do." Lyndsey remarked.

"I'll have you know actually that everything between me and that woman is completely professional. We have a working relationship, nothing more." Bremer replied.

"When have you ever had a strictly professional relationship with anyone sir?" Lyndsey asked.

"There's a first for everything Sergeant." Bremer told her.

Lyndsey laughed and blushed, not believing Bremer for one second. As if he really had no intention of boning that poor woman. Bremer was Bremer and of course he would do as he always did. Lyndsey looked back over Han and took his vitals again to find they were unchanged. She checked the levels in his fluid IV and inspected his colostomy bag. When she started to change out his catheter and the bag it drained into Bremer excused himself and went on into the hospital. When she was done Lyndsey took a cup of water and washed her hands off in a bucket of soapy suds and dried them on a hand towel she had hanging up. Later on it would be time to mash up the paste which she would feed to Han through a tube. It was a tedious and time consuming job keeping that man alive but one that she gladly performed. All the time she put into maintaining the Major would be worth it when he opened his eyes again, no matter how long it took. Her hopes were still high that he would one day come out of his coma. For the mean time it seemed that her patience in this matter knew no bounds.

30 Oct 1802 KST

Yongin, South Korea

While the headquarters company struggled with the lack of basic necessities no such worries existed down in Yongin. Unfortunately due to alien movements along the routes through Seongnam from there they were unable to ship much northward. With the offensive in the north demanding greater attention from the extraterrestrial occupiers the activity along these routes became all the more severe. The Yongin garrison could move men through the hills to Seongnam but vehicles and carts were too risky to bring through the streets and highways. Without a large number of running vehicles at their disposal material transfers were limited to what a couple men could carry at a time. Being that they needed most of their manpower for operations inside of Yongin the supply transfer to the north was a slow trickle at best.

Included in these operations was to establish more amicable conditions for the children which resided with them. With an unusually cold winter approaching heat was the first thing on their list. It was also the easiest to provide, fires could be lit in drums and blankets were plentiful. The next thing was to provide a source of clean running water. They had managed to set up a filtration system for the amusement park and had started to install the additional plumbing necessary to draw water from the nearby streams. They now only had to provide power to the pumps to bring the water to them and eliminate the persistent need to move jugs and buckets of water around by hand.

Chang-woo was overseeing the construction of what was intended to be the power station for the southern detachment's use. They wired it off of the existing switchboards and transmission lines for the amusement park's rides and services, replacing the components and sections that had blown out from the alien EMP weapon. He then intended to place solar panels on the roof of nearby buildings to serve as a reliable power source for when their small gas generators could not be used. When the foraging parties had returned with a couple wagons full of solar panels they had removed from a residential area Chang-woo stepped down from his perch on the boarding platform of the largest roller coaster and went over to inspect them. Upon closer inspection what had promised to be an incredible haul turned out to be nothing.

"You know the older solar panels were first designed for use in space and as a result they had to be incredibly hardy. Those puppies should still be in tip top shape should we find some. These however are not those ones. You see when the whole green energy craze kicked in and people wanted cheaper, mass produced solar energy for terrestrial purposes so the tradeoff is that you lose some of the durability and now these things are basically fancy scrap." Chang-woo complained as he was sorely disappointed in the time that everyone had wasted in procuring these items.

"Well darn, looks like we won't be getting civilization back anytime soon." lamented a man that had been pulling one of the carts.

"Ya know civilization existed before we had electronics." commented an older man with the foraging party.

"Yeah but none of us were alive back then. Not even you, grandpa." the first man replied.

"That was way back in the days when you had to walk uphill both ways in the snow with bare feet." commented a women leaning up against a second cart

"How exactly is that possible? Wouldn't you go downhill on the way back if you went uphill on the way there." the first man asked.

"You could go a different way back?" the older man suggested.

"Just to make it harder on yourself? Man, our grandparents weren't extremely bright." another soldier chimed in.

A few of the men that had been working on patching up the broken windows in the buildings that they had occupied to use as the children's dormitories stopped to see what was going on with the carts as they passed by.

"There's nothing special here guys, it's all junk." one of the foraging party members told them.

"Bummer man." shrugged one of the workers before he went on alone into a carnival style shack and grabbed a few tubes of caulk that had been stashed there.

From his lookout post next to the tall roller coaster Seung-hyun turned his attention away from the east to look down at the gathering on the west end of the amusement park. He was growing bored after being on watch for close to six hours now. Aside from the workers and the lookouts everyone was indoors. The kids hadn't even come out to play of the defunct carnival rides today. It was a most uneventful day for Seung-hyun; the lack of activity coupled with the sun creeping awfully close to the western hilltops had begun to make him drowsy. Seung-hyun rubbed his eyes and looked up away from the garbage haul below towards the setting sun. There he spotted something, four shadowed figures blacked out against the sunset moving along the crest of one of the hilltops to the west.

"Look! Who's that over there?" called out Seung-hyun pointing out the figures to the people below.

Chang-woo and a couple members of the foraging party left the amusement park and walked towards the hillside. They stopped when they were clear of the large buildings and had a clear view of the approach to the hill. Chang-woo took out his binoculars and zoomed in for a closer look. He could make out four shapes, definitely human and moving in such a way that distinguished them apart from the mechanical, almost zombie like trudgery of the kids commandeered by parasites. Believing it to be safe he motioned for those with him to follow him through the streets, around the highway and through a field towards the bottom of the hills.

At this time the people on the hilltop had taken notice of Chang-woo and his people below. They started down the hill at the same time Chang-woo and his people had started up the hill. Not long after it became clear to them who the newcomers were. The glare of the setting sun no longer concealed the markings identifying three of them as American soldiers. The fourth one, a young Korean woman, was trailing a short distance behind them. Unlike the Seongnam forces the Yongin garrison had no encounters with and only passing knowledge of hostile human forces so they approached the Americans with open arms.

As the Americans entered into the shadow of the hillside away from the deep orange glare of the sun more details could be discerned about them. They were led by an officer carrying an M249 machine gun. The man was in his early 30's with a close cut flat top and a milk chocolate complexion which was not dark enough to hide the smears of grease and dirt on his face and arms. He had some light stubble on his face that indicated he had the ability to shave within the past few days and had chosen to do so. On his right forearm partially obscured by a grease smudge was an arm sleeve tattoo of a coiled serpent wrapping around his arm with an interweaving biomechanical design between the serpent's coils. Two other soldiers, a tall lanky freckle faced ginger who could be no more than 20 and a black woman of an average height and build with extremely short, natural hair, to the left of the officer.

"Greetings my friends!" Chang-woo called out to them when they got close.

The leader of the American group waved back to Chang-woo and the others.

"Why hello sir." the leader said in a strong Cajun accent when he had gotten close enough to Chang-woo and his associates that they did not need to yell.

There still were alien patrols out and about and excess noise could easily draw their attention. Chang-woo, who had the strongest command of the English language due to his business background was the only one who could understand the American leader. To the others this man was speaking complete gibberish, his accent was too overwhelming. They had a fragmentary knowledge of English but Cajun was entirely foreign to them.

"Hello indeed. I had no idea that any more Americans had survived the attack." Chang-woo said.

"You've seen more of us?" asked the leader.

"Yes. I can recall at least two in our unit. There may be more but my memory is terrible in that regard." Chang-woo replied, knocking himself for having a senior moment there.

"So ya'll be with the army?" inquired Jenkins.

"Yes we are, sort of. With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" Chang-woo asked in return.

"2nd Lieutenant Tyrone Jenkins. How rude of me to be a stranger sir." said the burly officer.

"This is Corporal Derek Meyers and the lovely young lady hiding out behind him is Sergeant Christina Bryar, our field medic." Lt. Jenkins introduced his platoon mates.

"We were on patrol when it all went down. Our MRAP got shook up a bit but it kept on going so I tell you boy that's what we did. We ran, and ran til we couldn't run no more." Jenkins recounted to Chang-woo.

"What about the girl?" Chang-woo asked.

"We found this one in a department store a few blocks down from the wreckage of a downed Gulfstream. She goes by the name Ji-eun. She and a few others had been hiding out there living off of scraps the whole time. We showed up right when the men protecting her were overcome by the crabs. Lucky we got there when we did, or this little one would be no more." Jenkins explained.

"You said you had an MRAP. What happened to it? Did you lose it when the ground forces came through?" asked Chang-woo.

"Naw, like I said we was running. The MRAP'll be here, Pearson just had to take the long way around. Them crabs be all over these roads." Lt. Jenkins answered.

With that news Chang-woo's eyes lit up. This was the first armored vehicle the 4th Korea had since the first fall of Seongnam and the only one they had since he had become a member. With any luck this Pearson person would manage to get it here in one piece.

"These other Americans, do you think we could meet them?" SGT Bryar stepped forward and asked.

"I'm sure that could be arranged. You can stay with us until your friend in the MRAP shows up and we'll take you back to Seongnam. That's where the other Americans are at." Chang-woo replied.

And with that the two groups combined and made their way back to the amusement park.

"What was that guy saying?" asked one of Chang-woo's associates on the return trip. He spoke in Korean as not to be rude to their new allies.

"American soldiers, they were cut off from their unit when the attack happened and want to get to Seongnam to see the others. That's basically the gist of it." Chang-woo replied in Korean as well.

"Ah, all I heard was hibbidy jibbidy dis and dat and dem' crabs. Couldn't make heads or tails of it." the man said to Chang-woo.

Chang-woo laughed; American regional dialects were a peculiarity to them. Indeed even in the mainstream most Koreans didn't understand the differences between people and groups within American society.

As for Lt. Jenkins he was relieved to have found what appeared to be a cohesive military force that had endured nearly a month of alien occupation. Up until now they had only encountered a few scattered individuals more fearful for their own lives than having any concern for regrouping and mounting a solid defense against mounting alien aggression. Pearson should arrive within the hour and if nightfall wasn't a deal breaker they would be on their way to see their former brothers in arms of the late great US 8th Army.


	90. Chapter 90: The Boy Who Never Grew Up

Chapter XC: The Boy Who Never Grew Up

31 Oct 0913 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

During Bremer's morning briefing Col. Kang had something special planned for him. He had deliberated with the squad captains and visited among the rank and file fighters as they gathered for dinner the previous day and took in their opinions. The majority of which led him to the conclusion that he would spring on Bremer today.

"Come again, now what is going on?" Bremer asked the Colonel in a befuddled manner.

"We think that you should be the senior ranking officer in the 4th Army given Han's current situation he is in no condition to lead. Even if he does wake up it will take time to bring him up to speed with the situation here on the ground, time we do not have. You're already doing the job soldier, why not make it official?" Colonel Kang proposed to Bremer.

"You want to promote me again? I just made major this month, whatever happened to time in rate?" Bremer lightheartedly scoffed at the idea.

"I know it's abrupt; battlefield situations require can rapid adjustments. We ran the idea past the entire division and they voted overwhelmingly in the affirmative." Kang explained.

"Promotions by democracy eh? That's not how an army is supposed to work." Bremer laughed.

"Well Colonel these people aren't an army, they're mostly a bunch of civilians with guns." joked Col. Kang.

"Very well, Lt. Colonel Bremer it is. Let me at least clean up before you exchange my gold leaves for silver ones." Bremer said.

Bremer felt uncomfortable with what amounted to awards and praise being hurled his way. He felt he was being rewarded for essentially nothing. He hadn't won any new battles since their grave defeat at the hospital, nor did he have any laudable achievements in other areas. He simply had managed the 4th Korea the best he could. He would accept the promotion but at the present time wouldn't internalize it. He could be considered a Lt. Colonel to the rest of the 4th but officially his paygrade was still O-3 in his eyes. His increase in rank wasn't entirely undeserved perhaps, the jump to Major was reasonable enough but this, this was just too much. With this Bremer departed from his morning briefing with the full honors of his new rank.

Later that morning Tae-yon found Bremer at the southern guard station walking into the cafe. She had to run in order to catch Bremer before he entered and became preoccupied with his business inside.

"Colonel, I have the updated duty roster. I'm releasing 13 more soldiers to full duty status today. These six I marked in purple should still try and take it easy for a few days." Tae-yon said as she slowed down and caught up to him.

She had been liberally releasing the wounded back to full duty the past few days due to the uptick of alien aggression towards their forces in Gwanju. She understood the need for more soldiers on that front to prevent the possibility of the enemy breaking through and attacking them here at headquarters.

"Excellent, our wounds are really starting to scab over now. It looks like we've only got the worst cases left to worry about." Bremer said as he looked over the list Tae-yon handed to him.

Bremer stopped, then changed direction and walked along the covered patio outside the cafe. Tae-yon hastened her walk and walked alongside him.

"Basically sir; that and the new ones that keep coming in. We're getting mostly bruises and lacerations though; stuff we can usually patch up the same day. The newbies on my detail are getting quite good at stitching wounds and sending our boys back on their way." Tae-yon told Bremer.

The stress that had overwhelmed Tae-yon when they got here was finally beginning to wane. Only have night upon night of sleepless nights and day upon day of tireless efforts did she finally manage to get the hospital under control. Not to mention a firm reliance on stimulants to sustain her on 20 plus hour shifts. Even now that it wasn't necessary she at times found she had to take them just to stay focused. If she went too long without a dose she would find herself becoming irritable and lacking the bright and peppy bedside manner she brought to her patients. The downside was that it had become difficult for her to fall asleep when she had the chance. Now when she would have been sleeping she would go off and run tests on the skitter parts and take up additional duties. All that she did with a smile and no one knew of her slide into addiction.

"Oh, and did I tell you? We have refrigeration back, so now we can store blood." Tae-yon excitedly told Bremer.

"And insulin. . .if we never need to again." she continued, slowing her cadence as she reflected on the loss of their diabetic patient.

"That's great news. We should probably start having some blood on standby. I'll start asking people to stop by and donate, especially those with the rare blood types." Bremer replied more or less ignoring the last part.

They took a lap around the cafe walking side by side discussing the business of the camp. Tae-yon gave him the rundown of what was going on with the hospital, what they had, what they needed, the likelihood for funeral arrangements for two of the most dire cases she had and so forth. Bremer cut her in on matters concerning their defenses and ongoing operations to the north and east. He updated her on the aftermath of the alien thrust from Gwanju and the tumults caused by the "Imperial" resistance fighters in the north. They laughed about the abysmal meals they had been served recently and the kitchen staff's attempts at improving it.

"You really shouldn't blame them. They only have third rate ingredients to work with." Tae-yon remarked.

"Or fourth rate. Yongin's probably getting fat off of carnival food down there while we're stuck with crackers and pickled cabbage." Bremer remarked.

"I really don't understand how you all can eat kimchi every day. That stuff smells terrible; no wonder the aliens haven't attacked us here." Bremer lightheartedly complained.

"It may take some time to get used to I guess. I grew up eating it about 4 days a week so I don't even notice the smell. Granted compared to what we're getting now I've had much better." Tae-yon said.

"It keeps well, that's a positive. Still it was nice of them to whip us up some meat yesterday." Bremer commented.

"If only we had potatoes it would be just like back home huh?" Tae-yon kidded with him.

"Meat and potatoes, you got us right there girl." Bremer said as he flicked two fingers towards Tae-yon and winked.

"It was good, and plus you don't see any rats running around here anymore." Bremer remarked.

"Oh be quiet you!" Tae-yon laughed and gently punched Bremer in the side of the arm, pushing him a little off to the side as he walked along.

Bremer turned to her, chuckled a little and smiled. He moved back next to her and the two of them decided to wander off into the woods for a bit. For a working relationship the two of them had become rather good friends. Bremer was still working on the idea of compartmentalizing their friendship and restraining the urge to go after her like a cheap floozy for a night or two. It wasn't like him to willfully resist the intimate company of lovely young woman; it was downright against his very nature. Naturally he had a bit of an internal struggle going on to keep things professional between them. He'd never friend zoned anyone he found attractive before so he really didn't know what he was doing. He had thought to ask Lyndsey for some pointers; she had gone from being a slut to a prude and apparently was pretty darn good at tossing people into the friend zone. She had done it to him and in Bremer's eyes that was no small accomplishment. Then again if he went looking to her for advice he would never hear the end of it. In spite of it all he still felt compelled to make a move on her. Would it really be that bad if he and Tae-yon just did their thing once or twice and went back to business as usual. Damn, it he couldn't do his thinking with his dick if he was going to keep the 4th Korea together.

"I like the new hair color, you trying to copy me now?" Bremer commented to take his mind off the impure thoughts he was having.

"Nah, just felt I needed a change." Tae-yon replied bashfully.

"Come to think of it now how does one find hair dye in the middle of the apocalypse anyways?" Bremer asked as they continued walking through the trees.

"That's actually one of the things that isn't in short supply right now sir." Tae-yon answered.

"Don't take it the wrong way, I'm not complaining. It looks good on you." Bremer complimented her as they rounded a large oak tree and started walking back to the guard post at the cafe.

"Why thank you sir." Tae-yon replied, blushing a little.

Bremer's mannerisms and the way he carried himself did come with a certain charm; a charm that Tae-yon could feel herself starting to succumb to.

"It still does look a lot like mine, except that mine is natural. It's an heirloom leftover from my German forebears. My grandparents came over here back in the thirties to get away from some douchebag Austrian painter stirring shit up in the Old Country." Bremer explained pulling away from the flirtatious aura he was projecting to put up a more stoic response.

"Excuse me, when I said here I meant back in the 'states. I keep forgetting I'm in a foreign country now." Bremer apologized.

"It's ok sir. Korea is as much your home as it is mine now. I think we should all start thinking of things from a planetary perspective now." Tae-yon replied as she stepped back onto the cafe patio.

She stopped, got in front of Bremer, reached out for and took hold of one of the cylindrical posts along the cafe patio. She smiled glowingly as she watched Bremer step up onto the deck after her.

"We're all human you know. That's the way they see us; that's the way we should see ourselves too." Tae-yon said to Bremer looking at him with those big bright eyes of hers.

"Truer words were never spoken my dear." Bremer agreed with her.

He passed by Tae-yon who swung around the pole to resume walking beside him now on his left side.

"Once this war is over I hope people can continue to think that way." Bremer said.

"I don't want to go back to fighting humans after I'm done fighting aliens. If I survive this I would like to one day hang up my rifle and rest on my laurels." Bremer said.

"You will sir." Tae-yon told him.

"That would be nice, seems unlikely but can't blame a man for dreaming." Bremer said with a sigh.

"When that day comes maybe I'll pen my memoirs so that future generations can see how awesome I was." Bremer said somewhat jokingly.

"Or maybe you'll be so awesome that someone else will write down your achievements in the history books for you." Tae-yon suggested.

Bremer laughed a little and turned to her. "Don't forget you'll be in there too. When they talk about the force that retook Seoul they'll mention the woman that pulled the soldiers back from the brink of death so that they could fight another day and prevail, and because of that victory we chased the aliens all the way into China were we met up what was left of the Russian and Chinese forces to join the global resistance. Meanwhile my boys back in the good old US of A will have smacked the aliens straight out of the western hemisphere and the rest they say is history." Bremer said.

"That would be a story I'd love to read to my grandkids one day." Tae-yon said cheerfully.

"You're always so optimistic. It's refreshing, really it is." Bremer complimented her demeanor.

"This world can really bring you down but you, you're always right there to perk a guy's day right up." Bremer lauded her.

"Thank you sir, you're too kind." Tae-yon said, full on blushing now.

Bremer stopped and took Tae-yon's right hand. She held his hand softly and turned to face him. She didn't know what to expect; Bremer had the reputation of being the ladies' man and she surely was ensnared by him at this moment. Was he about to kiss her? Tae-yon didn't want to make this feel awkward but she was pretty sure neither of them felt that way about each other. Obviously she understood that she was rather attractive to him physically and Bremer was good looking to her as well, though she really didn't have a thing for Western guys at all. Beyond that there was no deeper connection and Tae-yon was not that kind of girl. Both of them, they respected each other and were good friends but there was never really a romantic link between them. Tae-yon was unaware of the lust which Bremer had fought to keep away from her and full well knew the man didn't believe in love. They both had friend zoned each other even if they did a poor job showing it. Tae-yon did not know if she was willing to throw away a good friendship with her colleague in arms just to give into feelings she knew were fleeting. Still, she felt herself falling deeper into a trance. Bremer looked at her with a sincere, respectful look that he usually didn't give to his flings. It was hypnotic to Tae-yon who reflected the same allure back to Bremer. It was something more, something different this time in the way Bremer looked at her. There was no lust or passion burning behind those hazel eyes. There was warmth however, and his firm touch was warm to her as well against the chill of the autumn air. In the moment Tae-yon expected their passions to erupt everything changed. Bremer bestowed a stoic gesture of friendship and deep respect in lieu of giving in to baser pleasures thereby de-escalating the situation. Bremer took out his old Major's insignia that he still had in his pocket and placed them in Tae-yon's hands.

"Take it, they're yours now, Major Park." he told her.

"Thank you sir. I'm honored." Tae-yon said being taken back and surprised at what had happened, or more so what had not happened.

This wasn't what she expected. In that particular moment she was disappointed though when the fires in her loins died down and she returned to sanity her disappointment would turn to gratitude. This was probably the most honorable thing Bremer had done for a woman, outside of consenting to marry his wife. It maybe even was honorable more so than that, for Vargas, some of his other married friends and Brittany's friends had put a good deal of pressure on him to say yes. This time Bremer acted entirely on his own volition. Tae-yon's face was flushed red as she stood there looking at Bremer while he looked back at her. The four minutes that they were locked in each other's gaze felt like a thousand years.

Nonetheless even a millennium came to a close when the sound of the cafe door opened and two soldiers walked out. Bremer, not wanting to get caught in an awkward moment let go of Tae-yon, stepped back and resumed a dignified composure.

"Now about the aliens, I hear you've learned a little more about them since last we spoke." Bremer said, shifting immediately back to business.

Tae-yon smiled at how easily he pulled that off. The guards hadn't the slightest clue what was going on. She took a deep breath and got into the right frame of mind herself. It wasn't quite as easy for her.

"Yes sir, I have." Tae-yon replied.

The two of them started walking around the cafe again. Tae-yon started to get a hold of her emotions and once she did she continued the discussion.

"I must say these creatures have an impressive immune system. Even after death the internal organism we dissected is showing little signs of bacterial growth. It's like its skin and internal organs must have an antiseptic outer layer to them." Tae-yon explained.

"Or our germs just haven't had the chance to evolve the means to decompose them. These guys are from another planet remember, I doubt the bacteria between worlds all turned out the same." Bremer reminded her.

"True. The good thing is that whatever is going on to keep the flesh untainted it allows me ample time for further studies. If only I had some help from someone of a different discipline." Tae-yon remarked.

"We're working on that with each new recruit that comes in. I doubt we're likely to get a full on molecular biologist but we'll find someone to help you out." Bremer replied.

"Thank you sir. In the meantime I'd advise the cooks, wherever they are getting their meat from, to not touch the aliens. If they don't break down out here what's to say our stomachs can do any better. You'll just end up with the most brutal case of constipation the world has ever seen and no one wants to see the end result of that." Tae-yon jokingly commented.

"I'll pass the words of wisdom on to them." Bremer laughed.

"I'd hope they won't need them. Eating sentient beings is just. . .ugggh!" Bremer shuddered at the thought.

Tae-yon grinned and giggled. She fortunately could not even envision the sight which Bremer's mind conjured up. So they went on around the patio one last time discussing Tae-yon's latest findings concerning the aliens. Afterwards they went their separate ways, Bremer finally went into the guard post and Tae-yon returned to the field hospital.

Around lunchtime Vargas returned to camp and met with Bremer in the mess hall. There was no meat today, but plenty of kimchi to go around.

"You get tired of this stuff don't you Chico?" Bremer asked as they sat down together.

"All the time. Comes off way too salty." Vargas answered.

Bremer felt satisfied knowing he wasn't alone in his opinion on the cuisine. It made him feel a little less crazy.

"Congratulations on making Colonel." Vargas mentioned as they ate.

"So you heard about that?" Bremer asked.

"Sure did Colonel. I was one of the people that recommended the promotion." Vargas replied.

"What was the military coming to when a first sergeant can promote a Major?" Bremer thought to himself.

"That's Lieutenant Colonel; let's not get ahead of ourselves now." Bremer corrected Vargas' slight misstatement.

"What can you say Chico, Here I am getting honored for getting our asses kicked." joked Bremer before drowning a bite of kimchi in hot sauce and stuffing it in his mouth.

"It's a little more than that sir. Give yourself some credit. Without you we would be a bunch of tiny bands of survivors trying to scrape by before the aliens got us, or we got absorbed into the Empire. Out of all the commanders I've met post-invasion, you're the only one I'd stick my neck out for. I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way." Vargas told him.

"I get you Chico, I really do. That's why I didn't really raise a stink when I assumed the role of Major. Two paygrades in one month though, say what you will but that's quite an accomplishment, even in wartime. More than I deserve." Bremer said.

"To top it off all this added responsibility is making it difficult to score some honest tail around here. Damn it man, I haven't been laid in 2 maybe 3 weeks. Seriously I can't take it anymore." Bremer somewhat merrily complained.

"I don't know why sir. Duty never stopped you from getting laid before." Vargas replied.

"Yeah I know, now it's different somehow, I don't know what has come over me." Bremer told him.

"Could it be that our little Bremer is finally growing up?" Vargas teased him.

"Don't patronize me Chico, I'm 34 years old." Bremer rebuffed him.

"My point exactly. It's time you stopped playing the field and who knows, maybe settle down." Vargas told him.

"Ha! You said that when I married Brittany and that didn't change anything." Bremer said.

"Well it should have. Brittany was quite a catch." Vargas told him.

"Yeah and I'll probably never see her again. As much as I'd like to tap that round, firm ass of hers right now there's 6000 miles of alien bullshit between us, assuming she's still alive." Bremer lamented angrily.

"That right there shows that you're growing up sir. You never would have given a shit about Brittany before." Vargas said commenting on Bremer's emotion on the matter which was not present when they had discussed his wife on previous occasions.

"It just looks like you've taken a little longer to catch up in that department but it's finally happening." Vargas said, once again teasing Bremer.

"Hey, I'm still the same guy I always was." Bremer responded.

"Right?" he asked after several minutes of silence, allowing a bit of uncertainty to seep through.

"Whatever you've got to tell yourself sir." Vargas said.

While they finished their lunch Vargas' words sunk in with Bremer. He was changing wasn't he? One month after aliens fucked the world up and all the sudden he's gone soft. Maybe he was getting old, something he did not want to sadly accept for at least another ten to twenty years. That could have been the problem, though something told him it wasn't age that was changing him but something else. Bremer was saddened by the possibility of losing the man he was and was determined not to allow that to happen.

As for settling down that wasn't going to happen. It wasn't like he would ever realistically see Brittany again. Even if she was alive she was half a world away doing who knows what with who knows who. Bremer had accepted this early on. His feelings came more from lust than true love, being that he hadn't scored with too many Western women during his stint in Korea and that was a flavor he truly did crave. He suspected that was why he was missing her now. Their marriage was an open one, even though she was unaware of this fact and if she had been having side flings the same as him it wouldn't have really bothered him, nor if she had moved on. It was only to be expected after all, if they ever did find each other they could reconnect and hook back up no problem. Once again the whole notion of love was sheer nonsense to Bremer, it was all sex and fulfilling biological urges. The companionship aspect of a relationship, hell he could get that with Chico, he didn't need a woman for that.

Once they left the mess hall Bremer and Vargas were greeted by a detachment sent from Yongin. In addition to the couriers were two of the Americans that had arrived in Yongin the previous day and the Korean woman they had rescued. The young woman hid behind the couriers as Lt. Jenkins approached Bremer.

"Ooooooowwwweeee! We've got ourselves a full blown Colonel here." Lt. Jenkins marveled after exchanging opening formalities with the Seongnam host.

"It's Lt. Colonel and it's not entirely for real. You see we've gone off and started promoting ourselves left and right here." Bremer explained.

"In that case can I be a General?" asked Jenkins.

"Whoa, whoa, don't get greedy dude. Maybe I'll go for 1st Lieutenant once I get to know you." Bremer said.

"Ha! Ha! You're all right sir." Jenkins laughed out loud.

"I tell you I'm sure glad I've found some more of my own kind out here. I was starting to get lonely." Jenkins remarked.

"It doesn't get too American around here. You'll be eating enough kimchi to make you wretch." Bremer remarked.

"Now don't you worry about that. Let me in that kitchen and I'll whip you up some meatless boudain and heaping helping of red beans and rice." Lt. Jenkins said volunteering his culinary services.

"You're one of them bayou boys aren't you?" asked Vargas.

"New Orleans born and raised Mon frère!" replied Jenkins.

"Nice. We had one of you guys on our squad when we started. We sent the poor kid out to find help and never saw him again." said Vargas.

"Poor thing. I hope it was quick and he's in God's hands now. As for your squad, you're damn right we've got Cajun blood back in the house." Lt. Jenkins replied going from somber to excited.

"Glad to have you aboard Lieutenant. Private Jung will take you to your living accommodations, I told him to pick you out the best one. Your medic can bunk up in the hotel on the northeast side, we've got it set up as a field hospital and boy do we need help down there." Bremer instructed the two Americans concerning their lodging arrangements.

"I'll be glad to help." Sgt. Bryar replied.

"And we're awfully glad ya'll would have us." Jenkins added.

The two of them left under Private Jung's escort while the Yongin couriers departed for the kitchen to deliver their backpacks full of foodstuffs to the cooks before the cooks became sentries for the afternoon. With all the soldiers clearing out of the way the young woman who had come with them from Yongin was revealed.

"We'll I'll be, if it isn't Korea's little sister." Bremer marveled in amazement.

"How the hell did you recognize her?" Vargas asked, sharing the sentiment of their Korean guards.

In fact he was more surprised that Bremer knew who this woman was rather than the fact she was in their camp. If the same situation had repeated itself back home it would be like a scruffy battalion of 3rd rate soldiers and slobs rescuing Taylor Swift or something. In all sarcasm Vargas would have preferred his daughters to leave Taylor Swift to the mercy of the aliens. He and Bremer would both agree that would be the perfect weapon of mass destruction to convince the aliens that humans were more trouble than they're worth.

"Chico you can't bang as many girls in-country as I have and not be forced to absorb a little of the local culture." Bremer turned and said to Vargas.

The young woman giggled at the frank and blatant honesty Bremer displayed in his comment to Vargas.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the end of the world affects us all regardless of our station in life." Bremer said shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm sorry we can't offer you any five star accommodations ma'am only a roof and rancid bowl of kimchi for your troubles." Bremer apologetically told the young lady.

"Would you give it a rest with the kimchi sir?" Vargas jokingly complained.

"It's alright. Like you said the end of the world affects us all." the young woman politely replied.

"Mrs. Kim if you would show our esteemed guest to our finest accommodations. Make sure that you out do Lt. Crawdad's place alright?" Bremer commanded one of the guards.

"Me?" asked Kim wondering why she had been selected.

"Why not, she is your god after all." Bremer said.

"Sir I believe you are mistaken about the difference between religion and pop culture over here." Vargas corrected him.

"All the same to me. A great big load of. . ." Bremer started to say.

"Sir." Vargas interrupted not wishing to expose their guest's ears to his irreligious profanity.

Bremer walked over and put his arm around Vargas laughing while the young woman was escorted around the encampment to find suitable accommodations for her stay with the 4th Korea.

Afterwards Bremer and Vargas went into HQ and went over the latest reports from all outposts. Gwanju was struck again, dividing their forces there into two units isolated from each other. Bremer could see the area in which the aliens were carving out for themselves though they didn't have a means to easily communicate that to the Gwanju platoons in time to avoid one of the two units from being struck again before the week was out. The south seemed to be calm which was good news considering the largest portion of non-combatants and children resided in Yongin. As for the north the Empire seemed to have been sorely beaten but still alive after the carpet bombing and subsequent search and destroy missions. The vacuum they left behind had been filled by the aliens. Reports started to filter in that the aliens were moving harnessed children through Songpa district from the south and east now that the human presence had been pushed out. It was highly likely that the Imperial defeat in Seoul was the cause of the aliens increased militancy in Gwanju as they were transporting their zombified hosts through there into Seoul, something that wouldn't have been possible when the Empire held that ground in full force. This led Bremer to the notion that cooperation with the Imperials was in the best interest of their own safety. They had to help them reclaim the north in order for the 4th to secure its own flank on the east.

"It appears I need to go meet this Emperor guy myself." Bremer told Vargas.

"I thought you wanted to ignore them until they came to us? Why the sudden change of heart?" Vargas inquired.

"With the recent attacks leaving his forces weakened this is the perfect time to attempt to negotiate with our would be royalty. All the indicators point to the fact that the aliens have ramped up their activity because they think that Seoul had been pacified. We don't have the ability right now to prove that assumption false but maybe the Empire does." Bremer explained.

"You think they will work with us? I'm not so sure." Vargas asked.

"Who knows? Maybe we can get ourselves a little diplomatic exchange with the guy. Failing that we'll just have to go and kick their asses." Bremer suggested.

"Maybe he'll listen after we smack him around a little to show him that the world hasn't completely ended." Bremer continued.

"I'd assume you're fully on board with the plan Chico? Like you said he's crossing all sorts of lines that decent folk just don't need to be crossing, especially when our species needs to be on the same side for a change; there is a bigger threat out there you know." Bremer said to Vargas.

"Yeah out of principle I'd love to smack the son of a bitch around." Vargas said.

"Only if he refuses to work with us that is." Bremer corrected him.

"Yeah, right. You sure you want to go sir? Songpa District is enemy territory; the alien presence is considerably greater. If we find ourselves alone out there I can't say we'll fare too well." Vargas asked him.

"Yes, I'm sure; I have faith in you Chico. It would be a waste of a perfect opportunity otherwise. Not to mention now that things are starting to normalize around here I need to get out to the front lines and have a look around anyways. I'm bloody bored here!" Bremer said in affirmation of his decision.

"You're going too?" Vargas asked in sheer astonishment.

"Don't seem so surprised. If we're going to negotiate with their king it's only polite that our king be present for the formalities." Bremer said somewhat sarcastically.

"Oh I get it, you're too humble to be a Lt. Colonel but have no problem being a freaking king." Vargas quipped with a strong air of sarcasm.

"Easy Chico, I'm like the Burger King. My power extends no further than the kitchen." Bremer joked.

"If that was the case we wouldn't be eating god damned kimchi every day." Vargas quipped.

The two men laughed and headed out of headquarters together to gather the troops and come with a plan. They would waste no time in drawing out the Imperials and attempting to convert them to their cause. If all went well they would have gained a powerful ally, if it went south then they would have a new war on their hands. In spite of the risk the 4th Korea could not afford the cost of inaction. They had to act before they had to pull out of Gwanju altogether and leave themselves one airstrike away from fracturing completely. At this time the war with the aliens seemed hopeless. With the numbers and equipment available to Kwang-su's resistance however there could have been hope if they stood united. In the end if war with the Empire was indeed inevitable, this time it would be a war that they could win for a change.


	91. Chapter 91: Anarchy and Chaos - Part 1

Chapter XCI: The Difference Between Anarchy and Chaos - Part 1

31 Oct 1550 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

Bremer had gone to the north with Vargas this time fully expecting what was to come. He had been fully briefed by the refugees and Jin-shil concerning all they knew about the Emperor and his faction of rebels. The insight they provided was invaluable in getting into the mind of their would be frenemy. In the end this would be Jin-shil's redemption if it all played out as he had planned it.

Prior to making their departure into enemy held territory they stopped at a shopping center which had survived the bombing in order to go over the plan one last time. Meanwhile it would allow their vehicles time to cool down so they didn't trip the threshold on the beamers sensors. The 4th Korea's soldiers held all the exits to the building while the squad leaders met with Bremer and his advisors in one of the back storerooms. After discussing the overall plan with the squad leaders and making sure everyone knew their roles Bremer, Vargas and the Imperial defectors remained behind to make sure they were all on the same page concerning a negotiation strategy if they indeed managed to pull the Emperor out of hiding.

"What we know so far is that we are dealing with someone who is both a narcissist and a communist for lack of a better term." Bremer stated.

"Basically" said Da-hee

"Don't forget cynical sadist prick" added Da-bin

"Sounds about right." Hong-gi agreed.

"So Da-hee, considering both you and the Emperor are pretty socialistic in your worldviews would you be willing to do most of the talking if we can manage to bring this Emperor to the negotiating table. Maybe you two can relate on the same level and he'll be more willing to work with us?" Bremer suggested.

"I'm not allowing my sister to go anywhere near that man. He would no sooner kill her on sight than sit down and talk with her." Da-hee gave a scalding objection to the idea.

"It might not be that simple sir. He can talk a good game but don't expect his actions to follow through. I was disenchanted with the man after nine minutes." Da-hee remarked.

"Communists being hypocrites, that isn't anything new." Vargas commented.

"Keep your politics out of this Chico, we're trying to win these guys over not spit in their eye." Bremer scolded Vargas.

"If you're going to do that then first you have to make them respect you." Hong-gi said.

"And how do you do that?" asked Bremer.

"They respect strength over all else. You can't look weak in front of them or they will never take you seriously." Hong-gi explained.

"No problem, I can do that. It'll be just like Iraq. Hell, it'll probably will be easier this time since I don't have the brass breathing down my neck to measure my actions." Bremer replied.

"I hope you can sir, I've heard he can sniff out weakness from twelve kilometers away and that only would provoke him towards bad things. It may just be an urban legend designed to keep us in line but I've heard he genuinely enjoys the suffering he inflicts on others, especially if he perceives himself to be in a superior position." Da-bin calmly stated.

"He sounds like he's like one of those kids that would rip the legs off insects just because he could. Like what one of those kids grows up to be after graduating to small furry animals and later, people." Vargas stated while rubbing the thickening stubble on his chin.

"The bottom line is we have to be careful. Don't assume that he would act rationally or even in his own interest." Hong-gi warned the group.

"Point taken." Bremer replied.

"So we're all clear on what to do right?" Bremer asked one last time before they left.

"Right." the others said in unison.

They then returned to their units outside and headed out. Each having been thoroughly briefed as to what they would do and the leadership being of proper mind to engage and entreat the new resistance faction's leader, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Seoul.

The 4th Korea's expeditionary force pressed northwards into Songpa District. The city was decimated from what it had been only days ago. Entire neighborhoods had been leveled; shopping centers, restaurants and movie theaters were all gone. The derelict cars that had once jammed the streets had been blown to bits leaving only charred husks behind. There didn't seem to be too many good places to hide now. Only a small patchwork of buildings had been left standing. The streets that still appeared untouched were often nests of alien activity so the 4th stuck to the ruins until they had ventured far enough into Imperial claimed territory. They entered into a fragmentary neighborhood of mixed housing and small businesses near where Songpa District crossed over into Gangnam District. What had once been an upscale community of majestic white towers sprinkled with urban foliage along a wide road was now a charred, bombed out ruin that was dirtier and more run down than Detroit. It had more than its share of demolished, defunct cars packed in clusters throughout the neighborhood. Most of these cars were high end models decked out with all the most modern contrivances and comforts and were completely useless. The aliens hadn't done a very good job of clearing out these luxury models from obscuring the road, many were still completely intact. Nonetheless the 4th used them to their advantage when they sighted small bands of skitters and sprung ambushes on them.

Eventually they came to a part of the neighborhood where the density of cars had greatly diminished, not from bombing as much as from simply not being a picture of traffic when the modern world was frozen. It was still much the same sight to be seen here, moderate to tall towers, upscale eateries, office buildings, five star hotels and the like. It was a very white collar neighborhood only a stone's throw across the southbound stream from a more pedestrian part of Songpa District. The towers, albeit many decapitated of their upper floors and some utterly in ruins, provided a fair amount of cover for the 4th from a flank attack while the wide open street allowed them a clear view of anything coming from the front or to the rear. From the estimation the refugees had given them they were not incredibly far from the last known location of a major Imperial base.

"We should be getting close." Hong-gi reported.

"So this is where they live? Can you say penthouse Bolsheviks, the lot of them." Vargas marveled for it had once been the seat of wealth in Seoul.

Da-hee looked over and scowled at Vargas while Bremer smirked. The unit continued to press on deeper into the neighborhood, at the next intersection Vargas broke off taking two squads with him in one direction while Myung-yong darted off with another squad heading the opposite direction. Bremer motioned for a team in the back of the column to peel off down another alleyway between several of the large buildings as they passed by. Not long afterwards the sound of gunfire flushed a dozen or so skitters out into the open where they were gunned down by the 4th Korea's main force.

"That was easy." Bremer remarked at how efficiently they made short work of the aliens. He had expected a little more of a fight from them.

"I might have spoke too soon." Bremer said upon noticing the deep droning hum that meant trouble was on its way.

Bremer signaled his men to spread out and take cover. They fanned out and got into position across the length of the street and inside the partially demolished buildings on either side. The soldiers formed two U-shaped formations, one in front of them and one to their rear. Bremer got behind a car in the center of the street along with a soldier carrying an RPG launcher and another one with a K3 light machine gun. The long pause of silence wore on. The soldiers clutched their weapons and steadied their aim as the pounding feet of the approaching mechs' marched closer in synchronized fashion, cycling like a well-tuned engine. Before the mechs made their appearance onto the street five skitters haplessly skittered out of a side street. Several soldiers opened fire onto the skitters, including the gunner next to Bremer. A rocket was fired from an upstairs window by a soldier expecting to see a mech which blasted the arms and legs off one side of a skitter as it blew it backwards from the force of the explosion. Once again the skitters were cut down too quickly to pose any serious threat to the soldiers. This time it was on purpose though, they had only been sent out to draw out the would be ambushers. When the mechs did appear they did so simultaneously with a horde of skitters crawling over the buildings and swarming inside them to flush out the embedded fighters inside. The skitters came over the buildings right next to where the gunfire had erupted when the decoys had been presented to flank the front lines of soldiers. Once more the first troops out into the breaches to the front and rear of the unit were skitters which deceptively drew more of the 4th's heavy weapons fire and allowed the mechs to enter the fray initially unopposed. They had effectively encircled the main force while Vargas' team had been off chasing stray patrols. The aliens had been improving their tactics, no longer were they so careless as to resort to simple head on human, or alien to be more accurate, wave tactics. They had underestimated the Earth's defenders in the beginning and to their surprise total victory was harder than they thought. The alien occupiers now had to resort to giving some small amount of thought to the matter of pacifying pockets of resistance.

The soldiers spread out their fire to the skitters swarming them from all sides. They struck down several climbing down the walls; others evaded their attacks or jumped down onto the cars amongst them. The mechs opened fire at the front of the formation. The shots shattered car windows and ripped through their side panels, punching holes straight through the vehicle on into the engine compartment. The mech rounds also chipped into the walls of buildings and the brick enclosures along the sidewalk where trees had once been planted. Some of the bricks were shattered or pounded to dust sending up tufts of powder and dirt where they struck. A couple soldiers near Bremer were hit by the mech bullets piercing through the vehicles they sought cover behind so he ordered the front line to fall back two or three vehicles deep. The soldier next to him got up first and fired his RPG, taking out a mech on the left flank of the enemy line moments before the machine gunner got up and pushed back an onrushing squad of skitters.

As Bremer and his men withdrew further back to find effective cover from the mechs the skitters had mixed in with the soldiers on the flanks who were now fighting them hand to hand with bayonets and knives. Inside the buildings lining the street skitters and soldiers were also engaged in close combat as well. In their efforts to repel the skitters in their midst the mechs took little fire and were free to gun down soldiers when they exposed themselves. One of the mechs launched a rocket clearing away several cars and taking a number of human fighters and a few skitters with them. Another pair of mechs also launched rockets deeper into the traffic jam while a third blew a hole into the third floor wall of an office building. The next rockets were launched towards the mechs rather than from them. Six of the mechs were struck by a barrage of rocket fire which diverted the attention of the remaining eleven mechs to fire at an unseen attacker coming down the side street towards them. Heavy machine gun fire from the side street and grenades and .50 caliber rounds from the beleaguered soldiers took out four more mechs in rapid succession. Bremer suspected his plan was proceeding exactly as he had planned so he dispatched a quarter of his forces into the buildings around them to clear out the skitters inside while he and his men on the street fully committed themselves to repulsing the flank attack from their sides and rear.

On the side street the mechs released a barrage of rockets that took out a pair of Humvees but not before the mounted machine guns peppered three mechs with holes, damaging two and rending one completely inoperable. The fighters charging behind the Humvees sought cover during the attack and returned fire when they could. Most of this retaliatory fire was ineffective against mech armor but served to distract the mechs long enough for the next phase of the newcomers' operation to begin. This also drew away some of the skitters attacking the 4th Korea on the left flank to meet this new challenge. Further down the main street two more Humvees swerved out from another cross street, chasing out a small detachment of skitters ahead of them. They opened fired with their heavy machine guns towards the mech as well as lobbing grenades and rockets from within. The initial attack took down three mechs and sheared legs and arms off of two others. Following minutes behind the Humvees three platoons of fighters clad in ROK Army uniforms and combat gear flooded onto the street. The mechs managed to blow apart one of the Humvees while the second Humvee was struck several times but kept going. Skitters sprinted towards the Humvee and jumped on board as the gunner shifted his focus from the last remaining mech to the skitters swarming it like ants. A half dozen skitters were gunned down, leaving loose limbs and darkened blood spatters on the ground as the heavy rounds ripped through the aliens. In spite of losses the skitters managed to jump on board the Humvee and impale the gunner from both the front and the rear before two skitters tore him in half at the waist as they tried to remove him from his position and tossed the body out onto the street. When the first skitter forced its way inside the Humvee only to get itself killed by the two riders inside the driver accelerated and rammed the mech head on. As the mech was smashed in it fired through the Humvees windshield, killing the driver. The Humvee aimlessly slammed into the packed in traffic frozen in the street causing it to pivot sideways upon impact and roll over. The riders, impressively having survived the crash, crawled out from the Humvee and immediately engaged the alien menace.

As the tide turned against the aliens the companies led by Vargas and Myung-yong quietly returned and got into position for the next part of the plan. The full strength of the 4th's apparent saviors now entered onto the main street and overwhelmed the skitters assailing the front of the 4th Korea's lines. In an act uncommon of their kind the skitters deeper into the flanks and at the rear began to make a hasty withdrawal. They knew they were bested and were this time unwilling to throw their fighters away to deal casualties to the last skitter. The 4th and their apparent allies fired upon the fleeing aliens, thinning out their ranks a little more as they skittered and jumped their way to safety out of the battle zone.

When the fighting appeared to be over the unrequested backup that came to the 4th Korea's aid stood fast and waited for the last squad of their fighters to arrive and then approached the entrenched fighters of the 4th who were enumerating their dead and tending to their wounded. The alien attack they used to draw attention to themselves was larger than Bremer had desired but alas that was one variable neither he nor the 4th Korea as a whole could control. It was not an unforeseen contingency however; if they had failed to draw out assistance from the local fighters Vargas and the other squads would have ultimately been their salvation. For the force and unanticipated tactics the aliens employed the 4th's casualties were surprisingly low. They lost close to twenty people which was nothing to shrug off but against an attack that could have very well wiped them out it was a somber blessing in disguise. The non-fatal injuries proved to be minor, mainly scratches and gouges from close combat with skitters. There was nothing that prevented them from walking away from this, every one of them. While the dead were being moved into one of the nondescript professional buildings Bremer turned to face their would be rescuers. These soldiers may have been dressed like ROK army officers and enlisted personnel but Bremer knew precisely who he was dealing with.

"Are you all alright?" asked one of the men as the whole of the newly arrived platoons of fighters moved towards them.

"We're fine. If you hadn't come when you did we would have been a goner." Bremer said, feigning gratitude convincingly.

"Hey we've got to look out for each other. We're all on the same team you know." the man replied as he and the other troops continued to advance towards Bremer and his unit.

"Are you alone or do you have others hiding out around here; civilians maybe?" the man inquired attempting to draw out information concerning the 4th's base or bases of operation.

"These men are all we have. We were driven from our home by the bombing and were hoping to find refuge closer to the river." Bremer replied.

"Oh you don't want to go near the river. The geomis got something real big going on over there and you can't even get close to the shore without damn near a hundred of those 'bots coming down on you." mentioned the man as the presumed Imperial fighters got even closer,

Bremer knew as they talked the Imperials were picking out their targets and would spring an ambush on them once they had got into position to take all or most of his men out in one fell swoop. Meanwhile his own crafty designs were already in play. A light blinked from the corner behind one of the upstairs windows from an angle only Bremer and the troops of 4th Korea could see which indicated all was setup to proceed.

"That's far enough!" Bremer commanded their former saviors.

At his words all of his men took aim at the Imperial fighters advancing upon them who in turn stopped and did the same.

"What the hell is this you ungrateful sons of bitches!" clamored one of the Imperial fighters.

"I don't understand. Why the hostility? Did we not just save your asses?" the man who appeared to be the leader of the group asked Bremer.

The presumed leader of the brigands was dressed in the uniform of a ROK Army Brigadier General, probably the highest ranking of the soldiers he had killed and also showing that he understood enough about military rank structure to assume the identity of the senior most officer in the field. As much as this man presented himself to be the Supreme Commander of the Empire, Kwang-su was not this man. While this man acted as if he was in command during the charade in reality he was a low level grunt in Kwang-su's organization. The true leader was dressed as a low ranking enlisted man and positioned off on the right flank of the formation tucked away in the last platoon to arrive after the smoke had cleared from the battle with the aliens.

"Cut the crap. We know who you are and what you are up to with your oh high and mighty "Empire" bullshit." Bremer snapped at the man.

"In that case you're an idiot because we would have let you live if you didn't draw on us." the false leader lied. They had no intention of sparing any of the 4th, they would do with them the same thing they did to every army unit they had gotten the better of.

"If you hadn't noticed there are more of us than there are of you, we are better armed and not to mention you don't have a clean line of sight on two thirds of my men. You have no chance of winning here." the apparent leader threatened Bremer making motions to highlight the presence of the destroyed Humvees to screen direct fire away from the reserve units on the Empire's rear lines.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Vargas chastised the presumed Imperial leader as he and his squads came in from behind and took aim at a majority of the Imperials that up until then believed themselves to be completely safe.

Half of the Imperial fighters did an about face and trained their weapons on Vargas' men while the rest kept their aim fixed on Bremer and his minions. In the event one of them pulled the trigger nearly everyone involved would die in the opening round of fighting. Few among either camp were safe, one of which being, for now the vaunted Emperor Kwang-su, hidden in the fold of an irregular shaped building with several of his henchmen gathered all around him to stand between him and any would be attacker. The false Imperial leader clapped and shook his head at the apparent genius of the 4th to outwit them so far though he believed their luck was at an end. The Empire always came out on top in these kind of situations; at least that's what this man believed.

"So Mr. Rodriguez it appears we find ourselves in a bit of a Mexican standoff here." the presumed leader observantly stated making light of the precarious situation both sides were in.

"In that I must warn you that I being Mexican gives me an advantage in this particular situation." Vargas lightheartedly threatened the faux commander while in dead seriousness keeping his weapon trained on him.

Meanwhile Bremer was on the move, mixing into the Imperial lines as he made his way towards Vargas. He slung his rifle over his back and took out his pistol, snapping his fingers to a tune in his head with his free hand. He observantly watched as he made almost dancelike strides to a predetermined position within the Imperial ranks, near to where Vargas and his rearguard was standing but within the outer lines. Those looking on seemed bewildered by Bremer's apparent stupidity in his actions. The Imperial fighters jerked their weapons around to follow him but did not shoot, not yet. It was a risky maneuver for his adversaries outnumbered his allies here. There were so many chances that he could be made a martyr here. He knew though if he drew fire even for a second away from his men and onto himself it would give a decisive advantage to the 4th Korea allowing them to decimate the Imperial forces in the first volley and save many of their own lives in the process. If he had to die to save his men that was something he could live with. While he benefitted them greatly by being alive, Bremer did not believe without a shadow of a doubt that he was irreplaceable to the 4th Korea. There might be a bit of a rough patch as Vargas, Kang or someone else took the reins but they would endure. His calculated risk seemed to pay off at first however as Bremer got into his desired position without one itchy trigger finger jerking to set off the veritable powder keg which this street had become.

"You better listen to him, he really means it." Bremer warned the Imperials as he was on the move.

"Put your weapons down or your Emperor gets it." Bremer demanded as he slipped behind the faux Emperor and cocked his gun, pointing it at the base of the man's skull.

In his showboating Bremer had also positioned himself in an ideal position between the false leader and Kwang-su. This allowed him a clear line of sight, in the space between the heads of two of his bodyguards, to the real Emperor who believed himself to be undiscovered, still playing the part of a lowly henchman. It was a difficult shot to make, all one of the Emperor's protectors had to do was move and Bremer would fail to make the kill. He hoped that he didn't actually have to make the shot, only look as if he could in order to get the Emperor to concede to peace talks.

"You're bluffing." the false Emperor challenged Bremer.

"No I'm not." Bremer said and with that he shot the false Emperor dead on the spot.

With a gasp from the onlookers the false Emperor dropped to the ground with a thud, kicking up a tuft of dust when he landed. The Imperial soldiers jostled their weapons to retaliate but in better judgement held back their attack as the 4th Korea's men were ready to beat them to the draw.

"But you didn't care what happens to that man did you? Any of you?" Bremer taunted the Imperial fighters.

"You want to know why? Because that man wasn't the real Emperor." Bremer said as he moved around in a circle amidst them.

"That man is!" Bremer declared as he fixed his weapon's aim firmly upon the true Emperor hiding out in the corner.

Bremer could now easily take the shot that would end the rise of this Empire of thugs. The sound of Bremer cocking his pistol as it was pointed towards the side of Kwang-su's head was unnerving but Kwang-su was confident that only a slight motion from him or one of his bodyguards was all that was necessary to nullify the kill shot advantage Bremer thought he had. Bremer however didn't need to be the one to make the shot; he had others positioned to do it for him all along. From above Kwang-su saw two rifles pop out of upstairs windows directly above him, one of which had a under the barrel grenade launched attached. The soldiers wielding these weapons looked down on Kwang-su and smiled. Even if his helmet could stop a bullet a grenade lobbed his way at the very least meant dismemberment if not outright death. Seeing that a clear and present threat existed to his own well-being Kwang-su was prompted to signal his forces to stand down. Kwang-su then stepped out from hiding and into the open where all of his men could see him. He tried to move behind a few of his minions to get away from the sight of the overwatches but Bremer noticed it and stopped him.

"That's far enough! You take one more step and you're as dead as your stunt double." Bremer threatened Kwang-su.

"By the way he doesn't look anything like you." Bremer commented on the appearance of Kwang-su's fill in man.

Bremer carefully studied and sized up his opponent. This was the man who had caused so much discord in Seoul and had stymied the efforts of the resistance to present a united front against alien aggression for his own gains. He did not have the appearance of a brutal dictator but then again how many of the world's worst despots had that look when they were on their ascendancy. With that being said Kwang-su was still a rather attractive man according to Bremer, who would know a thing or two about attractive men as in the arrogance of his mind he presumably wrote the book on the subject.

"So this is the legendary Emperor? Are you telling me this guy is the real brains behind the operation?" Vargas chimed in as Kwang-su stepped out from his place of obscurity.

"Doesn't look all that brainy to me Chico." Bremer mocked Kwang-su.

"Whoops my bad, looks like you've got me now! Congratulations!" Kwang-su merrily exclaimed, clapping his hands to mockingly congratulate the 4th Korea on foiling his ambush.

Kwang su lifted his head up with a smug expression painted on his face, soaking in his own self-satisfaction in spite what appeared to be a clear defeat.

"I seem to have misjudged you. Perhaps you soldiers aren't all the dumb jocks I took you for." Kwang-su said with a devious smile as he approached Bremer.

"Stay back!" Bremer threatened Kwang-su, not suffering the Emperor to come any closer.

"You seem to do more than simply misjudge us." Bremer stated, implying that he knew of Kwang-su's treachery regarding his treatment of soldiers and women.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't rub it in." Kwang-su responded sarcastically yet unconcerned.

"So what are you planning to do now tough guy? Are you going to shoot me?" Kwang-su taunted Bremer, almost begging him to do it.

"Maybe later. Right now I seek to parlay with you in private, one commander to another. We need not bother these men out here with unnecessary bloodshed. What say you?" Bremer offered.

Kwang-su grinned and laughed under his breath as if Bremer was unknowingly playing into a scheme the Emperor had concocted on the fly here.

"I suppose it would do no harm to hear you out. You can die now or die later it matters not to me." Kwang-su accepted.

Bremer motioned Kwang-su to pass by him and walk towards a mostly intact office building. Once the Emperor had gotten a few feet in front of him Bremer followed, keeping his weapon pointed at the back of Kwang-su's head. Kwang-su stopped at the front entrance to the building and waited.

"Everyone stand down! We're coming in." Bremer ordered the people he had positioned inside the building.

He then turned to Kwang-su and rocked his gun up in a quick flick of the wrist.

"Open it." Bremer ordered Kwang-su.

Kwang-su turned back and opened the door. Bremer moved in closer and kept his gun fixed on the Emperor hoping that he didn't make any sudden moves. The 4th Korea's fighters and the Imperials continued to be locked in a standoff with each other; neither side was willing to relax their stance for a moment. One accidental discharge could spell doom for them all. Going inside Bremer knew this and hoped for cooler heads to prevail outside while he sought to negotiate. He also knew that he was working against the clock. The aliens would not stand to be defeated and simply leave the humans there to attend to their business. Bremer fully expected a counterattack; in fact he counted on it. The added pressure would further twist the Emperor's arm into conceding to some of the mild and most reasonable demands that Bremer had for him. The Emperor had shown some indication that he could be reasonable by consenting to this meeting. Had he truly been the madman that others claimed him to be it would have been war out there already. Bremer hoped the public persona of a strongman could be dropped behind closed doors and the more intellectual side of Kwang-su would be seen.

When Bremer and Kwang-su entered the building they came into the lobby with an L shaped arrangement of couches around a coffee table on one side and a large computer desk and shelf unit on the other side towards the wall. Behind the couches on the far wall were the restrooms and service elevators. In front of them between the couches and the large desk was a service window behind which the company receptionist would have normally sat. Around the corner from the window was a hallway leading to some back offices and the stairs. There were four 4th Korea soldiers inside the building, two of which were near the windows, one was in the corner behind the couches and one was on the side of the service window directly in front of Bremer and Kwang-su. The elevator doors were splattered with darkened skitter blood and a lone corpse of a skitter had collapsed in a lump in front of the elevator. The soldiers all focused their weapons on Kwang-su who walked up beside the external desk and stopped before approaching the service window. Bremer shut the door behind them and quickly returned his focus to the captive Emperor.

"Put your gun down." Bremer demanded.

"You first." replied Kwang-su.

"Who's the one giving the orders here me or you? Put your fucking gun down or I'll drop you." Bremer reasserted his demands forcefully.

"Or perhaps you'd prefer one of my boys do it?" Bremer asked Kwang-su after stood there and defiantly did nothing.

Kwang-su grinned deviously and obliged Bremer's command by laying down his rifle on the desk then he removed both of his visible pistols and set them down beside the rifle. He unclipped a pair of grenades and a spare magazine he had on his belt and set it down with the other weapons.

"Check him." Bremer ordered the two soldiers nearest to the Emperor.

The soldiers moved over and one carefully frisked Kwang-su while the other was there to ensure the Emperor's cooperation. In their inspection they removed a knife from the Emperor's sock, a small pistol hidden in his left thigh pocket, a few more grenades and spare magazines from his inner jacket pockets and another standard issue K5 pistol from his back waistband beneath his shirt. The Emperor was loaded for bear apparently. Once it looked as if Kwang-su was clean the soldiers backed away and gave the all clear signal to Bremer.

Though disarmed Kwang-su was not afraid. In spite of appearances he felt much as he did before, that he was in control of the situation completely. He did not believe Bremer had it in him to kill an unarmed man. He didn't look like one who had experienced just how cold the world had become. Bremer was part of the old world; Kwang-su was the man of the new. To Kwang-su Bremer was naive and unwilling to accept humanity's inevitable return to its animalistic roots so soon. Unlike himself Bremer was not wise enough to read the writing on the wall, the signs of the times had passed the Colonel by. Now Kwang-su did not believe himself to be a monster, he was just someone ahead of the curve. Because of this he felt he had power, even now, over Bremer and his lowly "army" outside.

"All right, I'm unarmed. Now you." Kwang-su told Bremer as he backed away from his guns with his hands open and raised them above his head for Bremer to see.

"Now why would I do that? I have you at a position of disadvantage now. A civilized discourse is more preferable this way." Bremer said trying to sound as if he was as much of a hard man as Kwang-su was believed to be.

This pleased Kwang-su in some small way. Perhaps Bremer was learning, perhaps he was faking it. Still it was one thing to talk tough; it was another to actually pull that trigger. Regardless Kwang-su felt no fear, only amusement with the situation.

"We're going upstairs to the fourth floor and going to find a cushy little private office to have our dealings in. Come with me," Bremer told Kwang-su.

He led the way up the stairs, frequently turning back to keep tabs on Kwang-su. One of the 4th Korea soldiers followed behind the two leaders and kept a gun pointed at the Emperor at all times. Through the shadows of the stairwell the guard behind them shined a flashlight fixed to his rifle ahead of them to light the way. They reached the fourth floor and found a corner office with a large window and a view of the back alley on the opposite side of the building from the standoff in the main street. Below them were two 4th Korea fighters poised as lookouts in case of alien or further Imperial interference. Within the room was a large executive desk on the far wall and four chairs placed in front of it. On the near wall was a lampstand next to a small water cooler. The paintings and framed degrees and certificates that once hung had all fallen off the walls and were left broken on the floor. Outside of the office there were two additional soldiers, one positioned at the window on the opposite side of the building and another by the stairwell. There were also the bodies of two skitters in the fourth floor hallways and one dead skitter missing a few legs on the stairs leading to the fifth floor and above.

"Sit down and put your hands on the desk where I can see them." Bremer instructed Kwang-su who took his time in carrying out the request in an effort to show Bremer he was not impressed by his demeanor.

"Now keep them there." Bremer sternly commanded Kwang-su.

He then quickly poked his head out of the office. "Alright everyone clear out!" Bremer commanded the soldiers outside. The soldiers obeyed and pulled away from their stations to carry out the order.

"Post yourselves downstairs and on all of the exits. If I'm not out in an hour come in and waste this guy." Bremer instructed the troops pointing his thumb into the office towards Kwang-su.

Bremer then turned towards Kwang-su and for the first time lowered his weapon although he still kept his finger on the trigger. Kwang-su grinned deviously up at Bremer while Bremer stared coldly back at him. Bremer pushed all the chairs except one out towards the walls where they surrounded the desk, thereby trapping Kwang-su on the other side of the desk. If he tried to come across and get to Bremer the obstructions would slow him down long enough for Bremer to take the shot. The one remaining chair Bremer pulled back and set in the center of the room. He stood behind the chair and put his free hand on the chairs back while keeping his focus on Kwang-su.

"Now, shall we begin?" Bremer said.


	92. Chapter 92: Anarchy and Chaos - Part 2

Chapter XCII: The Difference Between Anarchy and Chaos - Part 2

31 Oct 1730 KST

Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea

Bremer stood at a safe distance on the other side of the desk directly across from Kwang-su. He smiled and wiggled his pistol slightly, giving a moment of silence for Kwang-su to take it all in. Bremer felt as if he had the upper hand now, clearly being in control of the situation. Kwang-su was not intimidated; he simply stared back at Bremer occasionally cracking a smile through the steely eyed poker face he tried to present. Outside the evening sky had become stained a dull orange which over the course of the negotiation would deepen into a more somber sunset until it was blood red. Bremer stiffened his composure and stared the Emperor down before speaking.

"So you are the great and mighty Emperor of the great big heaping pile of ash that once was the fine city of Seoul. How glad I am to finally make your acquaintance. You weren't an easy man to find, my dear. If I didn't know better I would have thought you were afraid of me. Look at you; here you are, in all your majesty, masquerading as a lowly private." Bremer opened by openly ridiculing the Emperor.

Bremer stood up and stepped back from the chair. "You're clever I'll give you that but you've got to be awfully slick to get one by me. As you see your act didn't fool us. Obviously we knew you weren't who you claimed to be." Bremer said.

It probably wasn't a good idea to start off negotiations by insulting the other side's pride. It was apparent that Bremer was no diplomat. The arrogance on Kwang-su's face bothered him and he seemed a bit determined to shame this puffed up would be tyrant down to size so they could see eye to eye once more.

"I could say the same; you look awfully young to be a Colonel." Kwang-su replied utterly unmoved by Bremer's mockery.

"At least I'm not the one who runs around calling myself an Emperor." Bremer retorted.

"What is the need to elevate oneself so highly when the title of "Chief" or "Captain" or "Asslicker" would have done just fine. Are we compensating for something?" Bremer derided Kwang-su and clapped his hands together.

"Is this whole little "Empire" charade nothing more than a penis extender?" Bremer asked flipping his wrist back to point his pistol straight between Kwang-su's eyes.

"Touché la douche-ay, actually the title was given to me by my followers. It is more of a term of respect than one of actual power or anything. It's kind of the same way of how people refer to Elvis as the king when he had no real kingdom to lord over." Kwang-su responded, calm and smugly with his arrogance fully intact.

"Then what do you call Graceland?" Bremer joked.

"Ahem." Bremer cleared his throat. "Elvis might have died well before I was born so I can't claim to have known the man but you sir, are no Elvis." Bremer said taking another step back.

He walked around the front of the chair keeping his eyes and gun focused on Kwang-su who remained seated like a good school boy at the desk.

"That is not to say that are not famous in your own right." Bremer said. If he wasn't going to shame him maybe he could move the Emperor by flattery.

"Ooo, do tell! What have you heard about me?" Kwang-su asked in a mocking sense of eagerness as he tapped his fingers rapidly on the desk.

I've heard things, yes. I'll admit I've heard some things about you, not all of them good." Bremer said to Kwang-su.

"Not good, why I am the champion of the people! Now who could it be that's spreading these nasty lies about me?" Kwang-su comedicly responded.

It seemed neither side really took the other side seriously. Bremer had no fear of Kwang-su because of he held the gun and had men close at hand to rush in to his aid if needed. Kwang-su knew that Bremer would never shoot him so unarmed and helpless. He had sized Bremer up ahead of time and he knew this tough guy schtick was just an act.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to tell but just know that I know what you're all about." Bremer said, pointing his finger towards Kwang-su in one quick stroke.

"You soldiers know nothing. You're all the same, a bunch of brain dead morons, utterly useless without someone barking orders for you to follow." Kwang-su replied.

"You seem to be really down on the soldiering profession, peculiar. Don't all of you have to do some time in the military?" Bremer asked.

He ascertained Kwang-su to be in his mid to late 20s, certainly past his time for the ROK's mandated military service.

"Not exactly. I ducked my commitment with a stint in the civil service." Kwang-su replied.

"I didn't know you could do that." Bremer mused.

The small talk was simply burning out the clock at this point; Kwang-su wasn't going to be frightened or flattered. It was time to settle things and hopefully walk away from this with a shaky alliance or a cease fire arrangement.

"Enough with the pleasantries I'll get down to business. It's no secret; we saw what the aliens did to you. That attack must have really set you back, surely you can use our help and I'm offering it to you freely. We're stronger together than we are apart." Bremer told the Emperor.

"I assure you we are doing just fine on our own." the Emperor replied, completely disinterested in Bremer's offer of military assistance.

"If you are so eager to help there is something you can do. If you don't mind handing over all your gear and slitting your own throats for us that would be most helpful. Oh, and if there are any more of you rats slinking about somewhere you could take us back wherever you call home first and have them do the same." Kwang-su extended his own absurd offer to Bremer.

"A simple no would have sufficed. No need to be a dick." Bremer replied.

"Who said I was being a dick? I was completely serious." Kwang-su replied his voice and countenance indicating just how serious he was.

"How the hell an asshole like you managed to survive this long confounds me." Bremer said, planting a quick face palm while keeping an eye on the Emperor.

"As it would appear, survival in a world like this is one my many talents." Kwang-su said, standing up behind his desk.

"Sit your ass back down!" Bremer demanded.

"Or what?" Kwang-su asked.

Bremer fired a warning shot just to the left of Kwang-su's left hip. Kwang-su did not budge.

"One." Kwang-su counted and remained standing.

Bremer would give him his space for now but if Kwang-su tried to come out from behind that desk he would shoot him. Bremer assured himself of this. Seeing Bremer back down from his threats pleased Kwang-su greatly; his judgements about the man were shaping up to be correct after all.

"There is a degree of randomness to who snaps and who is able to survive even thrive when it seems like the world is collapsing around you. It's not always who you would expect." Kwang-su stated.

"What about you? Are you one of the ones who snapped?" Bremer asked.

"Me? Snapped?" Kwang-su laughed.

"No, no, no I was always this way I just never was given the opportunity to express myself." he boasted as if his depravity was something to be proud of.

"To be honest the apocalypse is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It allowed me to blossom to my fullest potential and realize that which was my destiny." Kwang-su said standing up straight, clasping his hands together then raising them outstretched above him to his right and to his left with his elbows at a 90 degree vertical angle.

"How so?" Bremer asked.

Kwang-su let his arms drop to his side and then folded his hands in front of his waist. "You were a soldier before the world went to hell; you're still a soldier now. I was faceless government clock watcher at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family; now I'm the reigning Emperor of what used to be Seoul City." Kwang-su explained.

"You take that title way too seriously Elvis; delusions of grandeur perhaps? Just a tad?" Bremer asked sardonically.

"The title and the respect it commands is well deserved. Do you know why all those men out there follow me, why I have loyal followers in almost half the city? It's because I give these people results. I pushed the aliens out of their backyards! I gave them the courage to fight back! I made sense of the chaos, gave them direction and clear vision for the future! They are still alive because of me! They adore me and they would not hesitate to die for me." Kwang-su declared.

"Don't lie to yourself asshole, they follow you out of fear; no one takes the title of Emperor upon himself in a post-apocalyptic world unless he has a huge stick up his ass or he intends to use it to intimidate people." Bremer rebuked Kwang-su.

"In your case maybe it's both. You do walk a little stiff." Bremer commented.

"People don't follow a bloody tyrant like you because they adore you. We get results too but we do so by adhering to a code of laws so we don't become depraved fucktards like you. Civic virtue still exists my friend. Face it your people follow you because they think you're worse than the aliens." Bremer told Kwang-su.

Bremer may be an atheist but he was far from amoral and certainly did not condone any of the things in which Kwang-su and his minions were purported to have done. This Kwang-su guy was a warlord, thug and overall scumbag nothing more.

"Codes, laws, virtue, what the hell are you talking about? Take a look around, this is anarchy!" Kwang-su let out a deep belly laugh and extended his arms outward to his sides.

"Anarchy does not necessitate chaos. You can still have peace without rulers you fool!" Bremer retorted.

"Oh, I know. That is the plan in the end you see. We're not ready for that yet; first we have to get rid of these god-awful aliens then we've got to teach people how to live the right way. Oh but that is all a long, long way away from now; we'll be old men by the time peace comes around. So yes, for now anarchy does mean chaos, sweet, beautiful chaos." Kwang-su pleasantly affirmed and swept his right arm in front of his body as he finished talking.

Bremer wagged his gun in front of Kwang-su and backed up a step or two presuming that the Emperor would attempt to come out from behind the desk. Kwang-su did no such thing; instead he actually sat back down and grinned from ear to ear.

"Sure the authorities are long gone but there are still some basic rules of human decency we should live by. Hell at least from the standpoint of self-preservation alone you shouldn't go around being a bully and a giant jackass to everyone. For fucks sake man, are you trying to paint a target on your back?" Bremer retorted as Kwang-su sat back down.

"Intimidation is just as effective as respect; people have been doing it for centuries to keep order in society. The target on my back is no bigger than the one on yours." Kwang-su replied.

"You can't equate what happened then and now. Before there was a code of ethics behind that force." Bremer said.

"The code of ethics was the force. It's all bullshit, always has been." Kwang-su replied.

Yeah it was flawed but it was something to hold on to. I know that doesn't justify it but it kept it from going too far." Bremer tried to reason with him.

"Too far? Ha! You are naive, it's a wonder you're still alive. No, the only code that is worth living by is that of survival of the fittest. It's kill or be killed, anything else is weakness." Kwang-su retorted almost overcome by laughter.

Kwang-su folded his hands in front of him and looked immensely pleased. "Let us consider the Geomis for a second. Do you think they are as soft as we are? Do you think foolishness and petty ethics guide their decisions? If you watch the Geomis one thing you will see they do not seem to care about their losses the way we do. You kill a few hundred of them, they'll just keep coming, and coming, it doesn't matter how many have to die they will just keep coming until they have achieved what they set out to accomplish. They do not slow down, mourn, bury their dead or express sympathy over those they lost. They just keep going. They do not look back, only forward. They don't put the value over their objective. We are not like that, they hit us hard and we buckle to our grief. We concern ourselves over the weak that deserve not the life they were given. We hesitate to do the things that they would do without so much as a passing thought. That is why we are weak and will never be able to stand toe to toe with these things. What's more I think they know this. I think they know the absurd value we put on human life, and really what value is a life if it isn't being put to a greater purpose? As I was saying they know our weakness and exploit it. That is why they go on without exterminating us completely; they know they don't have to. They know all they have to do is hurt us enough and we will kneel." Kwang-su told Bremer.

"You see I am here to show them that we will not kneel but I can't very well do that with weaklings like you giving the human species a bad name. Oh and no, that is not why I want to kill you so don't think you can go and toughen up and we'll be cool all of the sudden." Kwang-su stated.

"If you keep pissing them off the way you have been doing eventually they're going to blow this whole city." Bremer said.

"I think I know how to deal with the aliens." Kwang-su dismissively derided him.

Bremer was reasonably sure peaceful cooperation wasn't going to happen today and while the sky got more red and less orange he shifted his focus towards negotiating a cease fire. If he couldn't turn an enemy into an ally he could at least remove an unnecessary enemy from the picture. Yes, the things that Kwang-su's "Empire" was doing were ghastly and so far beyond the pale of human decency but in certain situations one had to pick their battles and when necessary turn a blind eye to the result. It wouldn't be the first time Bremer had to look the other way when a horrible atrocity was being committed in his midst. When his so-called allies in former wars indulged in their perversions he had been harshly reprimanded and told by the higher ups to stay silent and ignore the cries of the children at night. This was one of those times. Bremer could not covert the Empire but he still could direct their wicked ways in the right direction, namely towards the big bad bugs from the sky.

"Well fine, if we can't fight them together then how about we simply agree to leave each other alone and focus our efforts on the aliens? You stay out of our way and we stay out of yours." Bremer proposed.

"I'm afraid I simply can't allow that." Kwang-su replied, feigning a sense of remorse.

Bremer cocked his head to the side and turned the pistol where he held it "Gangsta style" to match, raised both eyebrows and looked at Kwang-su as if to say "You serious?"

"Yes you can, it's not that hard. Shoot the aliens; don't shoot the people who aren't shooting at you." Bremer riposted back.

"Hold up there cowboy! We are fighting the aliens yes, but we're not on the same side." Kwang-su rebuked Bremer.

Listen; don't think you're going to turn this into a discussion of differing means to an end. We don't have the exactly the same ends. You see you are fighting to restore the world you once knew, I on the other hand am fighting to bring about a better world than the one we had before." Kwang-su explained.

Kwang-su got up out of his chair, stood up and stepped back up against the wall, prompting Bremer to straighten his gun and refocus on the Emperor. Kwang-su twisted side to side and cracked his back, letting out a grunt of relief and looked back at Bremer.

"You see Colonel I am but a symptom; the cause of which goes far deeper than what has happened to the planet since the aliens arrived. It is a disease that has plagued the human species since the first men stole land from the Earth and enslaved their brothers and sisters to toil upon it while those men who did not toil reaped the rewards." Kwang-su smugly declared.

"All the violence that happened when they came, all of the chaos in the streets, all of that would have happened anyways. It would have just taken longer for something else to set it off. The pressure had been building for some time; it was always there, bubbling under the surface. How long did you expect the oppressed peoples of the world to chafe at the reign of the corporations and oligarchs who exploited them? The moment was fast approaching when the masses would rise up and declare they would no longer sacrifice their blood, sweat and dreams to enrich crooked men who offered nothing towards the greater good of humankind. All the invaders did was offer a spark, a conduit by which the revolution could come to pass. They broke the systems which had oppressed us and removed much of what had stymied the progress of humankind since time immemorial. For that I suppose we should be grateful for the aliens; they allowed the revolution to come a generation early." Kwang-su elucidated and stepped forward to the desk.

Kwang-su leaned over the desk and placed his hands palms down on top of it. "The aliens have done mankind a tremendous favor in breaking down a society we would be unwilling to do so ourselves. Of all they have wronged our species in I will at least give them that. Now that the old society is laid to waste, a new forward thinking, equitable and just society can be built over its ruin. Regrettably in order to create such an ideal society all vestiges of the old order must be expunged." Kwang-su continued to expound upon his line of reasoning.

"Normally we would let circumstances out there cull those who think like you from the world but when you present yourself as a clear and present danger to our way of life we are forced to respond in kind and eliminate the threat." Kwang-su stoically explained to Bremer, once again standing straight up.

"How are we a danger to you? We want peace." Bremer asked.

"Peace my ass." Kwang-su retorted.

"You are a danger because your ideas are outdated. You may not even be aware of it but your bigotry, greed and hate is deeply ingrained in your very being. Your ideas, morals, philosophies and your vaunted religions are toxic to the human species. If we are going to survive and become something that is truly worth fighting for we must first purify ourselves. You're too old and set in your ways to be re-educated nor do we have the resources to do so with all the alien bullshit out there. We cannot have you undermining the society we hope to build. That is why we can never work together, nor can we tolerate your presence." Kwang-su vehemently declared.

The comment about religion particularly amused Bremer, as a man apathetic to the question of the divine himself what he heard Kwang-su spout off sounded more like religious dogma than reasonable conclusions of a rational mind. In hearing that he could not help but let a muffled laugh slip out during Kwang-su's fiery rejoinder. Oh the hypocrisy in Kwang-su's words was too much. Everything he had claimed to be for he had done the exact opposite. This was a man thoroughly consumed by his own self-created dogma and if there was one thing Bremer firmly believed about men who blindly follow ideological dogma was that they couldn't be reasoned with apart from said dogma, if at all.

"Great, so that leaves me with the option to cap you now or let you go so that you can try and cap me later. Wonder which one I'll choose." Bremer said rubbing his pistol on the side of his face then quickly pointing it back at Kwang-su.

He more forcefully thrust the gun in Kwang-su's direction this time trying to look tough. He wanted Kwang-su to believe he would actually do it. Kwang-su however was too smart, too cool under pressure to be swayed by such empty gestures.

"That's not exactly how this works. I represent an idea, an idea that cannot be killed, cannot be silenced and cannot be stopped. Shoot me and another will rise up in my place, in fact there are already several waiting in the wings. Progress is inevitable, it cannot be stopped. If mankind is to survive it will be under a new world, our world. So go ahead and shoot me, you'll only be killing a man." Kwang-su boldly dared Bremer knowing that the Colonel would not shoot him.

"Nice speech but you still haven't given me any compelling reasons not to shoot you" Bremer retorted cynically.

"Do I need to? I don't think you have it in you." Kwang-su stated outright.

"If it was me in your shoes I would've shot you ten times over at this point. You sir, however are not me. I know your kind. You're still holding onto that outdated way of thinking, that is why you haven't shot me and that is precisely why I know you will not." Kwang su said.

To prove his point he started to walk around the side of the desk as if he was posturing to come at Bremer directly. Bremer fired a shot directly in front of Kwang-su's thighs which popped a small, deep divot into the wall behind him. Kwang-su stopped for a second, looked at Bremer and then continued around the desk.

"Two." Kwang-su counted.

"I didn't shoot you at first because I thought you would come around and listen to reason; that we have to work together to kick these alien asshats off our planet." Bremer retorted.

As Kwang-su rounded the desk and walked to the front side of it Bremer fired again, this time intentionally grazing the side of Kwang-su's right arm, tearing his clothing and leaving him with a little blood to show the Emperor he was serious.

"Three." Kwang-su counted. He knew the type of gun Bremer was using and that he had no more than ten rounds left before he had to reload.

"Get back behind the desk!" Bremer ordered.

Kwang-su simply ignored the demand and responded to Bremer's earlier statement, turning around to face the nervous Colonel. He could tell that Bremer really didn't want to kill him. He could pass the time making Bremer discharge his entire magazine in futility if he wanted to.

"It's about more than just kicking the Geomis off our little cosmic rock. Whether by our hand or their own volition they, the creatures will be gone someday. When that happens I want to be in a position to lay out the groundwork for the future. I will build a new country, a better country than the one we left behind, dare I even hope to do my part in building a better world. You see a blank slate allows for so much change that would never be possible with all the petty politics that marred the old system. While it may not fit with your antiquated notions of kindness fewer people on the planet means a better life for all those who remain if we only have the courage to seize it." Kwang-su explained.

Kwang-su started walking around the side of the room. Bremer fired off two rounds in front of Kwang-su but he was undeterred, so Bremer himself moved along the walls of the room staying opposite of Kwang-su. Bremer resolved there was yet one point of no return that remained; if the Emperor laid hands on the door and tried to leave, that is when he would shoot the man.

"Four, five." Kwang-su counted so that Bremer could hear him.

"In the end when this nasty business is all over we will have a better world for all, not just some as it had been before. For the first time since man has walked the earth the fruits of the human experience will be equally divided over all who would inherit the world to come. We will have dispensed with greed, oppression, needless toil and suffering, destitution, sickness, corruption and hate. No longer will we have to deal with the blight of poverty, racism, and violence for we will all be one people. When the aliens are gone we will have dispensed with war for the last time. Human beings will no longer slaughter each other for the petty resources of this world. Instead we will limit our numbers so that we could never consume more than the Earth could provide. Pollution, global warming, hunger and the toxicity of urban water supplies will be a thing of the past. Together we will work for the betterment of all and as a species united we will walk into a brighter tomorrow. In time we too will take to the stars and spread goodwill to the larger interstellar community unlike the fiends which have come to our world." Kwang-su elaborated on his goals.

"Sounds like a fucking fairy tale. What are you going to do, steal some magic pixie dust from the aliens to make all that happen?" Bremer sarcastically interjected.

"You're literally going to have to turn people into mindless automatons to purge out all the emotions that are at the root of all those problems you discussed. People are people, yeah we can improve but we'll never be perfect." Bremer added before Kwang-su could resume speaking.

"We will expunge the misdeeds of the past and never repeat them. Humanity will be better than it was before. We will have reached our potential that had so long been suppressed by the failed constructs of the oligarchs, thieves and tyrants. We will no longer have the desire for avarice or oppression for the concept will never be re-learned." Kwang-su continued on with his speech uninterrupted.

Kwang-su passed by the door and the window with a deep red hue to the sky behind him and stopped. He sighed deeply and turned to Bremer looking a bit more somber than the devious character he had presented himself as before.

"Alas for the interim the people need a firm hand to guide them into a brighter tomorrow. They will not willingly accept the betterment of kind. They have been fed lies their whole life and will be like infants in the new world. They must be taught how to live properly, how to think properly and for that a firm had is necessary." Kwang-su lamented.

"I suppose that hand will be yours?" Bremer cynically presumed.

"If the shoe fits." Kwang-su replied with a grin returning to his peculiarly pleased countenance.

"Listen dude, I'm not an incredibly political person so let's not get too deep into this. I'm more of a live and let live kind of guy. So however you do things, that's all on you, I'll just be over here minding my own business. I've got no beef with you. I'm just here to find some way that perhaps we could work together, or at least stay out of each other's way, for the good of the species. Could you perhaps reconsider your whole outlook here? When this is all over we could just pack up and go off to England, you'll never see any of us filthy capitalist bastards again." Bremer said, trying to offer some form of appeasement to Kwang-su.

"That means nothing to me now. The fact is that you are here, not in England; even if you were in England one day as our people and cultures expand our descendants will come in contact with each other once again. If your despicable culture is allowed to be reborn then we all know how that will end. Your penchant for warfare and your lust to consume the lion's share of resources will drive your people to conquer and enslave mine. I will not leave my legacy to that!" Kwang-su sharply rebuked Bremer.

"My ideals do not permit me to shrug off the threat to our intended way of life brought by your presence among us." Kwang-su reiterated his point.

"Our ideals aren't really that much apart. We're already living most of what you claim to want to implement. People are free to live their lives as best they can. Everyone works and everyone eats, there is no preference of one over the other. We live your virtues of equality, liberty and fraternity more so than even you do." Bremer argued, now trying to appeal to Kwang-su's sense of idealism.

He'd be lying if he didn't admit to having a populist streak of his own on some issues from time to time. He understood where Kwang-su was coming from and remembering back on the way he was in his youth he could speak the same ideological language so to speak. He'd never pass Kwang-su's purity test and on a great many things the two men were diametrically opposed to each other. Nonetheless he had hoped to exploit whatever little common ground they shared to make him realize that his own ways went against the very principles Kwang-su believed. In doing so he hoped to establish that some degree of brotherhood could exist between the two camps at least to the point of tolerating each other's continued existence.

"Just ask any of your women how free and equal they are." Bremer thought the snide remark to himself but did not dare speak it lest he damage an already difficult negotiation. Now was not the time to deride as it was possibly his last effort to build bridges between himself and Kwang-su seeing as the blood red sky indicated the time for parlay was running out.

"Are you truly equal? Do you not still have a hierarchy in which wealth and status still matters? You are one who is above and you are to be respected while those under you toil and labor for what? You would return to the ways of greed and corruption given the first opportunity." Kwang-su rebutted.

"Says the man who made himself a king." Bremer sarcastically quipped back.

"Seriously bro, what kind of Communist or Anarchist or whatever the hell you call yourselves takes up the title of Emperor and lords himself over others. Aren't titles of nobility against your entire worldview?" Bremer asked.

"Like I just said, the road to mankind's salvation requires quick and decisive action. Strength and vision are a rare combination and both must be exploited simultaneously in short order to achieve our ultimate ends. To defeat the aliens we cannot wait for debate and discussion, we must act and act as one operating with a single mind. Surely you understand this; you are fighting the same crisis we are." Kwang-su rebutted.

Ironically enough Bremer did consider the advice of his fellow soldiers and former citizens before acting. The 4th Korea did debate and discuss strategy; they did not act with a single mind but a consensus among peers. True Bremer was entrusted with some degree of veto power to have the final say but it was not the norm that he would go it alone. Their ability to survive the struggle thus far was proof enough that Kwang-su's justification for his absolute dominion over his subjects was unfounded. Indeed Bremer had a point; it appeared Kwang-su only believed his rhetoric up until the point at which it would cease to benefit him. This was all about him. He wanted to redesign society, but not himself, whatever changes were made would be done to benefit him.

"In time I or whoever succeeds me will gracefully bow out to abolish the last of all power structures the human race would ever know. We're playing the long game here. We may not reach the end of it within our lives, but we will have laid a solid foundation." Kwang-su replied.

"Well isn't that convenient; you get to claim to believe in anarchy or communism, communalism or anarcho-communism or whatever you're calling it and all the while you plan on putting it off for a generation or two down the road. In the mean time you get to play the king, taking the finest things for your own and stuffing your harem with whores of your own making! I suspect the common folk in your organization don't live near as posh lives as you dear Emperor." Bremer accused Kwang-su on the grounds of his hypocrisy.

"Posh, ha! Perhaps you are the one who is forgetting that we are living in the smoldering ruin of a world here." Kwang-su laughed off the accusation.

"My dear fool, you don't get it; the difference between us is not how we live now but how we will live when the pressure does not force us to live a certain way. We are the shape of the revolution now, not the shape of things to come. In the present you live the way you do because circumstances force you to. Circumstances change, and then our ideals will reflect the true desires of our hearts. You still fondly remember the world as it was before." Kwang-su argued against Bremer's earlier attempt at appeasement as they started rotating their positions around the room again.

"I will never go back to that!" Kwang-su furiously declared as he stopped and slammed his left fist down upon the desk.

"This is why we have to destroy you now. Our ways of life could never coexist. Look to history, all past attempts to establish a truly egalitarian society have failed because the slate wasn't wiped clean from the start. Every great revolution has stagnated and collapsed into a perpetual interim state because of the presence of alternatives on the outside, which subverted the hearts and minds of the feeble minded away from a clear vision of progress. If we as a civilization are to evolve on the other side of this we must wipe clean the filth and corruption that has so plagued humankind for so long."" Kwang-su explained.

"I'm sorry I seem to have got my history mixed up I thought all these revolutions failed because they were spearheaded by a megalomaniacal douche who then went on to assume the powers of a king." Bremer mockingly corrected Kwang-su.

He just couldn't help with the sass, regardless of how diplomatic he was trying to be. His personality was just not that of a good ambassador.

"One such douche, Stalin even admitted that coexistence among nations of differing ideologies was possible." Bremer mentioned.

"Stalin was wrong; you cannot attempt to build a human paradise of any kind while containing it to a single state. The proletariat has no country, no land of which to speak of. If you take Stalin's folly what you are left with is a cabal of despots little better than the capitalist masters they replaced. For the revolutionary state to fade away and leave a pure culture of man, one where we can do right by each other in all justice and fairness without the need for lords or masters, we must smash all alternatives. Benevolent anarchy can only exist in a vacuum. For our new society to endure we must not be tempted by corruption from outside. No, we do not need to possess the world but we need not fiends and sullied whores within sight of our civilization to entice the weak back into servitude." Kwang-su gave a long-winded rejoinder to Bremer's invocation of Stalin; Bremer might have considered himself somewhat of a liberal in some areas but he did not understand the finer points of Marxist thought.

The man was a committed Trotsky-ite, Bremer conceded, the kind that could not be bargained with at any cost apparently. If benevolent anarchy was the end game Kwang-su's actions certainly betrayed his thoughts. He highly doubted Kwang-su truly believed any of the shit he was spouting. This wasn't a man that would relinquish the throne and give power back to the people once all the enemies were vanquished. The people he was leading probably didn't even know the final objective, he couldn't have gathered such a following being such an absolutist could he? Most people had to care more about dealing with the alien menace than what the world would look like after the war. More likely when Kwang-su was dealing with his own he was just stringing together buzzwords and making empty promises of all things to all people, or simply leaving his endgame out of the discussion entirely. All of it, whatever he had told them, was a great big steaming pile of dogshit designed to give them a false hope so that they would fight for him.

If it had been Vargas here at the negotiating table with Kwang-su he would have opposed him straight from the get go on ideological grounds. By now, Vargas would have probably given Kwang-su what he wanted and shot him after hearing enough of his fluffy communistic rhetoric. Bremer didn't have such fiercely held political and philosophical beliefs and was willing to tolerate just about any difference of opinion, aside from straight up Neo-Nazis, fortunately he never ran into any of those types so it was a moot point. He was a pragmatist through and through; to put it succinctly he didn't care what made the clock tick he just wanted to know what time it was. Speaking of time, once again the urgency of now seemed to nudge Bremer into wrapping this up as fast as possible.

"Why are we even bothering with this bullshit? All this vaunted rhetoric you're slinging man, this entire debate is a thing of the past! What's even the point of arguing! You think the aliens are going to step aside for you to set up your anarchist state? I think you got a lesson in that a few nights ago didn't you?" Bremer teased Kwang-su.

Kwang-su smiled and said nothing in response. Bremer sighed and shook his head. Kwang-su was nuts, he was focusing on something that could never happen off in the far future while seemingly ignoring the imminent existential threat directly in front of his face.

"Seriously dude! Do you realize how stupid this is? Fighting about the shape of things come when we haven't even won the war yet? You're acting like taking the planet back will be easy."

"I never said it would be easy. Nothing worth doing ever is. We're going to expend the blood required to pay for the world we wish to build. The aliens are nothing more than the toll collector for that debt." Kwang-su replied.

"Just can the idealistic bullshit! You can't believe any of that stuff and go around being as much of a brutal asshat as you have been. I know what you do. When you eliminate your enemies you don't go about it as if it was strictly business, a regrettable loss for the greater good. What you do is make it personal, you enjoy seeming people suffer, even your own!" Bremer flat out challenged Kwang-su.

Kwang-su started across the room towards Bremer who immediately fired a shot at the ground and another that buzzed the side of Kwang-su's head, shearing off a few strands of shimmering black hair from his manly mane.

"Six, Seven." Kwang-su counted. The first shot meant nothing to him, the second made his twist his head to the side slightly after the bullet whizzed by.

Bremer then lunged into a side kick and knocked Kwang-su back into the wall. Bremer retreated back against the window. Quickly Bremer pulled out his cartridge to check his ammo level and slid it back in before Kwang-su could regain his balance. Bremer thrust out his arm again aiming his weapon squarely at Kwang-su's chest. He couldn't fire any more warning shots the next one had to count. Kwang-su had succeeded once again in testing Bremer. The next time he challenged the Colonel he would fight back. If he could get in a hand to hand scuffle with Bremer the gun would be meaningless. However this was not Kwang-su's intention; Bremer wasn't the only army man between him and his men. He had other plans; he only had to keep Bremer talking for now.

"I swear I will do it the next time. Don't you dare test me again!" Bremer warned Kwang-su.

"Necessity forces me to use savage means but underneath it all I am still an idealist with a set of morals guiding my judgement, given they aren't the same as your morals and principles but they are morals and principles nonetheless. Fell me and I assure you my successor would be a true animal unmoored from any notion of good and evil; times like these breed men like that and more so I know just such a man who would rise up in my stead. So pull the trigger if you must but do so quickly if you know what is best for you." Kwang-su said to Bremer offering both an explanation and a threat of his own.

Bremer walked around to the back of the chair he had placed in front of the door, picked it slightly up off the ground and slammed it down. All the while his eyes remained focused, burning with scorn towards Kwang-su.

"For fucks sake you are difficult. So you said if I kill you someone worse would take your place? What if I kill him? I am to assume that all those people out there are as uncompromising as you?" Bremer asked.

"Those people out there could care less about my motives. They have their own. Your rules would not permit them to be what they are, what I have made them to be, I have acquiesced to their most primal desires and in doing so have sullied them into my service. Given the choice between facing your justice and putting the lot of you in the ground it is no surprise where their loyalties would fall." Kwang-su confessed, revealing once more his sadistic nature which he had so poorly veiled beneath the mask of an idealist.

Kwang-su had just inadvertently revealed a weakness in his faction. There wasn't ideological purity within the Empire any more than there was within the 4th. These weren't a bunch of ideological diehards; well maybe the leadership was, but the rest, these were a bunch of frightened people seeking safety in numbers. They would follow anyone who appeared strong enough to save them from the spacemen. Strength and vision, that is what Kwang-su had told him. Kwang -su was the vision but his people were the strength. That strength could be as easily turned to a different vision given the right persuasion. All that had to be done was to remove the source of the current vision possessing them into animalistic madness.

Bremer was rethinking his decision to keep Kwang-su alive. His threat of one worse than himself seizing power was appearing to be more of a plea for mercy in disguise. This was indeed frustrating; they could have just shot it out in the street and have been done with it already. Kwang-su would not be swayed; he would rather fight a war with his fellow man over which flavor of anarchy would prevail rather than stand united and face the enemy that threatened them both with extinction. One last chance Bremer would give him; he might have told himself this a dozen times or more today but this time damn it he had to mean it! He would make one more plea for peace and then he would kill Kwang-su.

"If you have already made up your mind then why did you even want to come inside and negotiate in the first place?" Bremer asked.

"I did because I knew that you would be soft enough to go for it. You haven't the stomach to kill us in cold blood once we have surrendered. Maybe with the aliens you have cast off your reservations and ridiculous moral code but with your fellow man you still believe that war should be fought with a certain decorum. You've fought in war but you are unwilling to accept it in all of its ugliness, or should I say embrace it; yes, that's more like it. You still believe in ideals like peace and brotherhood. You think mercy does not make you weak and have this asinine reverence for human life that is beyond absurd so given an opportunity I knew you would be willing to come in here and chit chat about the difference between anarchy and chaos." Kwang-su answered smugly.

Oh but my dear Colonel you are too gullible. While you thought we were working towards an understanding of each other I was just running out the clock. You see I had dispatched an elite hit squad before I made this trip to see you, which by all estimations would be getting into place to take out your men right about now." Kwang-su arrogantly revealed his plan.

"You're lying." Bremer challenged him.

"Oh you'd like to think that but no, there is in fact a heavily armed strike team headed this way as we speak. I've done enough smash and grab operations to know that even the best laid plans can still go wrong, hence I had a backup plan all along. I'm not as dumb as you are." Kwang-su said grinning deviously from ear to ear.

This overly verbose dialogue had a purpose all along. The whole thing, all the pointless banter back and forth about how the world should look after the war and so on, all of it was just a ploy to buy time. He had been stalling, running out the clock for his reinforcements to arrive that's why he never really committed fully to overpowering or escaping Bremer's hands. All that challenging of Bremer's resolve had been merely to test him. Now the situation looked bleak as the red sky deepened and the shadow of twilight began to fall over the world around them. Danger was coming and if he was to believe the Emperor it would be there soon. Whether it was the aliens or Kwang-su's hit squad, which ever arrived on the scene first the end result would be bad for the 4th Korea. It was now time for Bremer to take his leave.

Bremer now reconsidered pulling the trigger once again; this time for real. He could kill him now and be done with it. The downside to that is that he would have no leverage to pull back his men before an all-out firefight could erupt. He may have to take Kwang-su hostage that could be the only way to ensure the safety of his men. Once they were clear he would end this, Kwang-su would not live to see the next sunrise. The 4th would suffer on its way out but the threat of the Empire would be put to bed for good. That seemed like a fine plan but it was no guarantee; Bremer was too frustrated after wasting his time trying to bring the Emperor around here. This was the end, the Empire died tonight. Bremer took aim, cocked his gun and started to pull back on the trigger while through the window behind him three twinkling blue lights appeared in the distance.


	93. Chapter 93: End of Discussion

Chapter XCIII: End of Discussion

31 Oct 1825 KST

Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea

While Bremer and Kwang-su bantered back and forth inside the building Vargas made small talk with the supposed "Emperor's" henchmen outside. After a while the tensions between the two parties had relaxed somewhat. They remained locked in a stalemate immobilized in their positions with respect to each other but seemed unwilling to start shooting without cause. Their commanders were having it out in their stead right now.

"Just so you know when I shoot you, it's nothing personal. You're a swell guy and all but if the boss man says lay it down well, you gotta do what you gotta do." the Imperial foot soldier across from Vargas said.

"Likewise." Vargas replied.

"I would've liked to have had a beer with you if these had been less crazy times." the henchman continued.

"So you suppose this peace agreement isn't going to work out then?" Vargas asked, detecting the remorse in the Imperial soldier's voice.

"They never do. The Emperor is very rigid on those he breaks with and I know for damn sure he won't break bread with you and your lot. He's just scheming on something up there." the soldier told Vargas.

"If it was up to me I'd let you all run away then the boss would just take the head of your head honcho and we'd go home. That ain't gonna happen though. Once you guys start backing off our guys will start shooting and here comes a whole load of fuck." the soldier lamented.

The way this soldier felt was not the way all of them felt. There were plenty who had bought in to the Emperor's rhetoric and even more who simply would not be challenged from the outside. The Emperor had protected them so far and the trusted him to continue to keep them safe; for that they were willing to die, for that they were willing to kill. The tension had relaxed somewhat as the sun dipped below the fractional skyline that remained in this high end professional subdivision. The skies turned from yellow to orange to red to shades of purple kissed by shadows. With the light fading away the soldiers on both sides braced to lock arms in mortal combat. Soon these smoke tarnished white buildings and salty grey streets would run red with blood. The lull in battle, the deep breath was coming to an end.

The first sign of the onset of hostilities was a triangular pattern of twinkling blue lights in the southeastern sky. These lights flattened out into a line as they leveled off just above the height of the taller buildings poking up like trees that escaped a round of clear cutting through what was once a forest. This trio of beamers swooped up and then down out of the sky as they streaked in and laid down suppressive fire on the block where the Empire and 4th Korea's troops were in a standoff. The fighters scattered from the strafing run and sporadically opened fire on each other as they ran for cover.

One of the beamers released a bomb which landed on the side of the building next to the one Bremer and Kwang-su were meeting in. The explosion blasted through the south wall and blew in dust and smoke from the stairwell into the room Kwang-su and Bremer were in. At that very moment was when Bremer squeezed the trigger. He fired his gun intending to kill Kwang-su the moment the explosion knocked him off balance and nearly bowled him over. Instead of hitting the Emperor the bullet hit the ceiling. When Bremer quickly regained his composure the room was obfuscated by smoke and dust that had been kicked in from the blast. He looked around for Kwang-su but did not see him until Kwang-su charged him and rammed him with his shoulder into Bremer's mid-section and slammed him against the wall. Kwang-su backed off Bremer and ran out the door and down the stairs. Bremer turned and fired two shots at the Emperor but missed both times, chipping off parts of the door frame and hitting the wall behind it. Bremer gave chase and fired at the Emperor on the stairs but only leaving pot marks in the remaining crumbling sections of the stairwell wall. Another explosion blowing through the side of the stairwell above them sending down fallen chunks of debris that prevented Bremer from maintaining pursuit.

Downstairs the chaos caused by the alien attack allowed the Emperor to escape untouched. The soldiers were at the windows firing back at a full on attack by Imperial troops as the beamers circled around to make another pass. While they were distracted the Emperor barged out through the fire escape and went around through the back alleys into another building that was now held by his men.

"Hail Emperor Kwang-su!" announced one of the fighters as their leader reached relative safety within the building on the flank of the Imperial lines.

"Hail!" shouted the seventeen other fighters also entrenched within.

Outside a steady barrage of bullets from both sides pelted the cars, dumpsters, buildings, sidewalk decor, ruined mechs and military hardware which the troops on each side took cover behind. Those who had not escaped to cover in time were cut down, killed or injured by the exchange of rounds in both directions. A mortar round crashed behind a cluster of cars killing 3 4th Korea fighters. In response heavy machine gun fire ripped through the walls of the building the Emperor was in killing one and lightly wounding five of the men holding down that position. A rocket blasted away another car amidst the 4th Korean line though no one was harmed in the attack. Overall the 4th Korea was reluctant to waste heavy weaponry on humans when 7.62 and 5.56 NATO rounds were just as effective. The second strafing run of the beamers indicated that the alien ground forces, replete with their own contingent of mechs would be on their way. The ground fire towards the beamers rarely if at all even scraped them and as a result the airships had no reason to fear the humans beneath them. They were just softening up the position for the skitters to overwhelm them by brute strength and the strength of numbers

It didn't take long for the skitters to arrive after the second pass by the beamers who they flew off into the western skies. At the same time Bremer came out onto the street the skitters stormed the neighborhood from behind the position of the Imperial troops. This forced the attention of the Imperial army towards the skitters and away from the 4th Korea.

"Fall back!" Vargas ordered seeing an opening by which their forces could escape decimation by the Empire.

"Take as many of them out as you can!" Bremer countermanded Vargas' order. He wanted to exterminate the Empire before they left.

Confused the 4th Korea resumed the assault, picking off a sizeable number of Imperial troops caught in the pincers between two armies. Some of the Imperials charged into the 4th Korea's lines hoping to fare better there than against the skitters in close combat. After the initial wave of casualties had passed and the two armies were intermingled they in fact did fare better. Still the 4th Korea seemed to have the upper hand. They were not suffering the losses which appeared acceptable among the Imperial captains and squad leaders. Gunfire continued to issue forth in steady bursts. From above the streaks of the tracer rounds and sparks of bullets pinging off of steel and stone seemed to have no rhyme or reason. They came from every which way and towards everyone and everything in the giant jumbled melee spread out over several blocks. Curiously enough the alien attack was entirely comprised of skitters, wave upon wave of skitters slamming into the rear of the Imperial ranks. There was no one mech to be found. It wasn't like anyone involved in the melee had any time to think of the rationale behind this. The fact that risking lives to spare machines ran completely contrary to human logic didn't even cross the soldiers' minds on this battlefield. They only thought of living into the next minute and from there the minute after that. Glass shattered and stones chipped from the near constant gunfire. In spite of the rush they had absorbed the Imperial lines held against the skitters while at the same time about a quarter of their number still returned fire at the 4th Korea. Bremer was reluctantly pleased each time he saw an Imperial fighter go down. He felt guilt over the fact that he celebrated the loss of human life. It wasn't just war to him, it had become personal. Kwang-su had made it that way; if he was so intent on exterminating the 4th Korea then Bremer would just as ruthless in exterminating everything Kwang-su had built along with those who had built it.

The bodies began to pile up amidst the Imperial ranks on both sides and even the Emperor began to feel the pinch as a pair of skitters broke through and into his den of relative safety. The first was cut down by the combined fire of three of his protectors. The second Kwang-su took out by spraying bullets from a pair of K7 submachine guns in an X pattern across the skitter's face and chest. Outside one of the flanks of the main Imperial line began to buckle and more skitters began to slip through. These skitters stormed into the gun nests which both human factions had set up within the buildings lining the street and charged into the close order melee at the front of the 4th Korea's line. There humans fought humans and skitters up close and personal with knives, bayonets and bare hands. Occasionally when the situation presented itself this outer crust of mixed fighters was able to get a few shots off as well.

The momentary advantage the 4th held over the Empire was retracted when more skitters began climbing over the buildings onto the right flank of both armies. Now the advantage shifted away from the 4th Korea and towards the skitters. An innumerable tide of aliens swept onto the field of battle and thickened the fog of war already choking the twilight engagement. Friendly fire became more common as an Imperial accidentally gunned down one of his own before a skitter made short work of him. Another skitter jumped down onto a man fight operating a machine gun near Bremer and slapped the Colonel into the side of a buildings. Bremer grunted and returned fire from a seated position, killing the skitter and saving the man's life but leaving his comrade with a permanently marred face and chest.

Elsewhere within the chaos of the battle a bullet grazed the side of So-hyun's neck near where it met her shoulder sending out a finely atomized bright red mist from the wound as the bullet passed by.

"So-hyun!" shouted Ji-hwan as he fired towards the Imperial foot soldier that had shot her before racing to her aid.

The soldier was hit twice in the stomach and fell onto his back. Ji-hwan fired rapid bursts into an oncoming trio of skitters that had locked up with mixed imperial and 4th Korea fighters and then bayoneted a skitter ahead of him. Ji-hwan had drove the bayonet so deep into the skitter in order to kill the monster that he couldn't easily retract his weapon so he abandoned it and drew his pistol and machete as he returned to the fray. He landed double head shots on an Imperial soldier along his way to So-hyun and slashed another one across the chest with his machete then followed up by hacking down on the shoulder of said soldier before charging past him. Ji-hwan pointed his gun behind him and fired three rounds, two of which wounded a skitter that was finished off by other fighters as he made it to So-hyun who was hunkered down behind the elevated brick lined basin which once had trees planted in it.

"So-hyun are you alright?" Ji-hwan asked, kneeling down beside her.

"Yeah, it just nicked me." she said before popping slightly back up to spray a burst of bullets into the mid-section of an Imperial fighter which was engaged with a skitter.

So-hyun's action allowed the skitter to break past the Imperial soldier and charge headlong at his cohorts, slashing and gouging no fewer than five of them before the creature was put down. Elsewhere the skitters had broken through the center of the Imperial line. Along with those coming in from the flank attack the 4th Korea now found itself overwhelmed. Ji-hwan and So-hyun stood back to back fending off a storm of skitters, aided at the last minute by Vargas and a team of five others which allowed them to reform in a dense cluster on the side of the street opposite where the skitters had flanked them. Bremer and another dense legion of fighters was across the street from them absorbing the brunt of the flanking skitters crawling down the side of the building. The skitters surrounding them, while an immediate threat to their continued act of breathing, also served to shield Bremer and his platoon from the concentrated fire being directed at them from the Imperial soldiers not currently being cut down by their torrent of alien aggression.

In between Bremer and Vargas was a no man's land of sparse human and alien engagements. Here it was one on one, two on one or two on two skirmishes. Gunfire frequented through this region, cutting down or wounding those within. The injured didn't last long with the skitters nor did the skitters themselves as they were easy prey for snipers within the buildings on the side of the street away from the flank attack.

Among those pockets fighting closest to the packed in slaughter surrounding Bremer was Jae-sung. He bashed skitters left and right with the heavy machine gun he wielded and tossed grenades to clear a path for others through the alien lines to reform their ranks. When he was clear he opened fire towards the Imperials in a wide arc cutting down a long line of men and aliens in his path of fire. As he was doing this Ji-hwan caught the glimpse of several skitters creeping down the walls near him and looking directly at his friend. Ji-hwan instinctively opened fire on the skitters, killing two and scaring off several others. He also got Jae-sung's attention to turn and redirect his fire towards the skitters on the wall. In doing so an Imperial soldier shot him in the left elbow causing him to miss one of the skitters about to pounce on him. The skitter took the opportunistic route the Empire had given it and made the leap knocking Jae-sung to the ground as it landed. The alien reached down and took hold of Jae-sung's face and neck. Ji-hwan tried to help him but found himself swamped with four skitters between he and So-hyun's unit and his friend so they could do nothing but fight for their own survival. The skitter pierced into Jae-sung's neck with its clawed fingers and peeled it open, quickly emptying out his blood supply onto the concrete. Enraged and giving no concern to his own safety Ji-hwan shot the skitter multiple times in the forehead, sending it staggering back until he put the final round into the creature which killed it but he was too late, his best friend and protector was already dead. Ji-hwan ran out towards Jae-sung's broken body crying out in anguish and fury. He emptied his magazine into any crusty beast that moved along the way. In his blind rage So-hyun had to pick off several skitters that would have otherwise sent the leader of her crew to the same place as his best friend. Ji-hwan's face was filled with soot filled sweat and soiled, bloody tears when he dropped down onto both knees and wailed upon seeing his friend in the state he was in.

"No. . . .no, no, no, no, no!" wailed Ji-hwan.

He lifted the fileted upper body of his friend up to seated position and wrapped his arms around Jae-sung's corpse. The residual blood left inside Jae-sung stained the front of Ji-hwan's clothes mixing in with the dirt, soot and blood of those Ji-hwan had slain. In his despondency Ji-hwan was oblivious to the threats around him. There were two skitters nearby engaged with other soldiers and a handful of Imperial fighters firing in his general direction from down the street. One of the skitters was hit twice and wounded along one of its legs. The other skitter dispatched the 4th Korea fighter with a series of battering blows to the head and chest. It then turned its eyes towards Ji-hwan. Seeing this, So-hyun darted out from the thick the fighting where her unit had formed a wall of bayonets and blades to dig their way out of a mass of skitters. Periodically gunshots were hear behind So-hyun, carving out a path for her through the skitters encircling her platoon. She ran out into the open and fired six rounds two rapid bursts down range which laced into an Imperial fighter that was taking shots at her. She then, in full stride opened fire on the skitter closing in on Ji-hwan, pelting it nine times for the fifteen rounds she discharged, thus peppering it up the length of its chest and felling the creature. She then tackled Ji-hwan to the ground before another Imperial rifleman fired a quick burst that whizzed by where Ji-hwan had been moments before. So-hyun got up and returned fire, wounding their attacker who was then overcome by two skitters. She pulled Ji-hwan who in turn pulled Jae-sung along with him behind a silver sedan littered with bullet holes. It was a near impossible feat of strength for So-hyun and if not for the adrenaline surging through her body she could have never dragged the two men to safety. She knelt down and changed out her magazine as the two main units of the 4th Korea on either side of the street and their reserves that had fallen back six or seven blocks covered her from the skitters trickling into the no man's land she was in.

The Imperial lines were buckling under the rising tide of skitters and were now on the verge of total collapse. They were now so consumed with fighting the skitters that they could barely fight back against the 4th Korea at their rear. When the Imperial forces were shattered and utterly broken the skitters would then no doubt swarm the 4th Korea which had just started to reconstitute itself and overwhelm and destroy them as well. Bremer would have to leave the annihilation of the Empire to the aliens now. His personal feelings aside, he had to give the order to pull out of there.

"Everyone fall back now! Retreat!" Bremer ordered.

Vargas inwardly rejoiced when he heard the command. This was the moment he and his men had waited for. He despised the Empire and what it stood for more than any of them but he recognized when a battle could be won and when it could not. The soldiers on the street first withdrew a few blocks into a U shape across the length of the street fighting viciously to break out of the bind the skitters had locked them into. Several rockets were fired into the street between the two human armies from the mid floors of a few buildings. The explosions thinned out the skitters and gave room for the buildings to be emptied. As the soldiers from within the buildings retreated, skitters swarmed into the structures demanding a steady firefight in the halls while they withdrew. Vargas under the cover of several of his men ran out to Ji-hwan and So-hyun.

"We have to go!" Vargas shouted at him, trying to pull him out of his grief induced trance.

"Come on! We can't stay here or we'll all end up like him!" So-hyun implored Ji-hwan.

As they appealed to Ji-hwan, still stricken by loss in the center of the street behind one of several vehicles others soldiers darted out to retrieve the wounded. Skitters rushed in from the flank and through the Imperial lines one at a time or in pairs. These skitters were cut down with concentrated fire from the ranks of the 4th's lines behind them. The main body of the skitters seemingly recognizing that they had the 4th on the run shifted to perform a pincers maneuver against the Imperials still fighting ferociously against them. The flanking rush along with the heavy skitter presence on the wings of the 4th's lines pulled away and turned into the main body of the Imperial army. The tactic intended to crush the Empire's forces gave the 4th some space to snatch up their wounded and pull away from the firefight with the Empire fully devoted in staving off their destruction at the hands of the aliens.

The 4th steadily pulled back now in the shape of a diagonal line which had retreated further on the side where the flank attack had come from than on the calmer end of the street. The wounded trickled through the main lines as the withdrawal was intentional slowed down to retrieved. The dead were left where they were for the focus had to be on the living. Possibly they could go back for Jae-sung and their other fallen friends at a later time but not now, not at the potential cost of their own lives. The 4th was given ample time to reload as they fell back. They attacked only the light spattering of skitters that turned away from the thickened swarm engulfing the Imperial army and scampered towards them. The 4th did not provoke a greater response by firing upon the greater mass of aliens engaging their mutual enemy thus for their lack of aggression the aliens appeared to spare them the slaughter for now. Once all the wounded had passed the main battle lines the pace of the retreat quickened. The fighters pulled back past the traffic jam, the scorched and smoldering vehicles and the bombed out bullet riddled structures that had been the scene of their latest battle. The further they got the fewer skitters attempted to come after them. They passed by the rear lines of slain skitters from the first alien attack that had drawn in the Imperials to begin with which provided a demarcation for the limits of the battle.

Soon they were out of view of the most intense fighting. The skitters no longer pursued them. Behind them bullets, bombs and missiles were sprayed across the streets. With each hit it thinned the alien ranks only for a second. It seemed the skitters could replenish their forces faster than they were killed and the rising tide of insectoid creatures seemed to be within reach of total victory. The smoke which had gone unnoticed while the 4th was in the midst of combat was now more apparent than ever from a distance. For the first time a momentary breath of fresh air seemed to calm the nerves of the 4th's fighters. A flyby of two beamers over the battle site once more unsettled them for it was believed the aliens wouldn't strike their own forces mixed in with the Imperials but they would have no reservations about targeting the 4th Korea in their retreat. The 4th reached their own vehicles, both those they brought and those they acquired along the way, hidden amidst the side streets a significant distance away from the battle site in an entirely different neighborhood. They loaded up the wounded first and then packed as many people on board as they could. With the moderate losses they sustained it looked like there wouldn't be a need for couple platoons to remain on foot. They were packed in tight but they all fit albeit uncomfortably. This was the first time the commanders made a full reckoning of how many they had lost. Bremer hoped only that the Empire had suffered more and by the looks of things they had paid tenfold the price the 4th had paid. Perhaps the aliens had some slight sense of justice to their tactics as well Bremer thought. More likely given the alien nature of the aliens this was a purely calculated act to remove the greater danger to their activities. The Empire had taken more recent aggressive actions against them while the 4th having been under observation had appeared docile and domesticated. Furthermore Seoul had value to them while Seongnam was essentially worthless; one does not waste resources spraying for ants in a garbage dump. The 4th mobile units now packed to the gills with men and women started up and fled the scene in 3 groups each going down different streets, sometimes breaking into 4 or 5 to avoid congestion and maintain a decent speed. They were now in full flight having escaped the battle with their skin intact but the danger had not passed just yet.


	94. Chapter 94: Swine to the Wolves

Chapter XCIV: Tossing Swine to the Wolves

31 Oct 1914 KST

Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea

As an alien victory over the Empire seemed imminent and the 4th Korea withdrew from the fighting altogether Kwang-su's cavalry had finally arrived. These were the Empire's heavy shock troops not the ambushers disguised as regular army soldiers. They carried the best weapons available and were equipped to deal with both mechs and skitters. Many of them were clad in salvaged alien body armor. They also fashioned additional armor out of the skins of slain skitters. Some of them even carried irregular shaped shields forged from sections of mech armor panels. Their vanguard approached in a broad formation of flatbed trucks, pickups and Humvees packed with soldiers. They came through several streets spread out across a wide swath of the district in case the beamers returned. Half of the vehicles also sported additional machine guns or anti-aircraft batteries salvaged from disabled or partially destroyed military equipment. Ahead of the four wheeled vehicles motorcycle teams scouted the route ahead and signaled back in a long chain of riders to the vehicles when their course needed to be adjusted. Behind the vanguard were four Strykers in varying states of modification and disrepair along with an additional 150 ground troops. This force, drawn from reserves across three districts was sufficient to crush the 4th Korea in its entirety and break the momentum of the skitter assault. Kwang-su's elite hit squad was also buttressed by eighty or more conscripts who were but cannon fodder for the 4th and the skitters. Among these conscripts were Min-ji, Min-ho and Sun-mi, from the group which SPC Fontaine had befriended close to a week ago. They rode close to the southern flank of the formation with approximately forty people in their unit while another unit of similar composition drawn primarily of the auxiliary subjects of the Empire in Gangnam District.

The first strike came from the center where Kwang-su's forces surrounded and cut off the advance of the skitters still en route to the battle. Having effectively cut the alien army in half the original Imperial force was spared a fatal blow when the entirety of the massed horde of skitters would have arrived. They were still beaten severely and struggling just to hang on as they were scattered and further broken by the skitters already in their midst. The skitters had penetrated into the buildings on both flanks now that the 4th Korea had pulled out so much so that the Emperor himself was fighting on the front lines by the time the northern wing of his reinforcements arrived and struck at the rear of the skitters' forces on this street. The southern wing of the Imperial reinforcements broke into two parts. The larger division which was the northernmost of the two swung around and went to now trap the skitters within a pincers maneuver. As this division was advancing on target a beamer strike came out of nowhere and decimated their ranks resulting in a less effective assault when the remnant emerged to engage the skitters from the position once occupied by the 4th.

The second, smaller southernmost division was tasked with exterminating the 4th who had almost managed to elude them by the time they arrived. This division split into 4 parts in an attempt to catch up with and cut off the 4th's retreat. A small detachment on the northernmost end of the formation went the wide way around in order to prevent the 4th from fleeing to the west. The main force just to the south of that got behind the 4th and chased them directly through the streets which they took. The 4th already had a significant lead on them and the Imperial vehicles were heavier and lacked the acceleration capabilities which the lighter, more civilian in origin mobile forces of the 4th used to their advantage by weaving through tighter spaces to force the Imperials to slow down which in turn increased the distance between the two armies. The third group was another, small, light detachment which followed shortly behind the 4th to the east. It was there to prevent the 4th from making its escape to the east, which unbeknownst to the Empire they would eventually have to do.

The last group and the only one that started off ahead of the 4th Korea's forces was the one which contained Sun-mi and the less than willing conscripts forced into battle. This one, positioned southernmost in the formation, was intended to swing around and cut off the 4th's retreat from the south. Furthermore it was to engage the 4th head on in order to halt its advance and allow the 2nd and largest company of vehicles to catch up and destroy them. This unit was expected to take on the most casualties hence why it was left in the care of auxiliaries which the Empire cared little for. In doing so the Empire would be rid of both the 4th Korea and some of what they called "useless eaters" in their own network.

Sun-mi wasn't stupid, she knew they were being used as did most of her companions and associated forces in the unit. Their unit contained many people whom the Emperor and his regional dukes and barons wanted to dispense with for either being unruly, unreliable or unnecessary. Sun-mi felt as if she belonged in all three categories. Her sort of friend and post-apocalyptic roommate Min-ji belonged more in the first category than any of the others. Out of their whole community Min-ji and her brother, while not the leaders in their camp, were the ones that seemed to have the closest thing to modicum of respect amongst the true Imperial soldiers, albeit they were still looked down upon. Among their ranks was an older surgeon whom was taken reluctantly by the Emperor under advisement that his skills still provided him a degree of utility to their operation. The Emperor who rarely had the patience for his severely wounded minions to heal, at least those whom he did not share a personal relationship with, often would find himself reconsidering that decision when he saw this man. The Empire was pretty firm about the notion that everyone must contribute something useful and namely everyone must be able to fight. As such this man was assigned to this particular attack squad in order to earn his keep. Sun-mi had talked with this man along the way and he shared the sentiments of many were pushed into this battle without their knowledge or consent. She knew the surgeon had long been seeking a chance to escape the Empire and this could be it. He could fake his death in battle and flee away from Seoul to the south. Sun-mi knew that he intended to go through with it; the surgeon knew that the hour would come sooner rather than later when the Emperor could dispense with his services. He was going to run and Sun-mi could not stop him; she could only help give him a better chance to escape.

If only it was that easy for Sun-mi and her ilk; they still had companions back at their new camp they could not leave behind. This was quite possibly done by design in order to discourage desertion. They themselves could escape but they would never be able to get back to their friends who would remain within the Empire's jurisdiction. The best case scenario would be that they would be presumed dead and their friends would remain under the tax system and suffer as they had been under occupation by two armies, one above, one below. If their desertion was found out or they were discovered trying to come back to their former camps then undoubtedly their friends would suffer reprisal. If Sun-mi was to abandon the Empire with the surgeon she would have to do so knowing that she would likely never see her little sister again. There were several within this unit that would join her in a mass desertion if only enough people took the first step. Some of them had family and friends to be lorded over their heads others were unattached and had no such reservations save only self-preservation. While one man was insignificant and would not be stopped the desertion of an entire unit would have to require the cooperation of most if not all of those within it. It would have to be a leadership decision, one that showed strength of resolve the rest of them could follow. Fortunately it was a decision Sun-mi would not have to make. Command of the unit was left to Min-ho and it would have to be him that made the final determination. While their encounter with Jake had taught them survival was possible without the Empire and planted the seeds among his group that it would not be a bad idea to leave and seek safe harbors elsewhere he remained unconvinced that now was the right time to do so.

As Sun-mi and Min-ho contemplated whether to follow orders or follow their own desires the 4th Korea continued to edge closer to them as they whipped and winded into a residential area, now showing fewer signs of the pass devastation prevalent to the north. The retreat was comparatively slow as disabled vehicles and unplanned turns continued to hamper the progress of all parties involved. The aliens dominated the highways so the 4th Korea's retreat and the Empire's effort to contain it was restricted to the surface streets and alleys. This limited the speeds at which they could safely travel and exposed them to attack by passing patrols of skitters and mechs. Neither side really bothered to engage the alien patrols any more than they had to and to some degree it appeared the aliens understood enough of human nature to back off and allow the humans to destroy each other.

"Ha! It looks like the crawdaddies are going to make old Kwang-su do their dirty work for them!" Lt. Jenkins commented loudly as a pair of mechs turned away from the detachment he was leading on the western flank of the 4th Korea's retreat.

"Sons of bitches are learning!" Corporal Meyers laughed back.

"Hell, that's what I'd do! Make someone else get their hands dirty. Them crabs be arrogant but the sure as hell ain't stupid!" Lt. Jenkins replied.

"I tell you what though it won't be Kwangy Wang that does the job for them, it'd be us cause we be doing the ass kicking 'round here not them bitches!" Jenkins asserted confidently and somewhat cocky.

It was then Jenkins turned around and saw momentary flicker of light. No it wasn't a mech's searchlight or a beamer spraying the ground with plasma bolts; it was the headlights of a Humvee bouncing over a hump at the edge of Jenkin's field of vision. The Empire now had them in its sights. When he passed alongside Bremer's contingent a block or two away, clearly visible through a neighborhood flattened by an alien bomb he flagged his commander down.

"Colonel! Look behind you! We've got company!" Jenkins shouted over to him.

"We know Lieutenant, just stay ahead of them! We'll find us a way around! Be ready to follow us when we give the signal!" Bremer called back holding up a flare gun handed to him from a passenger in the red truck he was standing in the bed of.

"They're probably gonna hook the west too sir! I've heard the bots popping off in that direction so it's a safe bet the human sons of bitches are over there too!" Jenkins called over to Bremer.

"Fuck the west! We'll look to the east; maybe get us home before dinner gets cold!" Bremer called back to Jenkins.

Bremer then sped up to take the lead of the formation. He started to lead the center team further towards the east where they ran up behind and combined with their eastern flank. Shouting commands between cars they communicated their intentions to the others. Bremer then led seven vehicles two blocks further to the east. Jenkins remained on the western flank to maintain mobility and serve as a reactionary force in case the aliens or Empire managed to catch up to them. A beamer flew in and bombed the road in front of the main group that Bremer had just split off from taking out a early 70s era Camaro, a compact sedan and a pair of motorcyclists at the lead of that portion of the 4th Korean column. The same beamer swung north and strafed the Imperial position, receiving enough ground fire in return to send it into an uncontrolled barrel roll as it careened towards the ground behind them and crashed. As they had merged and diverged with each other the 4th lost ground between them and their pursuers. They now saw the Imperial forces behind them when they were on long straight stretches of road and glimpses of those that ran alongside them. Bremer and the lead drivers of the various units understood that the Empire intended to encircle them and force them into a fight in which the Empire's superior firepower could be brought to bear upon them.

As Bremer and his easternmost detachment went down a parallel path to the Empire's eastern blockade the vehicles of both units exchanged fire with each other through the gaps between homes, shops and demolished buildings that separated the two roads which they traveled on. A storm of bullets that ripped through some trees left standing pinged into the side panels of cars and hit a soldier riding in a fence-railed flatbed work truck in the middle of Bremer's group. The soldier was struck in the left breast and the stomach and fell back over the rail and onto the street after being hit. Another exchange of small arms fire between a 4th Korean school bus and Imperial troops inside a pair of cars left one of the cars driverless and a couple fighters in the bus wounded. A rocket was launched from the back of a civilian jeep at the rear of Bremer's group which struck an Imperial Humvee and destroyed it in a fantastic ball of fire that lit up the twilight shadow that fallen over the land in the minutes after the sun had abandoned them. One of the Imperial vehicles shooting into the 4th Korean column did not notice a disabled car in front of it and crashed at full speed into it, igniting a second gasoline fire and sending wreckage hurtling through the air around it. Bremer himself rotated the machine gun mounted atop the truck he was riding in and opened fire on another Humvee that had just come alongside him as he was gradually gaining ground on the Imperial column. He took out the gunner on top and left divots and holes in its outer shell but not before the gunner had the chance to fire upon them. Three men riding in the packed truck Bremer was in were hit. One was struck in the eye and fell flat onto the bed of the vehicle while the second received bullets in the neck, right arm and head and lurched forward upon death rolling out of the vehicle and tumbling into the street only to be flattened by the bus behind them. The third was just hit in the left hip and right shoulder dealing non-fatal wounds. The intermittent fighting between the opposing columns of vehicles continued to do damage both by small arms fire and the heavier mounted weapons, grenades and rockets lobbed between the two sides. An RPG intended for the school bus too late and ironically hit a school. A grenade burst in front of a second flatbed truck, wounding many of the tightly packed soldiers inside. Small arms fire thinned out the ranks of Imperial soldiers riding in a towed gooseneck trailer behind a pickup formerly belonging to a construction firm. Another rocket detonated prematurely next to a tree turning the old oak into a candle burning in the coming night.

"Pull to the west! Get away from here!" Bremer turned back and ordered, signaling all but the two vehicles directly behind him to his right and left to move away from the broadside bombardment continuing between the two forces.

The vehicles did as they were commanded; dealing parting shots with their foes as Bremer and his pair of cohorts, a rusty classic sports car and a jeep sped up and pulled away. Bremer turned the gun forward and mowed down a trail of skitters directly in front of him before rotating back to the side to duel with the Imperial Humvee between houses. As a new gunner pushed aside the slain gunner on the Humvee Bremer was given an assist from an unlikely source. A mech incited by other Imperial vehicles targeting its cohorts fired a rocket into the windshield of the Humvee and destroyed it from the inside. The mech and its two companion robots stormed into the Imperial lines along with eight skitters. Two of the mechs were eliminated by the Imperial forces and the skitters slowed them down as they fought it out. The third mech sprinted onto the road behind Bremer and gave chase, opening fire which completely annihilated a brick mailbox and shredded the wall of a house as the 4th's vanguard took a little side trip to lose it.

"You got this?" Bremer asked one of his men loading a recoilless rifle.

The man nodded as they turned back onto the road they had been on. He took aim and fired the explosive round which blasted open the front of the mech's central egg shaped body. The soldiers on the truck cheered and once more Bremer's tiny detachment sped up to as fast as they could go without hitting the spackling of disabled vehicles which still remained on the road. After completely losing the Empire's eastern flank unit Bremer sighted the tail lights of the trailing vehicles from the lead Imperial unit, now stretched out into a long line from the fastest vehicles to the slowest. The slowest vehicle he saw first was a plain white jumbo sized van with a small tow truck and a Humvee not far ahead of it. The pace at which he was able to gain on the Empire's lead unit was frustratingly slow. Bremer knew that in order to escape he would have to get ahead of this unit and turn east. He also knew that these residential streets and secondary surface roads would not go on forever. They had already left Seoul, gone through much of Gwacheon and soon would be Uiwang skirting dangerously close to the alien perimeter around Anyang. Beyond that they could be forced onto the highways which would be certain death at the aliens' hands or run smack into a dead end where they would meet the same fate at the hands of the Empire. Inevitably it meant that there would be a bloody engagement to hold back the lead division of the Imperial forces to allow the whole of the 4th Korea's column to get around them and that he would be the spearhead of that engagement. He wasn't looking forward to dying tonight; there were so many things to do, places to go, people to see, people to do and so on that Bremer still had not crossed off from his bucket list. It never looked like he would get around to doing all that anyways, so if he had to die tonight it was as good a night as any.

Bremer pounded his hand palm down on the top of the truck next to where the machine gun he was manning was mounted in order to get Vargas' attention.

"Put some lead down Chico! We have to turn east soon! We're running out of road!" Bremer shouted through the back window of the truck.

Vargas sped up to an unsafe velocity, skimming the sides of disabled vehicles and tearing off their mirrors as he zipped through the streets. The two vehicles behind him followed but at slower speeds creating a gap where Bremer now found himself alone. The vehicles behind him started to take fire from a trio of nimble cars that sped ahead of the primary eastern blockade group. Bremer saw the sports car go up in flames after being riddled by bullets and a rocket and a storm of tracer rounds stream away from the jeep towards a target unseen from his vantage point. Bremer couldn't look back however; he now had his own battles to fight. He turned the mounted machine gun towards the van at the rear of the head unit and waited until they were a little closer to fire. Behind him the jeep took out one of the cars and caused the other to swerve out of the way and disengage for a moment. It was only a temporary victory as three more Imperial vehicles were closing in on the lone jeep. It was only a matter of minutes before it and the soldiers on board were guaranteed casualties.

In the Humvee ahead and to the east of Bremer, Sun-mi sat atop the gunner's station observing the action behind her. She turned the vehicles mounted weapon towards Bremer and waited for the imminent engagement. Bremer's vehicle was only the first. She could see the jeep trailing behind and assumed the bulk of the 4th Korea wasn't that much further away. Inside the Humvee the cowering surgeon in the passenger's seat was ready to make a run for it once the engagement thickened and his flight would go unnoticed by the solid armed forces of the eastern blockade behind the detachment in which he rode. He prayed that the Humvee would survive long enough for the fog of war to allow him to make his retreat. As the Humvee went into another neighborhood, now obscuring a direct line of sight with Bremer as he closed in it allowed Sun-mi to get a closer look at the occupants of the truck she was expected to gun down in the momentary gaps between buildings.

She saw the handful of American uniforms mixed in amongst the fighters on the truck and this gave her a sense of hope. It wasn't too long since their meeting with SPC Fontaine so immediately he came to mind upon seeing these uniforms. Perhaps these were the same people that Jake was with and here they were, standing up to the Empire. He told Sun-mi's group that he was alone but it was suspected that was a lie. While a single man could have survived out there it was more the tendency of humans to seek comfort in greater numbers. Could it have been that he went back to his people and rallied them against the things he had seen and heard concerning the Empire? What could it mean if these people were strong enough, and brave enough to come at the Empire head on? Was there really another option to endure and resist the alien occupation other than this scorched Earth dictatorship that Kwang-su was building? The possibilities seemed so appealing to her; if there was ever a chance for her to make her move this was it. She hadn't the time to consult with Min-ho, Min-ji or the others for the formation of vehicles had elongated and spread out. Even if she could have would her words be enough to convince them? She could only speak now with one voice, her actions.


	95. Ch 95:YouSayTreasonLike it's a Bad Thing

Chapter XCV: You Say Treason Like It's a Bad Thing

31 Oct 1936 KST

Uiwang, South Korea

Sun-mi's Humvee slowed down and spun around across the width of the street. Now heading north Sun-mi charged at the Imperial vehicles doing battle with the remaining vehicle at Bremer's tail. The Imperials in the cars thought nothing of it and assumed she was coming to assist them. She opened fire on the unsuspecting vehicles, disabling both and slaughtering all their occupants before they even knew what hit them. The lone jeep was in the clear; it was safe but that didn't mean Sun-mi was. She saw another convoy of 4th Korea vehicles emerging from the side streets to combine with the battle scarred jeep. The nearest Imperial vehicles were minutes further away than the 4th was so right now Sun-mi looked like a prime target for those she had just rescued. Sun-mi just had to figure out a way to convince the 4th Korea that they were not the enemy. Those in the jeep might have seen her heroics but their reinforcements did not. She then looked down inside the Humvee.

"Slow down and pull off away from them." she ordered the driver.

"Give me your shirt!" Sun-mi demanded that a man in a white shirt hand it over to her.

The man took off his shirt and Sun-mi quickly tied it to her rifle which she took off her back. She waved the white flag back and forth in plain sight of the 4th Korea's forces hoping they would at least pass her by unharmed. The 4th did not care for a fight. They sped on ahead trying to catch up with Bremer and get ahead of the Imperial lead division. Sun-mi soon had other problems which she could not raise the white flag to. The other Imperial vehicles on the eastern flank would arrive before she had the time to turn back around. When they saw what she had done to their cars she would not be able to save herself by raising a white flag. The Imperials would be after blood, namely hers.

In the mid-section of the Imperial lead column Min-ji saw Sun-mi commit to treason. Reluctantly she knew that this meant she would be drawn in against the Empire as well. Sun-mi was kind of like a sister to her even if they didn't always see eye to eye. Though she had acted unwisely and went off without consulting the others Min-ji couldn't allow her to go it alone. Min-ji and no fewer than six other vehicles broke away from their main detachment and headed off to the east before turning back south to preemptively cut off the retreat of the 4th Korea's fighters or so it seemed. Min-ji and her team however had different plans when it appeared that they would butt heads with Bremer and his reinforcements gaining ground on him to the rear Min-ji led her vehicles quickly down a side street evading a hail of bullets from the 4th which touched nothing but air. Expecting a flank attack Bremer and the other vehicles with him turned their attack to the east for an attack which never came. Min-ji pulled her followers further away to where they wouldn't be directly parallel and exchanging fire with Bremer and his division when it passed by. She then turned back onto the main road as the sound of gunfire tore through the late evening air. Ahead of her Sun-mi had just turned around and was engaged in a firefight with two Humvees and a blue pickup truck while a semi-truck with rolling side doors also caught up to them. Machine gun fire peppered Sun-mi's and one of the Imperial Humvees. Additional gunfire pinged off the street and nearby buildings sparking and kicking up dust as the bullets impacted.

It didn't take long before the Imperials knew which side Min-ji was on as she stood up on the perch in her MRAP and raised a rocket launcher to her shoulder and released its payload to destroy the left Humvee approaching Sun-mi's position. A Humvee near Min-ji's vehicle also opened fire disabling the silver pickup and sending the troops in its bed running towards the sides of the road for cover. Three motorcycles followed by another MRAP charged the Imperial line which now had a couple more jeeps, three 4-wheeler ATVs and a tow truck with a partially reconstructed Vulcan on the back of it approaching its position. The motorcycles swerved to the sides of the remaining Humvee while Sun-mi gave them cover fire against the foot soldiers that had fled to the sidewalk and from the Humvee itself. One of the bikers was shot dead and dismounted by a rifleman in hiding. The remaining two tossed grenades beneath the Humvee and managed to overturn the vehicle in the explosions which followed leaving a flaming wreck which one of the ATV's crashed into. The other two ATVs sped around the wreck and opened fire on Sun-mi with submachineguns. Sun-mi ducked down for safety until one of her biker friends used his own submachine gun to dismount the ATVs. The victory was short lived as the incoming Imperial jeeps gunned down one of the two bikers as he rode while the second one was launched from his mount when the front tire was shot out. The MRAP passed by Sun-mi and retaliated against the jeeps effectively destroying both of them. The aliens gave Min-ji's unit an unintentional assist when three beamers strafed Imperial vehicles behind the front line that were en route to engage. One of the beamers was damaged by the Vulcan and flew away from the battle on its own thus prompting a retaliatory strike by the other two which destroyed the Vulcan and sent rubble from freshly demolished buildings into the street which blocked of further Imperial encroachment and forced the eastern flank to move further west to get around. After Sun-mi passed Min-ji began to turn her unit around, firing on the semi-truck all the while. The second MRAP spun around and got alongside the trailer as the rolling door opened on the side to reveal a mounted direct fire cannon inside. One shot from the cannon demolished the MRAP while forcing the truck to swerve from the recoil and the second shot utterly destroyed the vehicle. Min-ji was able to kill the drive forcing the truck to crash into a house but was too late to stop the cannon from doing its damage. Being an equal opportunity invader the two beamers also ripped apart one of Min-ji's Humvees and two smaller cars as a soldier standing through the moon roof of one of the cars launched a missile that blasted off the side of one of the beamers causing it to crash into an apartment building and fall apart as it emerged in flames out the other side of the structure.

The redirected Imperial line briefly clashed with another of the 4th's fleeing segments losing a vegetable truck of its own and disabling a van and a station wagon from the 4th's arsenal. The surviving soldiers of those wrecks fled to the nearby structures knowing they couldn't be rescued and took positions to fire upon the passing Imperial convoy along with two mechs which emerged from another street along with an appropriate complement of skitters to assail all parties infesting the neighborhood. The fleeing vehicles in the 4th's 3rd company watched with sadness at the firefight behind them. There was a good chance their soldiers could survive but they could do nothing for them at the moment without risking it all. The entire Imperial eastern flank and an alien patrol stood between them and those they were cut off from.

Now when it seemed the 4th had an opening to the east between the lead column and the eastern flank behind them they now had the mountains to their east forcing them to continue southbound. Meanwhile Min-ji, Sun-mi and their cohorts were returning back towards the rest of their unit. As they were sighting coming back after decimating their "allies" behind them Min-ho slowed down allowing his sister and Sun-mi to catch up to him. After the splinter group reconnected with the main force Sun-mi pulled up alongside the K21 IFV that Min-ho was riding in. Min-ho looked over to her from the commander's station.

"What the hell did you think you were doing back there?" he scolded her.

"Do you want keep paying homage to these douchebags forever?!" was Sun-mi's scathing response.

"Look, there's an alternative to the Empire and it isn't being fed to the aliens either. Those people are our ticket out of slavery. I had to help them." she explained.

Min-ho sighed; Sun-mi had just got them all knee deep into a world of shit. It was unavoidable now, he could either chose to stand with his family and friends or stand with his earthly overlords. It wasn't really that much of a choice; family wins over fake government royalty anytime.

"Since you've already got us into this I might as well throw our lot in with you." Min-ho conceded.

He then looked over to Min-ji who was now riding behind him.

"We're switching sides! Let the rest of the guys know what we intend to do. If they want no part of it give them a chance to get out and leave. If they're dicks about it, shoot them." Min-ho yelled his orders over to his sister.

"Shoot them?" asked Sun-mi

"That's what the Empire would do to us." was Min-ho's justification.

Once everyone was on board with the plan Min-ho led his division out further away from the 4th Korea to avoid conflict as they traveled alongside each other. As the roads they were on diverged away from each other Min-ho's group and Bremer's split under the duress of mech fire from an alien patrol coming at them from the west. Bremer had parted to the southwest while Min-ho was forced to the southeast. The 4th Korea fought the aliens from both sides; Bremer struck at them with all their firepower while the approaching 3rd company of their force struck at the aliens from the rear. They took out the five mechs in the alien platoon first allowing them only the chance to spray a few of their vehicles with heavy weapons fire. Several soldiers in the back of a flatbed were wounded or killed while two cars and a floral van were disabled my mech fire. The school bus stopped and picked up those who were now stranded as they fought back the skitters that attempted to seize upon the dismounted soldiers. After getting everyone safely into the bus they drove off, blasting off three skitters that had climbed onto the outside of the bus and leaving the rest of the aliens to the Imperial force on their tail. Meanwhile Jenkins found himself too close to the Imperials on the western flank and had to start heading eastward once a beamer strike that took out two Imperial vehicles and one of his own gave him an opening to escape.

The 4th Korea was now forced by alien attacks on the edge of Anyang to consolidate into two larger groups that eventually coalesced into one by the aggressive maneuvering of the Imperial column flanking them on the west. The broad road which they converged upon then turned to the west forcing Bremer to lead his forces down a narrow side street in a bid to avoid a direct confrontation with the Imperials on their west flank. This proved to be a mistake as the road ended in a "T" not far from where they had gotten onto it. With their western flank sealed Bremer had no choice but to lead his troops east. Meanwhile Min-ho's unit had moved to the southeast and swung around to where approaching the 4th Korea from the other direction. If he had indeed been hostile then the 4th was trapped between two motorized Imperial companies.

It wasn't long before Bremer had come to realize that very fact though the notion that Min-ho's force was peaceful towards them completely escaped his mind. He heard the sounds of the Imperials fighting each other but did not put two and two together. He assumed that was a different unit that the one he was facing now. Outclassed and undeniably intimidated Bremer found his tiny pickup truck staring down a captured American M1135 with Humvees on both sides, Min-ho's K21 behind that along with Sun-mi's Humvee and Min-ji's MRAP. Beyond that were a dozen or more modified civilian vehicles, a force clearly capable of reducing the 4th's ragtag vehicle fleet to shreds. Behind them an equally menacing force containing a much greater number of less militaristic looking vehicles, damaged from run-ins with alien patrols was also bearing down on them. It looked like there were no clear roads to turn down ahead of them and not enough room for the 4th Korean column to turn around. Bremer bit his lip and prepared to make his final stand. As the imminent clash drew near the M1135 pulled over to the side of the road and Min-ho's K21 pulled ahead and alongside it. Sun-mi now was at the center of the Imperial forces ahead of them frantically waving her white flag and shouting at the 4th Korea to stand down. Meanwhile to add action to her words the rest of the Imperial company ahead of Bremer and his men pulled over to each side of the road and allowed them a clear route to pass through them.

"Don't shoot! We're on your side! We mean you no harm! Please do not shoot!" Sun-mi shouted over and over again.

Her words were echoed by Min-ji and Min-ho who fashioned a white flag of his own. Some of the fighters in other military vehicles waved small South Korean flags from their vehicles and one little American flag from the M1135 to show who their allegiance was to. Bremer knew all about the Empire's penchant for trickery but why would they try to pull something now when they already knew their cover had been blown? He also knew as did Vargas and the others that not everyone in the Empire's loyalty to their masters was absolute. Fear only breeds feigned loyalty so long as that fear can be applied. He had to make a decision and fast, all their lives depended on it. Time was in short supply as they closed in on what appeared to be an open path ahead of them. Run or fight, that was the question. It was a gamble either way. The 4th Korea stood as much of a chance fighting them outright as they did attempting to run through their ranks. An explosion behind them from a beamer strike against the Imperial forces at their rear slowed their pursuers down but didn't stop them. Nonetheless Bremer decided to take a chance and trust the people ahead of him.

"Stand down!" Bremer ordered his men. The command was relayed back from vehicle to vehicle among the troops.

"Go around and do not stop! Head straight through them!" Bremer commanded.

The 4th Korea sped up and barreled down the road into the gauntlet where Min-ho's company had parted along the sides of the road. They split to the left and right around Sun-mi's sole Humvee standing in the center of the street. Bremer slowed down in front of Sun-mi's Humvee while the rest of his forces parted around them and raced towards a major southeastern arterial rood at the end of the street which they were currently on. Bremer stopped and Min-ho came running out of his vehicle to meet him.

"So kind of you not to kill us." Bremer greeted him.

"Thank you for getting the message. We're on the same team here." Sun-mi thanked Bremer.

"That's right but we've got no time to explain! The hammer is right behind us, you got to go!" Min-ho urged Bremer while the 4th Korea's forces continued to zoom around them.

"What about you guys?" Bremer asked.

"We'll hold them off! You get out of here!" Min-ho told him.

"Meet us south of the Yeongdong expressway. We'll wait for you." Bremer told the presumed Imperial turncoats before he swerved around Sun-mi's Humvee.

After Bremer and the last of his vehicles had passed by Min-ho's forces reassembled their lines and braced themselves to engage the Empire's western flanking unit bearing down on them. Fortunately for the traitors the rest of the Imperial forces were entangled by alien attacks to the north and would be unable to lend any assistance in the engagement to come nor would they have much of a chance in catching up to or even finding where the 4th Korea went. All of their weapons were focused and primed to open fire. Min-ho didn't wait for the Imperial forces to recognize them as the enemy before he gave the order to engage. His autocannon was the first of many guns to volley into the Imperial line. As the last of the 4th Korea's vehicles turned onto the broad secondary highway heading southeast at the end of the street a massive barrage of gunfire erupted behind them signaling their unexpected benefactors had confronted the enemy.

In their retreat to the southeast Bremer's forces passed beneath the first of two major highways leading them temporarily out of the urban environment and into a densely wooded area in the hills on both sides of the road. Atop the overpass a single mech give them little more than annoyance as it attempted to pick off the 4th Korea's vehicles that passed by. The soldiers on board the vehicles also returned fire on the mech but didn't manage to deal significant enough damage to disable it although it was damaged enough that it did not pursue them after the last of their vehicles came out from under the bridge. They then passed around the remnants of a collapsed off ramp which slowed them down long enough to force them to do battle with a pack of 14 skitters of which they killed and wounded a few before they escaped.

Bremer's column now approached a second underpass going beneath the Yeongdong expressway. On the overpass three standard mechs and one heavier "pancake walker" mech were staring down at the approaching vehicles. The 4th opened fire with all the weapons they had and increased the distance between their vehicles in an effort to evade the destructive energy bolts of the heavy patrol mech. They slowed down and sped up to minimize the damage they took as the mechs opened fire. As she stood up to aim her bazooka Hyolyn was struck in the shoulder and upper abdomen by mech rounds which knocked her back over the tailgate of the truck she was riding in. She hit the ground head first and twisted her neck unnaturally backwards before she was hit by a bus. Her body, thankfully dead now so she no longer could feel pain, flipped upwards first and slammed into the front grill of the bus before being knocked back down onto the road as the bus attempted to swerve too late to avoid her and instead ran over her corpse with the right rear tire. The other two recoilless rifles fired without incident. One of them hit the edge of the overpass beneath the railing while the other narrowly missed the cannon arm of one of the standard mechs and flew over the machine's shoulder. Shortly thereafter two of the standard mechs were shot to shreds by high caliber machine guns which did negligible damage to the jumbo walker. The jumbo walker's shoulder cannons focused onto Bremer's truck and fired just as it was struck in the proverbial chest by a 40mm armor piercing shell causing it to jolt slightly downward due to the impact. The energy blast struck in front of Bremer's truck instead of incinerating him, melting a deep pothole into the road which forced Vargas to swerve wildly around to the left to avoid.

Before anyone could look back and see where the shell had come from a second autocannon blast punched through the heart of the patrol mech, followed soon thereafter by a rocket to the shoulder cannon and another autocannon blast that tore through the mech's internals. Bremer looked back to see Min-ho riding his K21 at the head of his surviving legion. Min-ho clenched his fist and raised it in the air to show solidarity with Bremer and the 4th while the smoking barrel of his vehicle's front cannon proved who had crippled the jumbo mech. Another round was fired from the autocannon for good measure to take out the patrol mech followed by another blast which destroyed one of the remaining standard mechs. Behind the K21 the rest of Min-ho's remaining forces came into view and followed the 4th Korea beneath the overpass. On the other side skitters jumped down from above. One landed in the back of a packed blue truck tossing several soldiers out into the road before it was killed. Another two landed on top of the bus which prompted soldiers beneath it to shoot through the roof to kill one of them and deal concentrated fire to the rear when the second one tried to swing in through the back door. When the second skitter was knocked off the back of the bus after being shot multiple times it was crunched beneath the treads of the K21 as another skitter landed close to Min-ho atop the armored vehicle. Min-ji quickly aided her brother using her rifle to blast the skitter on its broad hips causing it to slip and stagger back until it tumbled onto the road where it could be gunned down and killed. Four others simply fell straight down onto the road in fall that would've killed a human but for a skitter it was just like jumping off a kitchen table it seemed. Three of these were taken down before they could reach any of the vehicles while the 4th jumped onto Sun-mi's Humvee just in time for her to rotate the mounted machine gun and blow a spattering of holes through the alien being's chest and abdomen. The 4th Korea was now in the clear and it also appeared there would be no need for them to wait up for their new friends to join them as they entered back into the urban environment in what remained of the city of Suwon. It was a little too soon to immediately turn towards Seongnam lest Imperial remnants of alien forces were still in hot pursuit so Bremer continued southbound until reaching the edge of the crater which consumed a large chunk of the city of Osan along with its associated Air Force Base. From there they at last turned east and started their journey home after a bloody and brutal attempt to make peace with those who knew not the meaning of the word.


	96. Chapter 96: Sharpening Swords

Chapter XCVI: Sharpening Swords

31 Oct 0701 KST

Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea

Hamza had made an early start before dawn heading into Seoul, stopping only for his morning prayers. He gathered a few more scraps of mech metal off of the wrecked shell of another war machine and looked for a place where he could put his idea to strengthen his "swords" into action.

As he proceeded through the city he saw the markings on the vehicles and on the buildings but didn't make anything of it; to Hamza they were just squiggles. Vandalism or territorial pissing perhaps, Hamza assumed. He had little respect for the local citizenry in general and didn't assume it was anyone in particular who had put those markings there. Completely separate from that issue Hamza knew the dogs were out in Seoul and he was fully prepared to deal with them should they cross him. Of all things he could be called naive was one thing he was not.

After a couple hours of wandering Hamza went into a machine shop marked with the green Imperial symbol on its door. There he set up what he needed to produce the blades he desired. Fortunately the lack of electronics was of little concern for good old fashioned blacksmithing. Hamza desired quality blades not something quickly cast that would shatter after little use. He had some skill in this area from when he was very young but was far from being adept. He understood the principles involved but not the art so this would be a bit of a learning experience for him. It was a labor intensive process that would consume much of the day if he was to do it right.

He worked throughout the day forging two swords out of the mech metal using the individual blades of the garden shears he carried as a core to form the hilt. Surprisingly the mech metal bonded well to the blades and he was left with two fine blades in the style of a saif akin to those wielded by his ancestors since the time of the Crusades. He also fashioned sheathes for both blades which he attached onto each side of the cloth belt tied around his waist. He took a nap during the afternoon after his prayers and returned to polishing and sharpening his blades that evening. He lit candles within clear glass vases to compensate for the diminishing sunlight following his observation of the Maghrib. Hamza intended to stay the night nearby and return to the 4th Korea the following day. Delays coming from Anyang were no big deal up to a certain point for it was understood that the aliens encircling the place had to be avoided. If the 4th knew about the highwaymen and brigands beyond the aliens then that had to be taken into account as well. All in all it had been a productive day, albeit one with many breaks for meals, rest and prayer and indeed satisfying to Hamza should these new blades be able to pierce skitter flesh with ease. In order to achieve that goal he refined the edge and the tip of the blade where they were sharp to the touch. Upon picking up the blades and twirling them around he was amazed at how light they were. This was just like the mithril of pure fantasy. He tested the blade out by slicing through broom handles and wooden chair legs. He would only require a test against flesh to complete the trials. Little did Hamza know that he would be getting that test sooner than he expected.

Late that evening loud noises outside turned Hamza's attention away from setting up warning devices and a safe place to bunk down for the night and drew him towards the window. The first thing he saw was a skitter fall off the roof of a nearby two story building as it recoiled from absorbing a shotgun blast. The skitter hit the ground and rolled over several times before coming to a rest, twitching briefly before death claimed it. Beyond the skitters within the cracks between buildings Hamza observed the lights of passing vehicles. They were quiet at first but then a firefight broke out between them and an unseen second group of vehicles further to the east. As they passed by he caught a glimpse of one of the armed vehicles bearing a mark similar, if not identical to those he had seen on cars, stores and warehouses. He easily deduced that the vehicles belonged to the same group who laid claim to this area and were likely the same people who terrorized the innocent people living here just trying to survive. With that knowledge he would find himself quite pleased every time he saw one of them slain in combat.

Hamza intently watched the conflict which erupt a blocked away outside his window raged on. The column of vehicles raced by him and fired upon other human vehicles which Hamza could barely make out the faintest glimpse of beyond the multiple rows of buildings replete with smoke, sparks and flame as the vehicles zoomed by. A few motorcyclists among the group more clearly visible to Hamza, those bearing the mark, were cut down and wrecked during the exchange of gunfire as the firefight passed by Hamza's location. A minibus also had its front tires shot out along with several of its windows and came rolling to a halt. Fighters came out of the bus and onto the street while others remained inside and continued firing from within the vehicle. The other fighters resumed firing outside the bus, some staying close by and others ran towards the back sides of buildings to find cover behind which to shoot from. Several of these fighters were shot by passing cars and trucks as they got out into the open. Hamza smirked as he watched one fighter take a head shot above his right eye and fall flat on his back with a firm thud. Another fighter was hit in the leg and hip as he ran between buildings. Hamza observed the enemies of these fighters taking a loss as well as one of their gunmen inside a van with the side door opened was shot in the chest and fell back onto several other fighters within. He also saw a motorcycle flip forwards and slide down the street out of his view, catapulting it's rider into a light post in the process. The rider's right shoulder struck the light post causing his body to rapidly pivot as it was deflected off the post before rolling onto the ground. Surprisingly the rider got up though clearly had no use of his right arm and hobbled badly in an attempt to flee. The opportunistic wolves who went after him were cut down by another van full of soldiers who managed to rescue the injured biker with nothing more than an additional gunshot wound to the buttocks received by his aggressors. As the tail end of the mobile columns passed by a TOW missile was fired into the minibus incinerating it and everyone inside. This was coupled with a secondary explosion from its fuel tanks the that slung shrapnel towards other fighters nearby. The force of both explosions along with the flying debris knocked over several of the men while others were wounded earlier during the fighting.

Hamza saw the multitudes of wounded and dying fighters outside and saw this as an opportunity. Not only to test the quality of his blades but to purge some of the scum of the Earth from its surface. Hamza crept outside around the back and emerged onto the street from an alleyway between two buildings, neither of which was the workshop that he had come from. He quickly thrust one of his blades through the back of a unscathed fighter loitering on the corner next to the alley he had come from. After cleanly retracting his blade Hamza then leapt upon another crawling on the ground and drove his other blade through the back of that man's skull and pierced straight through his face on the other side. A third fighter, stunned by the turn of events turned to shoot Hamza but Hamza was too quick and with a ferocious blow hacked off the soldiers left arm causing the gun to drop down and fire into the ground. Hamza followed up with a clean decapitation of the man. So far he was quite pleased with the efficiency of his handiwork as he disemboweled another fighter who was getting up after being knocked to the ground by the explosion. Hamza quickly dispatched everyone he thought to be an immediate threat and then approached those who were in no condition to resist. He had seen enough of his swords' performance and now it was time to get some answers.

He first lifted up a man with scorched legs and a piece of the bus framed lodged in his lower back. Hamza did the man a favor by first removing the shrapnel to the sound of agonizing screams and casting it aside. He then stood the man up in front of him with one of his swords up against his neck.

"Who are you?" Hamza asked.

The man replied in Korean; Hamza didn't understand what was said but the tone appeared to be quite disdainful so Hamza's response was to curse the man out in Arabic.

"I'll ask you again. Who are you? Speak English this time!" Hamza demanded.

"Shi-bal nom!" The man returned what appeared to be a clear "Fuck you!" in Korean

"Ayreh Feek to you too." Hamza said before slicing open the man's throat.

Before he could drop the man bleeding out onto his arm Hamza had to use his body to absorb three bullets from the pistol of another soldier on the ground.

"I must have forgotten about you." Hamza mused as he sheathed his sword and took his own gun from his back to slay the wounded fighter on the ground.

Just in time Hamza cast aside the dying fighter in his arms and gunned down two more fighters running out from between the buildings in front of him.

"Now, let's see if anyone else would be more cooperative." Hamza muttered.

He knelt on top of one of the men lying face down on the ground but still breathing with a knee on each side of the man. Hamza grasped the man's shoulders and pulled his head and upper torso backwards to where the man was looking straight ahead. The man gasped and sucked air which escaped out through the deep wound in his chest which had punctured his right lung in multiple places. Hamza looked dissatisfied that the man was dying before he could have a word with him. At least he would get to test the sharpness of his new blades once again.

"This one is too far gone. No, you simply will not do." Hamza said while wrapping his left arm around the forehead of the dying man to prop him up.

Hamza then cleanly slit the throat of the man and released him to bleed out onto the street, quickening his death. Hamza was pleased with how effortlessly the blade sliced through the man's flesh. It was still quite incredible after all. Indeed his alien metal blades would be quite useful after all.

He then got up and looked around to find others to interrogate. None of those whom he found among the scraps that were not already slain were able or willing to tell him anything so Hamza conceded to the desire to remove them from the land of the living. As he finished liberating the head from the body of yet another dying fighter four men approached him with guns drawn. The men had just returned from the next street over where they had been firing upon the fleeing column of their human foes which is how they escaped Hamza at first. They had not expected to find the butchery which they encountered here and surely not at the hands of one man.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded one of the men as the group rounded the wreckage of the bus, two on one side and two on the other.

"At last, someone I can speak with." Hamza pleasantly replied upon hearing the man address him in English.

"Then speak. What is the meaning of this?" the man forcefully asked.

"I was attacked by rabid dogs and as a result I was forced to defend myself." Hamza explained.

"What are you talking about? This isn't self-defense, this is murder!" a second man exclaimed.

"No it is not. Murder implies we are dealing with human beings here and I see no men amongst me, only dogs. Don't think I am mistaken, I know what rabid dogs look like. They look like you my friend. So what to do when a dog becomes rabid and bites those who mean no ill will towards it? There is only one kind action a man can take. He must put the dog down." Hamza declared.

Before he spoke those words the Imperial fighters behind him had made the mistake of approaching Hamza too closely and that gave him the avenue for action he required. With ninja-like finesse Hamza twisted around and got behind one of the men coming at him from the rear. He seized upon the man's right arm holding onto the trigger of his rifle. Hamza jerked the man's arm and made him accidentally shoot another one of the fighters in the knee cap. Hamza then yanked the gun out of the man's hand and shot a third fighter who raised his hands along with his rifle in front of his face to absorb a shot that would have been fatal into the flesh of his left hand and the material of his rifle. Hamza tossed the first fighter aside and charged the man he had just shot slipping his gun underneath his arms and shooting the man below the chin at close range. The fighter that he had shot in the knee before that lunged at Hamza with his bayonet, forcing him to drop the gun as he sidestepped out of the way and snatched the gun out of the hands of the charging Imperial fighter. The weapon was flung away and slid across the street in the process of Hamza disarming his attacker. A tall, bald muscular man brandishing a baseball bat adorned with nails and barbed wire charged at Hamza. Hamza ducked a vicious blow from the bat which instead clubbed the soldier who had just charged him in the left cheek. The sharp barbs and nails coming off the bat dug into the flesh of the Imperial fighter and peeled away the skin down to the bone. Hamza thrust into the abdomen of the bat man and retracted his blade quickly to turn back and slash the fighter that just got his head bashed in across the chest. He then sidestepped away from both of them and hacked the back of the bat wielding strongman and turned to stare down the fourth soldier who he had initially taken the gun from who hesitantly made a move towards him. Hamza was surprised at how effective his new weapon truly was; he could penetrate even the skitter skin armor the bat man was wearing which meant the weapon would serve its intended purpose against the skitters. As the two men behind him hit the ground Hamza reared back with his blade and prepared to skewer the last soldier in front of him, or so he thought this man was the last.

"That's enough!" demanded a voice coming from behind Hamza, far enough away from fight where he couldn't immediately strike at where the voice was coming from.

Two more men had come around from behind the workshop and pulled guns on him thus effectively stopping the fight. Little did he know these were the last survivors from the wrecked bus and if he had only cleared the area behind him first before going onto the street he would have exterminated the entire unit and be free and clear now.

"How many more of you are there?" Hamza muttered under his breath.

When Hamza ceased his aggressions and turned to face these new challengers two men already lay dead or dying on the ground, a third had severe cuts and would require medical attention while the fourth ran like a coward behind his two armed cohorts.

"Kill him! Don't give him a chance to cut you!" pleaded the fourth fighter.

"He doesn't look like he's one of the guys we're after but after seeing all this it's undeniable he's a menace. Ok, let's get this over with and go home." one of the pair that was new onto the scene shrugged his shoulders and said.

"Wait a minute. This guy is a damn good fighter. We could use someone like him with us." the other one of the two said to the other in Korean so that Hamza could not listen in.

"Hmmph!" the first man grunted as he thought it over. The Empire does need men of Hamza's caliber, skillful and merciless.

"Ok, so tell you what mister. You're going to get a chance to come with us. It's not a bad deal sir if you'd take it; hot meals, clean water, and a secure place to rest your head at night. Heck, if you fight for us I'll even give you your pick of the girls." the first man of the pair offered to Hamza.

It appeared he had no choice. Hamza did not see a viable path to strike his foes down nor did he see a route by which he could flee. He would join them conditionally for now. He would at least get a chance to have his questions answered. He could evaluate these people and ascertain their motives, methods and morals. It wasn't as if the 4th Korea was particularly friendly towards him. They accepted him only because of a lie. These people did not seem to care. Hamza would bow before no master but Allah but would be willing to walk alongside these dogs so long as it suited his purposes. From what he had seen so far he had no intention of staying with them but if it allowed him to continue breathing to see the end of Allah's wrath upon the Earth then he would walk as long as it was required of him.

"Very well. I will fight for you. I need not your loose women but only your word that I may conduct myself as I see fit." Hamza accepted.

"No problem, all the more ladies for us then. Then follow us. We'll take you back to the boss and get you set up." the man replied.

"One more thing, I want to keep these swords. I spent a great deal of time making them and am not willing to part with them for you or anyone else." Hamza added.

"Fine. We have guns why would we need your corny little swords." the man snubbed Hamza in response.

"Then we are in agreement. My hand is at your service." Hamza feigned a pledge after sheathing his blades and extending an open hand, palm turned upward towards the man.

The fighters gathered up the viable members of their wounded and left those too far gone there to die before setting out to the north. Hamza followed behind the two men with the third man watching him from behind just in case he tried anything shady. The expected to be at the site of the main battle against the skitters close the time of its conclusion. Of the end result they confidently had no doubt their own forces would be victorious. As for Hamza he was unaware and unconcerned that a battle had even taken place. He simply followed these men to achieve his own ends. He had shifted surface allegiances several times in his life. The only true loyalty he possessed was to Allah. These men were just another link in a long chain, when it suited his needs and those of his greater calling Hamza would abandon them as well. For now however, Hamza was now on his way to become a member of the Empire.


	97. Chapter 97: Respect By Association Pt 1

Chapter XCVII: Respect by Association - Part 1

31 Oct 2018 KST

Anseong, South Korea

When the 4th Korea, battered and bruised, and their new allies had gone several kilometers thinking they were in the clear at last a shimmering blue light in the western sky changed all that. Looking through a pair of binoculars So-hyun spotted a beamer that had tailed them for an unknown length of time and just now was accelerating towards them at a fantastic speed.

"I got this." shouted a man from of one of Min-ho's unit's vehicles, a city bus with its top cut off.

The man ran to the rear of the bus with a Chiron missile launcher and stood to the side of the TOW missile launcher set up behind the rear doors. Min-ho also signaled to a heavy duty wrecker towing an M167 Vulcan to be ready in case the first man missed. As the beamer closed in and slowed down in preparation to strike the man on the bus fired his missile. The missile had nearly contacted the beamer when the craft made an abrupt banking maneuver to the right evading the attack completely. The Vulcan opened fire trailing the beamer as it closed in and fired energy bolts that tore through and ignited a snow plow, a convertible and a jeep within Min-ho's column. At the end of its strafing run the beamer collided headfirst into a stinger missile launched from a dump truck at the rear of Bremer's column.

"All that fancy equipment doesn't count for much if you can't use it." boasted Yeon-woo who had fired the missile.

"Maybe you should give lessons then." joked back one of Min-ho's compatriots.

"Maybe I should then." sarcastically replied Yeon-woo.

"I'd have to warn you I'm a real strict teacher." Yeon-woo added.

"So if I act up you're going to spank me? In that case you can just consider me a bad little boy." Yo-han, one of the turncoat fighters, mockingly remarked.

"Not like that you idiot!" snapped Min-ho.

"Everyone please shut up and stay on guard! We're not through with this yet." Bremer commanded, silencing his men and allowing the others to follow suit.

The coast seemed clear from there on out. They spotted a few beamers in the western sky heading north to south and back again but none altered course towards the convoy. The mechs and hordes of skitters had been left in the west and while the situation was still tense it seemed that they all could breathe a little easier for the moment.

The Imperial forces also had seemed to have completely lost the 4th Korea's scent having run into difficulty with the aliens prior to discovering the wrecked husks of their mobile company. There was division among the main Imperial force that found the wreckage over what had happened. It was initially assumed that both companies were destroyed by the 4th Korea which then escaped as the center line was unaware of Sun-mi and Min-ho's treasonous actions; that knowledge was limited to the eastern flanking company which had separated once again and contained elsewhere by a heavy concentration of enemy mechs. It was only when survivors were located from the battle that the main line learned that their own had turned on them, most of which had escaped the battle after a decisive win thanks to the element of surprise. The Imperial unit commanders were held deep resentment and regret over the folly of relying on unworthy conscripts to fight alongside them. The Emperor would be infuriated when he heard the news, even though conscription was necessary to maintain operations at the level he wanted following the alien air campaign. So many of the commanders and their subordinates resolved not to tell Kwang-su of the treason lest it be their heads that would roll for it. Alas a secret could only be kept so long, heads would roll either way.

Meanwhile the 4th and company were now about to alter course and start making their way home. Having gone so far south during the retreat the 4th Korea actually now had to head north to get back to their base in Seongnam. They got out of the open and onto the surface streets between neighborhoods to obfuscate their presence from any alien patrols wandering about on the main roads. All the while the only sound they heard was the rumbling of their engines along with the occasional bump in the road. They were largely silent during the rest of their retreat until they were certain they had shaken both their alien and human adversaries.

As they drove back Bremer thought over the result of the day's events. Though they had come out with their skins intact the mission was a failure. Any notion of a peaceful settlement between them and the fighters to their north was lost. Even worse these brigands were now aware of the 4th Korea's existence and Kwang-su had made it apparent that they would seek to destroy them along with the aliens. So instead of making a friend today Bremer had made a new enemy. They might have skimmed off some of Kwang-su's men off the fringes but many more were out there in Seoul with their guns now pointed towards the 4th Korea. Bremer's reflections were interrupted when Vargas slid open the back window of the truck and broke the standing silence outside.

"So what was the Emperor like?" asked Vargas.

"The Emperor is a madman; he's a paranoid amoral ideologue, he can't be reasoned with." Bremer answered after seeming to thinking it over for a while.

He wasn't thinking over what to say, that answer was clear. What gave him the long pause was he wasn't expecting to say anything at that time. Vargas had apparently sensed his dissatisfaction and decided to appease his own curiosity to keep Bremer from dwelling on what he believed to be a failure. In Vargas' mind it was not a failure; Kwang-su was a monster that needed to be dealt with. Perhaps not so soon, but he did have to be dealt with decisively at some point. "If not now then when?" Vargas told himself. As for the mission being a failure their overall casualties were not all that high when stacked up against the Empire's and the aliens' for that matter. The 4th had been the third wheel most of the time during the battle and took most of their losses prior to the Empire's arrival and during the retreat. Sad as it was to lose people in the grand strategy of things the day's events could be considered a minor victory.

"That bad huh?" Vargas asked.

"Yeah he's preoccupied with shaping the world in his image when the fighting ends." Bremer replied.

"Seriously he appears to be more concerned with other humans than he is with the aliens. He's going to come for us and he's not going to stop. It's only a matter of time before he finds us and wipes us out." Bremer continued.

"That's reassuring, as if we didn't have enough problems." Vargas sarcastically replied.

"So what's the plan now?" asked Vargas

"If we want to make it through this then we're going to hit him before he can hit us." Bremer replied.

"You know you have my support. I've been the one saying this guy has to be brought down from the beginning." Vargas pledged.

"Its people like that'll turn the dream we're fighting to restore into a nightmare" Vargas added.

"That sounds just like him. Will there ever be peace in our time." Bremer groaned.

"Now that I think of it, all of this does bring to mind the question that if and when we win this war what will our civilization look like afterwards." Vargas mentioned.

"I wouldn't bother worrying about that now. We first have to win the war." Bremer replied.

"Indeed." Vargas concurred.

They continued driving along for several more minutes in silence and letting their minds wander until Bremer broke the silence.

"You know what I don't get? This asshole has an army ten times the size of ours and yet the aliens haven't made any serious aggressive moves against him until just recently; why is that?" Bremer asked in frustration.

"Seriously, for all their vast knowledge these aliens don't seem to understand human behavior at all. It's like they can't see that he's not just butchering people without cause, he's consolidating all these various human groups against them. We might loathe his means of doing so but that is surely what he is doing." Bremer continued.

Kwang-su was a much greater threat to their designs that the 4th Korea yet there was no indication that other than minor skirmishes the aliens truly were engaging him on the same level that they had hounded the 4th with early on. How else would Kwang-su be able to amass the forces he had unless the aliens had given him the space to do so? The recent bombing scourge it seemed was more of a knee jerk reaction to something he must have done to interfere with their purposes.

"Or maybe they do. Maybe they were waiting until he consolidates all of the local human resistance in one place and then they'll come in and take him out like they did with us?" suggested Vargas.

"Spiders, doing something smart? That'll be a first." commented Bremer.

"It didn't seem to be a very effective tactic. He weathered what they threw at him with quite a bit of men and materiel the other end." Bremer added.

"They could've jumped the gun this time, next time he might not be so lucky." Vargas postulated.

"From what I've seen they are learning. Their tactics have evolved considerably in the days since our first engagement. When they first rolled into Seongnam they came at us head on like a bunch of idiots, now they're dividing their forces, flanking us, setting ambushes, deploying new units, and adapting to our weapons and tactics. They're studying our behavior and building new plans around it so much so to the point they're starting to know what we're going to do before we do." Vargas continued.

"Don't give them too much credit Chico. They can't read minds, though I'd be surprised if they hadn't found a way to infiltrate human groups and observe them up close. Might want to keep an eye out for spies, or drones or anything suspicious like that." Bremer replied.

"I'm keeping an eye out sir." Vargas assured Bremer.

"They can't be too smart. If I was the lizard king up there I would've knocked this guy off a long time ago or found some way to turn him to their purposes. . . . Wait, do you think?" one of the soldiers riding with Bremer and Vargas began to speculate.

"No, I don't think so. His actions are too inconsistent to be a collaborator. He's just a fool full of desire and burning with rage. There's no indication of love between him and the aliens from what I've seen. They might think they can channel his rage for their purposes but it's going to burn them in the process." Vargas presumed.

"Besides if he was a collaborator he wouldn't be blowing up the ET's stuff." Vargas added.

"Unless it's part of the act." Bremer commented.

"If it was then we would seriously have to give props to the crabs for the lengths they would go to decieve us. Honestly I don't think they think highly enough of us to go to all that trouble." Vargas replied.

"You're probably right Chico. Speaking of how they left him alone long enough so that he could build up his forces like that, don't you think they're doing the opposite to us now?" Bremer asked, noting how the aliens had allowed their network to grow under their very noses, assuming the aliens had noses.

"I think the aliens can't tell the difference between us and the Empire. To the aliens all humans are one and the same. We're simply vermin to be destroyed. They go after whichever nest of humans is giving them the most cause for alarm at the time." Vargas replied.

"I mean to us all ants are one and the same but if you step in one colony of ants that starts biting you then you sure as hell won't be thinking about all the tiny little ant hills down the street. We used to deal with ants on a case to case basis. You got a problem with ants, you go after the ones that are causing the problem you don't go out and try to exterminate the species. Without knowing the alien's objectives we can't really say how much of a nuisance or a resource we are." Vargas said.

"So from their perspective it looks like we are just senselessly fighting each other, that might be something we can use against them." Bremer mused.

"Or they can use against us if they think we are one and the same. If what the Empire is doing affects their disposition towards us then all the more reason to deal with the Empire as soon as possible." Vargas commented.

"Well for once Chico I'll admit it, you were right. Even in the worst of times I guess you can't expect the best in people to win through. We'll do it your way now." Bremer conceded.

Oddly enough this time it had Vargas who had advocated a tough course of action over Bremer. Usually it was the other way around with Vargas urging restraint and Bremer wanting to charge in. He had a soft spot, perhaps stemming from his beliefs and would be hesitant to act in certain situations though often their disagreements both now and during the time the two of them served together in former wars were more a question of the means than the ends. This time until meeting the Emperor they were at odds over the ends. Bremer had assumed that it was over ideological grounds that Vargas advocated outright aggression against Kwang-su and his minions. This was only a half-truth for as Vargas found their actions as of late abhorrent it was not the beliefs of the Empire's leadership that had convinced him war was the answer. While he still held strong views on many things he believed that the ideological divide separating humans was a thing of the past, at least while there were aliens among them. In a way his own slant of idealism hoped if and when they took the planet back that people could coexist and not have to coerce others against their will into any particular way of thinking. Through his own bias filter Vargas often perceived that it was people like Kwang-su who would not allow that to happen despite the fact he had come across plenty of people on his own side of the aisle back in the states that would be just as militant as the phony Emperor was. For all of his own ardent social, religious and political beliefs Vargas had an adept mind for strategy and he understood human nature. From a distance he was one who could always step back and see things in an objective rational light despite his emotional attachment to those he served with and the innocents caught in the crossfire which often could come into play when in the thick of things; even after the world ended Vargas was still the type who would take a bullet for a friend. He also was well studied and understood quite a bit of the science and history behind things. While his strongly held and uncompromising positions coupled with his tendency to become emotionally attached could be seen as a leadership fault Bremer could definitely count on Vargas as a strategist.

As Bremer and Vargas talked to pass the time on the ride towards Seongnam their thoughts shifted from aliens and the Empire to those who had for now become their allies. While some casual banter had been exchanged during combat the 4th Korea still had yet to formally meet their new allies. Yet they traveled together as if they were trustworthy, having proven themselves thus far. Whether to lead them all the way back to Seongnam or not was still yet to be decided. Now that the threats against them had seemed to recede into the background it was a question that now deserved an answer.

"What about the new guys, you think we should bring them back to our base or drop them off somewhere along the way?" Bremer asked, seeking Vargas' advice on the matter.

"I say leave it up to them. They helped us back there of their own free will without any pressure from us, they should be free to come and go as they please. If we press people into our service we're no different than the Empire." Vargas replied.

"In that respect only, we're still way different than those guys." Bremer quipped.

"So what do you think of asking them to join us? Should we at least extend them the invitation?" Bremer clarified the question.

"Not sure, I want to say yes, The decent moral human being in me says that's the right thing to do but seeing how things have been turning out recently I don't know. What if we can't trust them?" Vargas asked in response.

"We do what the Empire does; take their shit and kill them." Bremer plainly answered.

Vargas looked astonished that Bremer would say something like that. His jaw dropped open slightly and his eyes widened as he was at a loss for words; not that he couldn't debate this point but that it was unexpected coming from his friend. The ways of the world had indeed changed people.

"Ehhh, maybe not kill them, but leave the out on their own somewhere far away." Bremer lightheartedly added leaving Vargas unsure of whether his initial response was serious or in jest.

"Oh shit! Everyone quiet. Chico turn down that way." Bremer ordered after spotting mech searchlights ahead of them.

They were hushed as they passed close by to what appeared to be a power plant of heavy manufacturing operation which was bustling with alien activity. After being forced to alter course to avoid detection, thankfully not being noticed by the occupying force at the power station they once again went under the Yeongdong expressway taking minor fire from a lone mech passing above them. It was clear they needed time to let their vehicles cool down and let their nerves unwind before they proceeded further. After a time of maneuvering and searching for the right location to do so the 4th and their allies parked within a warehousing complex. They pulled many of their vehicles inside under the cover of the corrugated steel buildings which had since been plundered, probably by the aliens of the hefty steel coils which they used to contain. With the warehouses being empty there was no need for a permanent alien presence here and with the more threatening vehicles parked under cover the 4th Korea's presence looked less intimidating from the air. Barring no hostile actions by outside forces here they could wait a couple hours or set down for the night.


	98. Chapter 98: Respect By Association Pt 2

Chapter XCVIII: Respect By Association - Part 2

31 Oct 2102 KST

Yongin, South Korea

Min-ho and his compatriots followed suit with the 4th Korea when they hid amidst the wide corrugated steel warehouses. He parked his own vehicle inside the largest warehouse at the center of the complex followed by the rest of the military grade vehicles in their company. Lastly Min-ji and Sun-mi parked theirs next to the entrance of that particular warehouse while their modified civilian vehicles remained outside intermingled with those of the 4th Korea that were not taken inside the other warehouses. There was little communication between the two groups since combat actions had ended but it was clear to Min-ho and others what the 4th was trying to do here. Alien bombers would be crisscrossing the skies tonight looking to eliminate the human implements of war. Their best chance to escape destruction was to hide their equipment and make it appear as if it was inoperable.

Once they were gathered together and parked Sun-mi, Min-ji and Min-ho along with five other conscripts drawn from different groups that were thrown together with Min-ho's dismounted and went to entreat the leadership of the 4th Korea in their first formal dialogue. Sun-mi lightly jogged to the head of the group taking her place as the apparent leader. Min-ho had been appointed by the Imperials as he was seen to be the most pliable to their desires. While not the toughest fighter among them Sun-mi had the greater respect among her own people and now that they had broken ties with the Empire she believed that she now spoke for those in her group not present that night. Min-ho wasn't particularly offended by the slight as it shifted culpability for their actions off his shoulders. Should they find themselves recaptured he could always take up the line that the whole act of treason was Sun-mi's idea. Min-ji however burned with envy in her brother's stead. She saw Sun-mi as weak and in part blamed her for them being conscripted into this army to begin with. If Sun-mi had not been weak and released Jake then perhaps their group would not be counted among those who owed the Imperial Army fighters and they could have been at home safely hidden away from the day's foul events. Truth be told they probably would have been impressed into combat either way. The Baroness' disdain meant little when the Emperor and his generals considered the larger war. She also resented Sun-mi's impetuousness in forcing their hand to defect in the first place. Min-ji found herself reflecting on what had happened and hoped they had made the right decision. Despite her anger and jealousy she would have never left Sun-mi to die. The two of them had continued what was a love-hate relationship between them but in the most trying times they would each follow the other into the fire.

The Imperial defectors met with Vargas, Bremer, Jenkins, Yeon-woo, Ji-hwan, Hong-gi and Da-hee outside of the warehouse which Vargas had secured his vehicle in front of a school bus and a city bus parked alongside each other. Now that they had stopped those among the 4th with basic first aid skills took the medical kits that had been stashed in the buses and started to tend to the wounded. They had none in such critical condition that they could not afford to stop and wait out the enemy for a few hours. Those who required immediate medical attention had perished before the 4th and their friends had escaped the thick of the fighting. Most of the injuries now were simple gunshot wounds or cuts, bruises and lacerations from skitter attacks. These the soldiers could deal with themselves. Those with broken bones or other issues would have to wait until they returned home; in the meantime they were made as comfortable as possible. Those in Sun-mi and Min-ho's unit did the same, taking the time to tend to their own wounded and the two groups assisted each other in this. Min-ho's group had the advantage of having a couple medical professionals in their ranks though their specialties meant they didn't often deal with injuries such as those received on the battlefield. The one exception to this was Moon-soo, the middle aged surgeon who they had dealing with those who had bullet wounds where the bullet was still lodged in the flesh. At the same time as they took care of the damaged people in their units those who were more mechanically inclined made efforts to patch up the damaged machinery. They patched leaky hoses, plugged holes, tightened bolts, changed out a couple tires and checked for any conditions that would make the vehicles unsafe to drive back to base.

While their combined forces tended to their wounds the leaders of both sides at last met face to face without any pressing existential issues to rush the matter.

"On behalf of the 4th Korea I'd like to extend our heartfelt thanks to you for saving our butts back there. I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say I'm glad we didn't have to kill you all." Bremer greeted the defectors.

"With the way things are going we really didn't have that much of a choice." remarked Min-ho.

"Well I am glad that you made the choice to take our side. It couldn't have been an easy one. I'm Lt. Colonel David Bremer of the ROK 4th Army, formerly of the US 2nd Infantry Division, 72nd Armored Regiment. To my right is my right hand man First Sergeant Antonio Vargas and on my left is 2nd Lieutenant Tyrone Jenkins. The short guy in front of him is Staff Sergeant Yi Yeon-woo, the guy next to him is Ji-hwan, we made up a rank for him but I've forgotten it by now." Bremer introduced himself and his men.

He intentionally left out Hong-gi and Da-hee because they too were Imperial defectors and he did not want that fact to be shared when he couldn't fully trust his new allies not to return to the Empire.

"I'm Soo Sun-mi and this is Min-ho and his sister Min-ji. We came from a small band of survivors mostly family and close friends before we were forced into the Empire. We're not soldiers or cops or anything, just regular people drawn into irregular times." Sun-mi introduced herself.

"The rest of these people are from other groups like ours. They've got similar stories and similar situations." Sun-mi explained.

She and her ilk were not on a first name basis with any of them having just met them when the Empire cobbled their unit together so she couldn't speak anymore on their behalf.

"I'm Jae-hee from Gwanak District."

"Cheol-min from Guro District."

"Mi-yeon from Gwacheon City."

"Seo-geun from Songpa District

"Bora from Yangcheon District"

Each of the representatives from the five other groups stepped forward and introduced themselves in turn.

"We're also from Songpa District but a different group." mentioned Sun-mi.

"She wouldn't have heard of us. All the rest of my people were wiped out or in this unit here." Seo-geun stated.

"Same here. The aliens hit us hard because the Empire had stashed a bunch of IFVs and artillery pieces near the manufacturing plant we were hiding out in. They bombed us and then sent the crawlers in after us. We started with thirty people when the Empire annexed us; only five of us made it out that night." Bora added.

"I see. Good to have you all here now." Bremer replied.

Bremer turned to a couple of his soldiers. "Post a guard outside the sales office and send a couple men inside to cover the side door." he instructed them.

"We should probably take it inside away from any prying eyes we wouldn't want privy to our conversation." Bremer suggested.

"After you," Min-ho consented then looked over at Sun-mi and two of the others who nodded in concordance.

They entered into the sales office attached to the warehouse and closed the door behind them. Outside two soldiers from the 4th Korea stood guard. Bremer walked around a desk surrounded by papers, picture frames and office supplies that had fallen on the ground weeks ago and had been left that way ever since. The rest of the office was in a similar state of disarray. Smaller objects had all be knocked over or jostled from their usual resting places while some larger objects like filing cabinets, chairs and the like had simply been moved from the vibrations in the ground. Sun-mi stepped carefully around the shattered glass of a coffee pot as she made space for all of her people to stand comfortably in the room.

"You said you had no choice but to help us. Was that just you being modest or did you mean something by that?" Vargas asked. The question had been burning in his mind ever since they introduced themselves to each other.

"Yes. Life under the Empire's rules had been very severe. Up until the latest bombardment we had lost as many people due to their displeasure as we had to the aliens. They kept demanding more than we could give. We all knew we were living on borrowed time but we couldn't do anything about it because we knew no other way. Some time ago we came across an American soldier and then we saw you fighting against the Empire and knew there had to be another way we could be safe without having to live under the draconian system that Kwang-su wishes to impose upon us." Sun-mi answered.

"I know exactly what you mean. I've heard all the horror stories about what the Empire does to their own people. They're not exactly the most civilized lot out there." Bremer said.

"Yeah, and we're not really the cream of the crop according to the Imperials." Sun-mi mentioned.

"We were never considered good enough to join their army so we had to scavenge supplies and hold a small tract of real estate for them." Min-ho elaborated.

"They treated us like shit." Sun-mi curtly stated.

"If you weren't good enough then why put you on the front line?" inquired Bremer.

"They might not admit it but that bombing hurt them bad enough to force them to dig into their reserves so here we are," Min-ho replied.

"I see. Chalk one up for the bugs I guess." Bremer commented.

"If I may ask another question." Bremer said.

"Go ahead." Sun-mi replied.

"Where the hell did you get all that sweet hardware?" Bremer asked.

"Army equipment was lying all over the place after the bombardment. If it didn't move the aliens thought it was disabled so they left it alone. Truth is this shit is some hardy stuff and only couldn't move because all the civilian vehicles around it had boxed it in. What would come to be known as the Empire took the time to dig it out once the ET's stopped bombing the crap out of us and took possession. This is sort of how they were able to get on top of things so fast." Min-ho explained.

". .And they would trust all that gear with you guys?" Vargas asked in bewilderment.

"I know, shocking how easily they would toss heavy weapons to a bunch of slaves and throw them into battle huh?" Sun-mi sarcastically remarked.

"I think it was more necessity that forced their hand. We were intended to be the hammer that would cut off your retreat to the south and in order to guarantee we could do that the Empire couldn't be skimpy with our equipment. They really didn't want you guys to leave. By the same token they expected most of us to get killed in the process that's why they didn't designate their diehards to fill the role." Min-ho explained.

"Makes sense I suppose." Vargas said.

Bremer cleared his throat and stretched out his arms and back before standing up straight. "Now for the hard part." he said.

"Now we have to figure out what we are going to do from here. It seems you fellows had just pissed in the Emperor's eye and we're still left wondering where your loyalties lie. You seem like good people and all so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt on that one. So before I make any suggestions, tell me what do you want to do moving forward?" Bremer asked the defectors.

Most of them looked back at him as if they had no idea. Sun-mi was the obvious exception; she fully intended to join with them and stick it to the Empire for what it had done. With any luck their combined strength would be enough to break Kwang-su's grip on southern Seoul and liberate the districts in his possession.

"To tell you the truth I didn't think we'd make it this far so honestly I don't know." Min-ho replied. His sentiment was echoed by the representatives of the other units.

"Well we can't go back." said Mi-yeon.

"Even if we could, would you really want to?" Cheol-min responded.

"Now wait a minute, for some of us that might be true but what about those of us who really didn't have a say in command. There's still a way to talk ourselves out of this and go back to living our lives." Jae-hee suggested in a departure from the rebellious sentiment among them.

". . . and what kind of life was that?" Sun-mi angrily snapped.

"It was still a life. We could be dead if we walk away." Jae-hee said in his defense.

Min-ho remembered he once thought there was no choice other than the Empire or certain death. How foolish he had been. He might still have thought that way for pragmatic reasons only if it had not been for familial bonds dragging him into open rebellion. Jae-hee and his people weren't particularly prominent in the combat unit so it was understandable how he thought he could still slip out of this mess without getting dirty.

"It's a little too late to think about going back. We're too far gone for forgiveness. The Empire isn't likely to buy whatever excuses we give." Min-ho told the others.

"The Empire can fuck itself for all I care. We've slammed the door on that option the moment we decided not to shoot these people. I say we toss our lot in with them. Try to bring Kwang-su down." Sun-mi asserted.

"So we trade one king for another? We don't know anything about these people." Bora protested.

"They have to be better than the Empire." Sun-mi rebuffed her.

"Or they could be worse. I'll give them a chance but I'm not turning over our guns to them until I know what we're getting into." Bora said.

"She's right. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. For right now our interests may align but what happens after that. When things get rough are we going to go back to being serfs buried up to our eyeballs in taxation to support an army that can't even keep the bugs off our back?" Min-ho said.

"There's no army that can keep the bugs off our back." Min-ji remarked stating a sad truth.

"Ok, calm down everyone. No one is taking your guns away and there are no taxes in our jurisdiction. If you will hear me out I have a proposition for you." Bremer raised his voice and interrupted the argument.

The gathering hushed and looked over towards Bremer.

"Seeing as you saved our asses back there we will give you a choice. You can either join us and fight back off this alien infestation without worrying about the so called "Empire's" rules or we can part ways here and you can go off on your own merry way out there. Anarchy or chaos, take your pick." Bremer offered tossing an allusion to what Kwang-su had told him in his pitch.

"Isn't that a distinction without a difference?" Vargas asked.

"No it's not." Bremer succinctly replied.

"So what'll it be, anarchy or chaos? Which would you rather live with?" Bremer asked.

The leaders of the various groups discussed the proposal among themselves. Sun-mi of course was all for it. Min-ho and Min-ji supported the idea but were slightly hesitant about making any serious concessions when joining the 4th Korea. Bora was even more suspicions wanting full autonomy for her and those with her even if they stood together under the 4th Korea's banner. Cheol-min was nearly as passionate as Sun-mi about wresting control of the human resistance in Seoul away from Kwang-su and placing it in the hands of a more responsible party. Mi-yeon was in agreement for more pragmatic reasons. She knew they needed a strong group for protection and felt that the 4th would be more humane than the Empire but had no particular feelings towards one group or the other's ultimate goals. Unsurprisingly Jae-hee would have no part in this. He would not switch sides in this fight. Tonight was the limits to his traitorous behavior.

"I think that's a no brainer. We'd die out there on our own. That's how people end up pledging fealty to that madman who calls himself an Emperor. Seeing as we have another choice now we'll take it. Me and my crew will fight for you. When we head back outside I'll ask everyone else what they think. If any of them want to walk out on their own they will be welcome to do. They can take a gun and some ammo and be on their way but they'll have to leave whatever vehicles they came in with us. All the military vehicles will remain in our possession as will our weapons. Those who remain will fight alongside you but will not be answerable to your chain of command. If we are to be in this fight together we will do so as equals. Is this acceptable?" answered Min-ho.

"Of course. We're not forcing anyone to join here." Bremer replied.

"So long as you don't harm any of our people or threaten their safety with your actions you're free to do as you please." Bremer continued.

"Thank you. In that case I'm pleased we could come to terms." Min-ho said.

"We have more one request if you will hear us out." Sun-mi spoke up.

"Which is?" asked Bremer.

"We have people still within the city. If you help us get them out then we will be forever in your debt, all of us." Sun-mi implored

"Oh shit, yeah, we can't just leave them back there in Imperial territory. If this had been the first time we stepped out of line with the Empire's rules they might be ok but we've already made the Empire's shit list for other things so I doubt they'll withhold culpability from any of our people." Min-ho added.

"No problem. We'll help you get your people." Vargas jumped the gun and answered for Bremer.

"We better move quickly on that. The moment Emperor dickface finds out you betrayed him he's going to want to punish those close to you." Bremer replied.

"Indeed. It's not like the Imperials to take their time." Min-ho agreed.

"I'll go with them." Vargas volunteered.

"You sure Chico? You've just been through one hell of a firefight today, aren't you tired?" Bremer asked.

"Yeah, we don't have time to drop by the base first and they're going to need someone to guide them back. Besides I don't think I'm going to get any sleep any time soon." Vargas replied.

"You two go with him, in case he gets himself killed." Bremer turned and said to the two soldiers who were standing guard in inside the office.

"Gee sir, thanks for the vote of confidence." Vargas sarcastically remarked.

"You know I'm messing with you Chico. I need my best friend and First Sergeant back and still breathing tonight. You better not disappoint me bro." Bremer jokingly told him.

"I'll try not to sir." Vargas replied.

"What about the people in Gwacheon and the other districts? Won't they be at risk too?" asked Jenkins.

"It depends I guess. They'll come to our people first because of the animosity between us and because we're close by to where it all went down tonight. If we can make them think the whole thing was our idea then it might remove some of the blame from the rest of your units." Min-ho speculated.

"Still, that's an awfully big risk. We should still send some people to help evacuate the others too. I'll get a posse when we get back to base and head west to the other groups." Jenkins proposed.

"Don't worry about us. I'll go back to Gwanak district and pretend this whole thing never happened. The Empire isn't too great at record keeping when it comes to who they toss out to die for them. They only care who has paid their taxes. If any trouble comes to my people I should be able to talk our way out of it." Jae-hee said.

Bremer, Jenkins and Vargas all looked over at him with a mixture of concern and suspicion. Would he betray them to the Empire or did he simply want no part in this? Was there actually a chance that his companions in Gwanak District would be held blameless or was Jae-hee just being naive? As selfish as it would seem they also were concerned about losing whatever vehicles and weaponry the Gwanak fighters would be taking with them.

"We'll leave the gear with you as a sign of good faith. It'll also bolster my story in case they ask what happened. I'll say the trucks were blown up and we were left for dead when fighting you guys. It wouldn't look too good if I had their vehicles parked outside when they went to check up on me. If they get the notion I was a coward they'd probably make an example of me right then and there." Jae-hee added putting to rest at least one of the 4th Korea's fears.

"I'll go back to Guro District and see if I can convince the others to join you. I'll go alone; it'll only complicate things if your troops are seen with us. We're a large group with a lot of women and children to think of so it may be a tough sell. Anyone who I can get to come with me I'll bring back here in two days." Cheol-min said.

"I'll do the same in Gwacheon." Mi-yeon said.

"I understand. We'll make sure to send someone to meet you then. Don't be late." Bremer told them.

With that the Imperial defectors and the 4th Korea's representatives left the sales office. Min-ho, Min-ji and the other group leaders went to offer the agreed upon terms to the other members of their unit. Yeon-woo and Ji-hwan went to check in on the progress of the medics and mechanics to see when they would be ready to leave. While they were tending to their business Bremer, Vargas, Sun-mi and Jenkins stopped outside and scanned the night sky.

"Looks like the flyers have started to move on. You should be clear to make it to your people without any interference from the skies." Bremer commented.

That also meant Kwang-su's forces had dealt with the alien attack or dispersed and no longer were seen to be a threat deserving of airstrikes. Sun-mi was hardly optimistic enough to believe that Kwang-su had been vanquished. She knew he was still out there and the fighting between him and the aliens was winding down. Soon afterwards he would dispatch a team to punish her friends and family.

"We should get going." Vargas turned and said to Sun-mi.

The two of them then went off together. They gathered three fighters to go with them and got into a Humvee. Two of the three fighters accompanying them took a van and followed the Humvee as they took off back onto the road.

"Are you sure this will be enough space to get everyone? How many people are we picking up?" asked Vargas.

"Six or seven. We'll be fine." Sun-mi replied.

About twenty minutes after Sun-mi and Vargas left Min-ho came back to find Bremer among his men.

"We're ready to move when you are. Those who want no part in this are staying here for the night." Min-ho told Bremer.

"We're just about ready." Bremer replied.

He was a little uneasy about taking them to their base. He had already seen the despicable side of human nature once today and was in no mood to see it again. He had to fight his suspicions this time and give people a chance once again. Not everyone was a bad guy. He assured himself Min-ho's people wouldn't go on a killing spree or sell them out to the Emperor.

Soon enough the 4th and their new allies were ready to roll out. The fighters from Cheol-min and Mi-yeon's group remained with the 4th Korea while their leaders went back to draw more support from their respective camps. Jae-hee and three of the five others from his group decided to go back to Gwanak District and pray the Empire did not associate them with Min-ho and Sun-mi's treachery. He bore no ill will against the 4th Korea he just couldn't risk the lives of his people. A small number of people also remained behind in the warehouses and would attempt to go it alone. As for the bulk of their combined forces they were now en route to the 4th Korea's headquarters in Seongnam. For a second time Bremer had extended the olive branch of peace to his fellow man. The first time he had been done wrong, the second time he hoped that he would be done right by Min-ho and his crew; the universe owed him one.


	99. Chapter 99: Saving the Saviours - Part 1

Chapter IC: Saving the Saviours - Part One

31 Oct 2112 KST

Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea

While Bremer and Min-ho took their forces back to the 4th Korea's base in Seongnam Vargas and Sun-mi rode towards what had become her group's new urban refuge. Sun-mi drove the Humvee and Vargas sat next to her in the passenger seat. In the back of the Humvee one of the fighters from her and Min-ho's band stood ready with a sniper rifle in case of any interference from alien or human foes. Sun-mi was silent and appeared to never shift focus from the road while they traveled. Her mind was firmly fixed on her people and what could be happening to them at this very moment. She calculated the potential situations they could run into and game planned multiple courses of action for each one. All the while she tried to force back her fears and not make any mistakes on the way over there lest their efforts fail before they could even be launched. Her preoccupation was broadcast clearly to Vargas who too had strategized to some degree what he was going to do when he got wherever they were going. He couldn't plan to the same degree as Sun-mi because he knew nothing of where they were going and the disposition of friends, enemies and others in the area. He was hardened veteran of many battles both wars between humans and in wars with otherworldly beings. He knew what to do when they got there much the same as he knew how to put one foot in front of the other when he walked down the way. The stillness of the night combined with her cold focused silence gave cause for Vargas to worry however. She didn't seem to be one who could properly focus her fear and manage the situation around her. With pressure building it only increased the possibility she could slip up when it mattered so Vargas decided to try and pull her mind out of the fire so to speak. At the same time he could get a few answers to questions that had been bugging him since they met in the warehouse office.

"You said you've come across other Americans?" Vargas mentioned to Sun-mi as they drove along.

"Yes. We did." Sun-mi replied.

"When was this?" Vargas asked.

"About a week ago give or take." Sun-mi replied.

"This person, he was a legit American soldier or just some guy that happened to take the uniform off of one of our dead?" Vargas inquired.

"He was an American alright. He looked the part, acted the part, well somewhat, he did have an air of "going native" about him. I believe he said he came from Mississippi or Missouri or something, one of those provinces that starts with an "M."" Sun-mi replied.

"We call them States, not provinces. You want to know why?" Vargas asked.

"Sure, why?" Sun-mi replied though she really didn't care about the answer. It kept her mind off of her sister and eased her nerves however and that helped her evade the alien scouting parties that started to filter in once they got north of Seongnam.

"Well you see originally each state was like its own separate country like the state of Germany, the state of Japan, the state of Argentina and so on. A province denotes that a region is nothing more than an administrative district fully under the auspices of a central authority whereas the term state implies a level of independence. Now when our country was first founded it was more of a confederation of independent nation states which all lashed themselves together for the benefits of common defense and a common currency; sort of like the EU today but not as grossly inept I'd assume. Now over time those in power just went off and shit all over our founding documents and starting illegally turning the US into some centralized imperial bureaucracy but it's not supposed to be that way. If it hadn't been for the alien attacks I'd wager before the next generation came of age we might as well just call our states provinces since they've essentially been subjugated territory for close to a hundred years now." Vargas explained.

"Oh man, Ji-eun would have loved you." Sun-mi laughed remembering Ji-eun's disappointment in Jake's utter lack of interest in politics and world affairs.

Ji-eun had been longing for someone to talk to about such matters as it had been a large part of her job before the world broke down. Vargas would have been the perfect guy to engage her in that respect; too bad she didn't live long enough to meet him. She had passed away a few hours before she and Min-ho were taken to join the Imperial Army as a result of wounds sustained during the bombardment two nights prior. Sun-mi had not had a chance to grieve for her friend nor would she have the chance now; there were still too many things of the utmost urgency to occupy her attention. Reflection and mourning would have to wait.

Ji-eun wasn't the only one Sun-mi had to mourn the loss of. While the pledged forces of the Empire had suffered a greater toll at the hands of the alien's recent retribution this small vassal clan in northeastern Songpa District also had its share of loss that night. Min-ho and Min-ji had lost their father, Seung-won and their little cousin during the bombardment. Hae-il, the man who had been wounded when Jake had been among their company also had died during the alien attack. Dae-hyun, the former corporate executive type had lost his left leg when it was pinned under rubble.

"Oh, it was probably some of the patrols we sent to other districts had survived and found their way here." Vargas said pulling Sun-mi out of her sorrowful reminiscence towards her recently deceased loved ones.

"Do you remember what he or she looked like? I might actually know the soldier in question." Vargas asked.

"It was a he and well let's see; he had black hair, kind of scruffy looking and messed up but what can you expect with the way the world is now. He was healthy, neither fat nor thin; you could maybe say a little chubby, I don't know your standards are different than ours. He was naturally pale and you could really see what parts of him saw the sun and which parts didn't. He didn't have much of an accent. For the most part he was soft spoken and polite; he didn't have an attitude and kept to himself. He was pleasant to talk to but he didn't open up on his own, you kind of had to force him into it." Sun-mi gave her best recollection of Jake.

"That sounds an awful lot like our interpreter from the night of the bombardment. I sent him out to find help for the survivors we uncovered and we became separated during the second wave of the attack." Vargas mentioned.

"That guy was your interpreter?" Sun-mi asked.

That knowledge made a few things about Jake make a little more sense. It also brought about new concerns in Sun-mi's mind. All the time he had been with them Sun-mi and her group had underestimated his grasp on their language. He had spoken little Korean around them, primarily they dealt with Jake in English because they believed that was all he knew. They conducted their own dealings in Korean assuming that he wouldn't be privy to the knowledge of what they said and some of that business concerned him and the less than ethical plans they had for him back when they thought he would be of enough value to the Empire to get the boot off their own throats for a time. The things they had said around him that he was never meant to hear, he had heard all of it. He knew all their dark secrets, all their disinterest in his plight, and all their personal concerns that had no bearing on him. In spite of how rotten they might have seemed to him it did not change what he did for them in the end. Still he had helped them, a fact surprising enough in itself which was even more surprising now.

"Do you suppose he is still alive?" Vargas asked.

"I have no idea. The last we saw of him was days before that terrible air campaign. It all depends on where he was hiding out at; he never told us where he was staying. If he was anywhere nearby chances are he's buried under what was left of some building. There's still a chance though, some of us made it through that night alive and I guess if we could so could anyone." Sun-mi explained.

Vargas wondered about the feasibility of undertaking a rescue operation once their immediate priorities had been resolved. While Sun-mi's former encampment would be a good place to start, she could provide him with that knowledge, it had been two days since the bombardment and a week since Sun-mi had last seen Jake. Jake could have covered a lot of ground in that time, so in essence Vargas would have no idea where to start looking. If Jake was still alive he would have certainly moved on since then. That kid had enough smarts not to stay put in harm's way any longer than he had to.

Even if he wanted to go looking Vargas doubted Bremer would spare the resources given the aggressive nature of the Empire and the continued actions of the aliens against their eastern flank. For the moment it appeared if Jake was still out there he was on his own. If he wanted to find them Jake would have to come to them.

It wasn't long before Sun-mi parked the vehicles behind a post office in front of a narrow alleyway separating a pair of small gated homes in the southwestern fringes of Hanam bordering Songpa District where Sun-mi's group had been forced to relocate to following the bombardment. The homes were each single story red brick buildings sitting on top of a downstairs garage with a stairway that lead up to the front door. They were surrounded by a short red brick wall and sealed by a gate of with rectangular steel bars, once of which had been torn down. The post office was a small two story red brick building similar to the homes but appearing more official in nature. There were also other small shops in the area along with a few abandoned construction sites along the narrow one way alley which they were situated on. She turned off the headlights and cut the engine then looked over to Vargas.

"We're here." Sun-mi told him.


	100. Chapter 100: Saving the Saviours Part 2

Chapter C: Saving the Saviours - Part Two

31 Oct 2134 KST

Hanam, South Korea

Seo-hyun had parked their vehicles discreetly around the back of the post office where they could not be seen from the street. Two of the men stayed behind with the vehicles ready to make a quick getaway while Sun-mi, Vargas and the other fighter approached the house which Sun-mi's people were staying in.

"Don't shoot it's me, Sun-mi and I've brought friends! They're not with the Empire. Please don't shoot! We're coming up now!" Sun-mi shouted as she walked up to and opened the gate.

Sun-mi shut the gate behind them carefully as if not to make any noise. She then led Vargas and their escort to the front door which was ironically on the side of the house at the end of a flight of steps that ran alongside the building from the front of the house facing the street to where the front door was. When they reached the bottom of the steps the front door unlocked, opened and out stepped Seung-hwa with a submachine gun, arguably the best weapon they had.

"Well hurry up already!" Seung-hwa urged them.

They quickly got inside and shut the door before anyone said another word. Seo-hyun, the co-leader of the faction and one of their other fighters was in the main room. The injured Dae-hyun rested in the back bedroom as did Eun-mi and the last remaining fighter of the group stood guard over them. The living room had been rearranged to where the worn cloth covered couch was against the wall by the front door and could be slid in front of it along with a wooden table in the back of the room to barricade the one entrance to the building. The television and its associated stand and various pieces of artwork and other clutter that had no use to them at the present time had been tossed out the front window and now formed a pile of rubbish on the front lawn. The house itself was very small, positioned over a garage of the same size. Aside from the living room which was the largest room there was an adjacent kitchen behind a built in countertop adjacent to the front door. On the other side of the living room was a small hall leading back to the back room which was supposed to be the master bedroom. In the hallway there was a closet, a small bathroom and a second bedroom which wasn't much bigger than a closet itself. Based on the stuff that was thrown out of these bedrooms to make room for Sun-mi's people those who lived in her before them were a married couple with a young son. The man apparently worked in the building trades while the woman was a teacher. They didn't have an extensive wardrobe but what they did own was nice and in good condition. The little boy was into all things Transformers and Gundam related and had a few outdated Nintendo games as well. They didn't leave behind much food which suggested they either took it with them or didn't have much to begin with. Most of the meager supplies that were present in the cupboards now were scavenged by Sun-mi's group from elsewhere.

"So you made it back? Where's Min-ho and Min-ji? Are they still. . ." Seung-hwa asked.

"Yes, they're still alive." Sun-mi interrupted and answered his last question before it could be asked.

"Thank heavens, I've already lost my brother and my son; I'd like to see my niece and nephew make it through another couple birthdays if that's not too much to ask." Seung-hwa declared in great relief upon hearing the good news.

"This is one of squad mates and this is an American soldier we ran into; he's with what's left of the Army. Min-ho and Min-ji are with them." Sun-mi introduced her companions to the others.

"I didn't think the Army still existed, with the Empire and all filling the void." Seung-hwa commented.

"Have some faith in us brother, we're still fighting out there. They aliens pushed us out of the city but we've managed to hang on. As for the Empire we intend to do something about them as well." Vargas replied.

"So that kid wasn't just a stray." mused Seo-hyun who was slumped over on her side on the couch behind them.

"Actually he wasn't with them at the time. He was MIA since the invasion." Sun-mi informed her.

"Yeah, circumstances kept us from making the rendezvous on time and when we did he was nowhere to be found. We presumed the air strikes had got him." Vargas said.

"Well he sure was lucky to have not fallen for the Empire then." Seo-hyun remarked as she sat up and yawned.

"That's what we're worried about right now. The Empire's not going to be too happy with us for switching sides so we're going to have to get all of you out of here and back to their base." Sun-mi explained.

"Well I better get ready then." Seo-hyun said as she got up and headed to the small bedroom to change out of her light sleepwear into some normal clothes.

"Where's Eun-mi?" asked Sun-mi.

"She's in the back room sleeping." replied Seung-hwa.

"I'm going to go get her. Everyone else get ready to go. Take only the guns and ammo; we can get more of everything else when we get back to the Army camp." Sun-mi ordered and then headed back to wake up her little sister.

"I'll cover the window and let you know if anything approaches." said the fighter that came with Vargas and Sun-mi.

Sun-mi went to the back room to get her sister and Dae-hyun while Seung-hwa and the other man went into the hall closet to retrieve their weapons leaving Vargas in the living room with the man on watch. Vargas stood back towards the wall, nervously hoping everyone would be ready soon. He knew they didn't have much time before something bad happened; that was the way it always had been since the invasion. Seung-hwa opened the closet door to find the group's meager armory. They had the submachine gun that was in his hand, one bolt action rifle, a banged up K2 army rifle and two shotguns, one which was Jake's and barely any more ammo than was already loaded into these weapons. Everything else had been given up in taxes.

Seung-hwa handed the rifle and one of the shotguns to the other man who went out into the living room. When Seo-hyun returned fully dressed and with a small bag of first aid supplies and changes of socks and undergarments for the group she was handed their sole box of mixed bullets.

Meanwhile Sun-mi went into the bedroom and knelt down at her sister's side who was asleep on a pile of clothes on the floor. Dae-hyun was snoring on the bed against the wall; Eun-mi always thought of others before herself and had freely offered up the bed to him. Sun-mi gently shook her sister to rouse her from her light slumber. She opened her eyes, confused at first but as she came to her senses the blank look on her face changed into a beaming smile and her eyes opened wide upon seeing her sister.

"Sun-mi! You're alright! I'm so glad to see you!" Eun-mi exclaimed.

"Glad to see you too. We've got to get you out of here so get up and put some shoes on." Sun-mi replied.

From the living room the guard at the window whistled softly as the silhouette of three vehicles pulled up out front with their lights off. Shortly thereafter Sun-mi's reunion was cut short by an RPG bursting through the front window.

"Get down!" Vargas shouted as he saw the rocket launch, grabbing a hold of Seo-hyun around her upper back and pulling her to the ground as he dropped onto his belly to avoid the detonation.

The other man of Sun-mi's group in the room followed suit, taking refuge underneath the table as did Seung-hwa from the hallway. The glass shattered as the rocket burst spewing a fireball into the living room. The fighter that had come in with Vargas and Sun-mi was standing too close to the window and had half of his face burnt off even though he too dropped to the ground. That man clutched his melting flesh and writhed in agony as the fireball expanded, scorching the walls and the ceiling. The drapes were ignited and quickly burned themselves up. The concussive force of the blast knocked down chunks of drywall from the ceiling and walls and fractured a couple support beams. Plumes of shredded insulation, dust and dried paint fell from above onto the floor and people below. Shards of broken glass and burning wood trim sprayed into the room from the window and fell down all across the carpet leaving tiny flames burning like candle lights all over the floor. Vargas held Seo-hyun's shoulders and head down and positioned his back to shield her exposed skin from the rain of razor sharp glass and flaming splinters that pelted his outer clothing. Vargas felt the debris peck at his back and make the back of his head itch and sting from the tiny bits of debris that got into his hair. When the dust settled and an unnerving calm spread throughout the house Vargas let go of Seo-hyun and rolled away. He looked up and around, still lying flat on his belly and signaling to everyone else to stay down as well so that their attackers outside could not see them.

Outside the front window an Imperial Humvee, a blue compact car and a beat up purple pickup truck were parked at the front gate. A portly man in army green body armor sporting twin bandoliers of belted .50 caliber ammunition on one and 20mm autocannon rounds on the other sat at the gunners perch behind a mounted machine gun turret. Two men stood in front of the Humvee wearing police issue tactical gear and bandanas over their noses and mouth to keep out the smoke and fumes from the fires they were expecting to ignite. One of the two men wearing square bronze metal framed glasses held the smoking RPG launcher and carried two more RPGs in a quiver on his back. The other carried a standard issue K2 rifle with an attached scope. Another two men had gotten out of the back of the compact car, one with a Milkor grenade launcher and a pistol, the other with a bolt action hunting rifle, and took position behind the car. In the back of the pickup were four men carrying combat rifles and submachine guns. One of them hopped down and sought cover behind the Humvee, while two others did the same behind the side of the truck and the third took aim kneeling in the bed of the truck. Each of the vehicles also had someone in the driver and passenger seats making for a total of fifteen fighters. This gave them a four man advantage over Vargas and Sun-mi's eleven, two of which were waiting in the Humvee behind the post office and three of those in the house were in no condition to fight.

The man at the gunner's station reached down and pulled out a megaphone. Apparently they had managed to fix it because it crackled to life when the gunner raised it to his face.

"If any of you fucktards are still alive in there come out with your hands above your head, line up in the street and kiss the ground. If you do that without giving us any trouble we promise to let half of you live. If as much as one bullet flies then the deal's off and every one of you will die tonight!" the gunner loudly and forcefully demanded.

"Does he actually expect us to take that shit deal?" Seung-hwa grumbled.

Meanwhile the loud noise had jostled Dae-hyun from his sleep. Sun-mi quickly calmed him down and apprised him of the situation. While Eun-mi got her shoes on and Sun-mi helped Dae-hyun out of bed the guard in the back room kept a close watch on the rear of the building in case anyone tried to come around back and lob explosives in through that window.

"So what do we do?" Seo-hyun whispered to Vargas.

"We make enough noise to get the aliens to notice us." Vargas answered.

"Then hopefully they show up, waste these assholes and we can get out of here."

Outside the Imperials were getting impatient from the lack of a response from the house. They knew the rocket hadn't killed everyone; they weren't stupid. The man at the gun turret of the Humvee motioned to the three men in the vicinity of the pickup who went around to the front door

Meanwhile Vargas crawled over to the table and with the help of the man hiding under it they were able to pull it down on its side to form a barricade facing the door to hide behind. Vargas and company remained silent and all pointed their weapons towards the door waiting for the knob to start jiggling and the door to be kicked in. While they were doing that Seung-hwa slid a shotgun over towards Seo-hyun which stopped a few feet short of her on the carpet. Seo-hyun crawled cautiously over the broken glass and shards of wood and drywall littering the ground and reached for the gun. As she extended her arm a burst of gunfire went through the window and peppered the far wall with bullet holes. The noise scared her and made her retract her arm. After it quieted down again Seo-hyun reached out and brushed up against the gun with her fingertips. She was too scared to crawl any closer lest she attract for gunfire from outside. The fact no one had a clear line of sight on her from the outside did not register in her mind; fear was firmly in control of her thought processes. She slowly dragged the gun towards her with her fingers, each time moving it closer to being able to be grasped and taken hold of. The wounded man by the window rolled over, clutching his face. The flesh had melted off the entire right side of his face and his entire chin and lower jaw leaving the exposed muscle tissue and bone blackened with severe third degree burns. His hair had been incinerated and what he had removed when extinguishing the flames with his hands still smoldered on the ground. His right eye was fused shut leaving him only his left from which to see out of. His sense of smell and taste were overwhelmed by his own charred flesh. If the sensation of pain didn't overwhelm the sensation of nausea he would have vomited. Only a quarter of his face was unharmed; if he survived his wounds he would be severely disfigured for the rest of his life. He didn't care about that now; he only wanted to stop the pain. He thought about the people from the group he was staying with before he was drafted. He had no family, no friends but he had his fellow survivors that he had come to know. In his mind he said his goodbyes to them should he not live to see their faces again. As he lamented on his loss and tried to numb his body from the agonizing pain of being cooked alive he saw a grenade come through the window and land next to him through his one good eye. Without hesitation he picked up the grenade and tossed it back out the window. It exploded in midair before it touched the ground outside.

At the moment the grenade detonated the front door was kicked in. Seo-hyun grabbed the shotgun just in time and blasted one the first one through the door in the stomach. The man's body armor absorbed some of the blast but it did not stop the force of the impact from knocking him back over the brick stair rail outside and landing flat on his back in the driveway. The second man through fired towards Seo-hyun who now ran into the hallway triggering gunfire from outside as she stood up. Bullets struck the floor and the walls but by some act of God Seo-hyun was unharmed. Vargas and the man behind the table opened fire shooting through the door hitting the third man non fatally while the second man pulled back and sought cover behind the brick wall of the house outside after spraying a burst of gunfire in Vargas' direction. Vargas and his ally hunched down and splinters were kicked up off the thick oak tabletop as a couple bullets dug into it. The second man reached his gun around and blindly sprayed bullets into the room. Vargas held his fire and urged his companion to conserve their ammo; they didn't have enough to wildly spray bullets around. The wounded man on the ground seized his gun and opened fire when one of the two men attempted to enter again. He hit the right thigh three times and both kneecaps of the second man before the invader fired upon his roasted flesh, easily piercing through his soft tissue and putting an end to his sufferings. Almost immediately thereafter Seung-hwa fired from around the corner to the hallway, hitting the second man in the ribs, right arm and neck thereby dropping him with fatal wounds. The third man, already wounded was killed in a brief exchange between Vargas and his companion.

While Vargas' companion reloaded another grenade plopped into the living room.

"Get back!" Vargas shouted as they all ran down the hallway for cover.

The grenade went off, ripping up the carpet beneath it, and catching more of the interior of the house on fire. Rifle fire also picked up when Vargas was sighted running into the hall. Vargas turned back and opened fire through the window from the safety of the hallway and then out the front door, failing to hit anything but continuing to make noise. Seung-hwa, Vargas and the fighter who was with him crept back out to the window. Vargas and Seung-hwa got on either side of the window while the other fighter slinked towards the door, drawing errant gunfire his way until he ducked down between the couch and the open doorway. Vargas and Seung-hwa being the only ones with automatic weapons quickly fired off a few rounds out the window and then pulled back behind the brick and mortar shell of the house before the Imperial troops could fire back. They did this a couple more times, once allowing the fighter in the doorway a clear enough shot thanks to their distraction that he could score a head shot against an Imperial fighter moving from behind the compact car to the pickup truck.

At this point the Imperials became agitated and the Humvee's gunner pointed the mounted machine gun towards the house and opened fire, moving the gun turret up and down and side to side. The barrage fired from the Humvee's gun turret battered into the front of the house, cracking its bricks and pounding them into dust. Several shots started to rip through the walls and even smash through both closets into the bathroom.

"Holy shit! Those sons of bitches are using mech bullets against us!" Vargas exclaimed as the rounds tore into the house. Vargas and Seung-hwa retreated to the back room along with the other fighter who was struck in the ankle by one of the mech rounds that completely tore his foot off. When the fighter fell forward to the ground Vargas crawled over and dragged him out of the line of fire while bullets crashed overhead and whirred through the air all around them.

As Vargas had anticipated however the sound of the firefight had drawn the aliens' attention. Being on high alert after the skirmish with the 4th and the Empire in Gangnam District a fairly well equipped alien patrol had moved nearby. The gunfire drew the attention of seven mechs and a host of skitters which swarmed onto the street from around the building opposite the post office. When the mechs appeared the Humvee's gunner twisted the mounted turret towards them and kept firing, thus giving Vargas and company time to regroup. Seo-hyun applied a crude tourniquet and bandaged up the ankle stub of the wounded fighter while the second guard in the back bedroom assisted Dae-hyun in getting up. Seung-hwa would have to carry the fighter once he was patched up so that left only four people to fight and clear the path for them when they made their escape. Sun-mi took the extra military rifle and handed it to her sister as the two of them prepared to join with Vargas and Seo-hyun.

The high caliber mech rounds brought down three of the enemy mechs before they even had a chance to open fire. When the mechs did fire back their retaliation was severe. A rocket was launched into the Humvee completely consuming it in the blast. The front bumper, the hood, fractured panels from the sides and roof of the vehicle, one of the doors and the remains of the gun turret were hurled in different directions. The leader of the Imperial squad or what was left of him was nowhere to be seen. The bottom part of his body along with the Humvee driver was entombed inside the burning hulk of mangled metal while his upper half was incinerated and spread out over a wide area in the form of ash and miniscule bone fragments. The other Imperial fighters opened fire on the skitters pouring out from the gaps between the mechs while the soldier with the RPG launcher took out a fourth mech and a grenade blew off a leg of a fifth. The mechs continued firing, cutting down two Imperial soldiers in the next barrage before a sixth mech was taken out by the last RPG, leaving only one mech standing as the skitters converged upon the remaining Imperial fighters. The fighters in the vehicles behind the post office laid low and did not engage the aliens. They watched bullets ping off the side of the last mech and a couple skitters collapse under fire as they gave their people a little longer to get back to them.

Inside everyone packed what they could carry and braced themselves for what would be a harrowing escape attempt.

"We're not going to get very far like this." Seo-hyun commented, noting that with their wounded they would not have much of a chance to evade their enemies outside.

"We've got a better chance now than when the aliens finish off those Imperial jackasses out there." Vargas said.

"Just follow me, we'll pave the way! The rest of you give us two minutes to draw their fire before coming out with the wounded." Vargas instructed the others.

Sun-mi took Eun-mi's hand in reassurance that things would turn out fine. They stayed back with the wounded while Vargas and Seo-hyun ran outside. Vargas and Seo-hyun sprinted out the driveway while shooting at the skitters. Seo-hyun took down one skitter with a single shotgun blast whereas it took Vargas five rounds from his rifle to put down another. Four skitters pulled away from the ten that were fighting the Imperials to chase down Vargas and Seo-hyun who led them around a second house. This allowed the Imperials to cut down a few more skitters and reposition most of their fighters behind the building across the street before the mech blew up the compact car and the pickup truck, killing one and wounding another whom the skitters finished off.

Now was the moment of truth; Sun-mi and Eun-mi led the wounded outside cutting down a skitter that stood in their path. Eun-mi shrieked in fear when she saw the creature coming at her upon reaching the base of the stairs thus drawing two more of them in their direction. Paralyzed with fear she couldn't fight back leaving Sun-mi to fire three rounds into the skitter before "click" she was out of bullets. Unwilling to let harm come to her sister Sun-mi bayoneted the skitter in the lower jaw, disorienting it enough to allow her to dodge the swipe of its right arm and allowing her to bayonet the creature fatally through the side of the head. Vargas took out the second skitter coming at them and attracted another towards himself thus clearing a gap for the wounded. The wounded raced ahead of Sun-mi and Eun-mi while the older sister tried to calm down the younger sister amidst a three way firefight. The mech turned to target the wounded only to have a spattering of Imperial bullets turn its attention back to a more threatening opponent. Vargas found himself out of ammo when the third skitter reached him leaving it to Seo-hyun while he reloaded. The wounded reached the vehicles and were loaded onboard as the Imperial forces dwindled down to two men and the aliens were left with four skitters and a mech. Vargas and Seo-hyun gave Sun-mi and her sister cover while the aliens overran the last of the Imperials allowing them to get into the van ahead of them.

"Get that TOW launcher in the back there and point it out the rear doors." the driver of the van instructed Seung-hwa after everyone was buckled in.

The van drove off as Vargas and Seo-hyun ran towards the Humvee with two skitters in hot pursuit. The driver of the Humvee fired at the skitters with his pistol, doing nothing but irritating the creatures and slowing them down. Vargas stopped, fired into the chest of one of the skitters and drove his bayonet through its chin as he was knocked back by the alien's final blow. Hanging out of the passenger side door, Seo-hyun fired her last shotgun shell to rip off one of the hind legs of the last skitter giving Vargas time to escape to the rear seat of the Humvee. They had all reached the vehicle safely though Vargas had been forced to leave his K2 behind. At least it wasn't his sniper rifle he thought as the Humvee sped away from the wounded skitter. When the vehicles hit the road the last remaining skitter and the mech turned to give chase. The rear doors of the van opened up and a TOW missile was launched which struck the legs of the mech as it attempted to jump over it. The top portion of the mech, while still functional was immobilized and tumbled onto the ground like a beach ball allowing the two vehicles to escape. For the time being it appeared the rescue had been pulled off. Sun-mi's kindness had been repaid and her people would soon be reunited with their kin at the 4th Korea's base camp in Seongnam.


	101. Chapter 101: Trick or Treat

Chapter CI: Trick or Treat

31 Oct 1730 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

While the aliens and human factions clashed to the west in Gangnam District and beyond it was fairly quiet around the neighborhood where Jake and his friends were staying. Most of the area was in shambles and the aliens had little reason since the recent air campaign to suspect any undesirable activity originating from this area. Aside from a few hours on the day following the airstrikes when a skitter sweep came through Jake had seen even fewer of the aliens than he had become accustomed to before. With this calm after the storm came a newfound sense of comfort though none of them would ever feel as safe as they did prior to the attack.

As they had been counting down the days to pass the time it was known by these four survivors that the month of October, the first month of the alien invasion, was nearly over. One month down and things didn't appear to be getting any better with the world. In fact they seemed to be getting worse. If this was a movie some kind of last ditch heroic action by the remnants of humanity would have driven the aliens off the planet by now. Alien invasions weren't supposed to last this long; well, so much for B movie logic thought Jake. With the way things looked now it appeared that the aliens were here to stay. He didn't really think there was much hope for mankind. We weren't going to beat them but that didn't necessarily mean all hope was lost. The only real hope any of them had was that eventually the creatures would become more benevolent or at least totally ignorant of whatever tiny fraction of the human race escapes their purge so that they could come out of the shadows and try to live some kind of life on the fringes of a new alien society. The fact that the aliens could have been much more aggressive in scouring the Earth, certainly they demonstrated that capability the opening night, led Jake to believe that at some negligible level the existence of the human species could be tolerable to their conquerors. His duty was to make sure that he and his friends were included among that negligible number of human survivors.

They were well stocked so Jake did not have to go out and make any supply runs since the attack. Even Min-jung had been scared into rationing water, using a wet sponge and soap as opposed to a full on bath like before. She still wouldn't let herself get all filthy like Jake and to a significantly lesser degree Hyuna would. Food didn't really seem to be much of a problem either. They had a decent stash saved up and both Min-jung and Hyuna ate like a bird. Jake was forcing himself into a diet to spread out their supplies even longer so the only one really eating full meals was Do-yeon. A growing boy needs his nourishment and certainly he had not had to go without since he was brought into the hotel with his mother. With fewer skitters running about and no sign of the Imperial menace lately their ammo stores were in no urgent need of replenishment either, granted they weren't likely to find any bullets within a several hour walk from their home as all of the military and police gear scattered amongst the slain and abandoned had all been picked clean by various parties or destroyed.

The end of the month also meant something else to Jake, Halloween. It was one of his favorite holidays; he enjoyed it as a kid and continued to celebrate it into his teenage and adult years. He had fond memories of his parents driving him into town so that he and some other kids that went with them could go trick or treating. They would sometimes go to the haunted houses set up across the state line in Louisiana and would stay up watching scary and often laughable movies. Even now with the world in ashes Jake felt a tiny bit of excitement over it. His roommates however didn't share his excitement. As Halloween wasn't really a big deal in Korea, it was celebrated mostly by foreigners if at all, the significance of the date escaped Jake's roommates. He of course had told his stories to Hyuna who herself was familiar with the custom and thought it would be fun to do something. So after a couple hours of talking between the two of them about what exactly they could do since there were no other humans around they could trust. They decided that this year they would do something for Do-yeon. Back in the States Halloween was still more of kid's holiday than an excuse for adults to throw a party and get drunk unlike that other Celtic holiday which was all about the booze. Do-yeon himself had never heard of Halloween nor had he gone trick or treating or anything like that so Jake wanted to share a little of his own childhood with them; besides the kid needed to get out and do something, he had been cooped up in that room for almost a month. Furthermore the events of the day had played out perfectly into their plans. While the aliens' attention was wholly drawn elsewhere now was the perfect time to do it.

So during the day Jake and Hyuna made themselves costumes out of worn out clothing or scraps of fabric and bed sheets that they found. This was nothing new for Jake; having grown up poor all of his Halloween costumes were hand made from junk at home. He and Hyuna also snuck away to set up a haunted house in a nearby building. Min-jung hadn't suspected anything; she had simply assumed the pair were skipping off to make out or something. So when the time came for them to sell the idea to Min-jung she was more than a little shocked.

"Are you serious? Is this really a good idea?" cynically asked Min-jung

"Yeah. Don't worry; we'll make sure nothing happens to him. I'll take my carbine just in case." Jake replied.

"It'll be fun." Hyuna added.

"Ehh... I don't know, sounds a little reckless if you ask me." Min-jung hesitantly replied.

"I assure you it'll be fine. It'll be no more dangerous than hanging around here. After all the work we put into it just let us give it a go. First sign of trouble we'll be back here before you notice we're even gone. I promise." Jake assured her.

Jake and Hyuna eagerly waited for her response in silence.

"Ugh, alright. You can take Do-yeon to your silly little carnival hut. I'm coming with you though." Min-jung reluctantly agreed.

"That's fine. We'll hide all our gear and lock it up before we go." Jake replied.

"If so much as one hair on his head is harmed I will make you regret ever being born." Min-jung sternly warned them.

"Not one will be harmed or out of place." pledged Jake.

"You better be able to live up to that promise mister." Min-jung said as she stepped forward to Jake and poked him in the chest.

"I will. You have my word." Jake promised her.

And with that Jake and Hyuna ran back upstairs to put the finishing touches on what would be Hyuna's costume for the night. Meanwhile Do-yeon was overcome with excitement after overhearing the conversation between his mother and Jake. He had been a good boy and didn't interrupt thinking that good behavior would earn him some points with his mom in this regard. Now he didn't really understand what was going on he just knew that it was a chance for him to get to go outside and play. How Jake described their attempt to approximate Halloween festivities sounded interesting enough. Do-yeon was a boy with a very vivid imagination so with whatever they did he could make it fun.

Later that evening as the sun was setting Hyuna went ahead of them to set up leaving Jake and Min-jung to bring Do-yeon over about an hour later. While they waited they looked through the fabric and other materials left over from what he and Hyuna had made earlier to create a costume for Do-yeon. Given the time and material constraints along with Do-yeon's own personal preferences he went dressed up as a vampire. Jake had tried to coax him into going as a clown but Do-yeon hated clowns so that wasn't going to happen. It was a rather simple costume to make, a red vest over a black shirt and dress pants which they already had along with a black cape which was cut from scavenged silk curtains. He popped in some novelty fangs, powdered his face with his mother's makeup and presto! He was a vampire. Jake had dressed himself up as a robot, painting himself along with his body armor grey and drawing circuits and switches on his outfit. The costume doubled as camouflage against the dark grey and white urban backdrop of the ruined city. Min-jung of course thought the whole concept was stupid and didn't dress up at all. She was actually dressed down from the usual attire she wore. It was ironic to Jake that on the one night where caking on makeup and pretending to be something you're not was all the rage it was one of the few times he had ever seen Min-jung without makeup on. It was not a sight Jake was very accustomed to seeing; even in the current state of affairs Min-jung was very self-conscious about her appearance. In a strange way he preferred that she left the makeup off; he thought it made her look more human. She was still radiant; Min-jung's beauty was not solely a surface trait. The modesty of it now just made her seem more relatable to mere humans such as himself.

Once they were dressed they headed out, running a few minutes behind schedule. Darkness had fallen which would now give the haunted house Jake and Hyuna had created the proper atmosphere it was intended to convey. He also knew that the aliens were more active at night and took caution concerning that fact as well which is why they left when the night was fresh rather that during the depths of midnight. As he promised Jake took his carbine when they left. Min-jung took a 9mm K5 pistol with her and all three of them took flashlights. As fortune would have it the real world menace they feared would be drawn away from their fantasy for most of the night. The echoes of the conflict which held the invaders' focus in this region could be detected even from this distance. As they walked down the darkened streets they heard thunderous booms in the distance and flashes of light would from time to time light up the horizon. A battle was being waged beyond their field of vision to the west, the faint sounds of which could be heard in the background of an otherwise peaceful night. The light of the stars and moon was enough for them to see their way ahead so they did not turn on their flashlights lest it draw attention away from the fighting a couple districts down. Here it was calm and everyone wanted it to remain that way. Jake and his friends were not the ones to be fighting the aliens, apparently there were others doing that task for them. Tonight was supposed to be a break from all of that. There would still be aliens in the morning and they could fret about them but for now all they wanted were just a few hours in which they could relax and enjoy the simple pleasures of a holiday only one of them really cared to know existed.

There was a slight cool breeze in the air that night which lifted Do-yeon's cape up behind him. Pretending he was a superhero he ran ahead thinking that he could fly. Jake smiled and watched Do-yeon get a chance to be a kid again then looked over at Min-jung and saw her beaming at her son as well, but only for a second. Once she had noticed that Jake saw her actually enjoying herself she put on a stern face and called out to Do-yeon who had run a good block ahead of them now.

"Do-yeon! Don't run too far ahead ok!" she warned him.

Do-yeon stopped for a minute and let his mom catch up to him. Then he ran around in circles in front of her and jumped into the air and stomped down. He then continued running around being the great vampire champion or "Vampion" of all things good. From the way Do-yeon was playing he seemed to equate vampires and superman as being basically the same thing by Jake's reckoning.

"Are you sure you didn't want to be Superman instead of a vampire?" Jake asked.

"No, because Superman is an alien and aliens are jerks." Do-yeon replied.

Jake laughed heartily; it was true though, the invaders were jerks.

"Not all of them. I'm sure there's got to be some good aliens out there somewhere." Jake replied.

"If the good aliens are real then I hope they hurry up and chase the bad aliens away from here real soon!" Do-yeon told him.

"So do I." Jake replied.

"Until then, the Vampion is here to protect you!" Do-yeon declared as he ran forward and kicked a dead skitter lying against the side of a building in the head.

Jake and Min-jung walked side by side watching Do-yeon play in the street. So this is what it felt like to be a parent, Jake thought. In a way he had become attached to Do-yeon as if he was his own son. Do-yeon was probably the closest thing he would ever have to a child of his own. He would be overly arrogant to think his odds were good enough to survive long enough to meet the right girl, live a little together then settle down and have a child. None of that had the remotest possibility of happening. Still it was an experience that Jake got to have with Do-yeon, a box that would not be left unchecked when he died. Both Jake and Min-jung were filled with warm feelings seeing the young boy enjoy himself on a cool October night. Almost out of instinct Jake went to hold Min-jung's hand as they watched Do-yeon play. Thinking as little of it as Jake did Min-jung took hold of Jake's hand and the two of them walked hand in hand down the street and around the corner until they brought Do-yeon to the location of the haunted house. Jake stepped forward letting Min-jung's hand fall away from his and walked ahead of her and Do-yeon up to the door of a nondescript two story building.

"Here we are." Jake stated.

"Are you ready to witness the horrors that await you inside? Blah, blah-blah!" Jake greeted Do-yeon with his best corny Vincent Price impression, his posture full of the faux spooky stage presence and all.

"Bring it on! Vampion can take it!" Do-yeon asserted placing his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest.

The building which had once been a department store that had closed down months before the invasion had been mostly cleared out of any items of value so scavengers weren't likely to be lurking around here any more than the aliens would. From the outside it was unremarkable; all the signage had been taking down so it looked like just another condemned structure. Ironic, a building that had been rejected for use by people was rejected for demolition by the aliens. Jake slowly opened the door slowly, intentionally making it creak and allowed Do-yeon access inside. Do-yeon's eyes lit up with excitement as Jake bid him entry. He seemed a little hesitant at first. What lay beyond blackness inside was a false horror to make a mockery of the real horrors outside. By all measure it would be scarier to wait outside though in Do-yeon's little game there were real monsters inside. The kid did have an active imagination that was for sure and Jake thinking fast exploited it to heighten the experience for him. Jake egged Do-yeon on to go inside making all sorts of goofy faces and noises to try and scare him which instead only made him laugh. While he was doing so he had lifted his eyes just slightly to see Min-jung looking at him; not at him and Do-yeon but at him. Jake glanced inside the door and made the first step inside to show Do-yeon it was alright to do so. Do-yeon crept into the deep darkness beyond the door with an act of apprehension being still immersed in his own little fantasy world. Min-jung followed at a distance behind Do-yeon to give him space to have his fun but be close enough in case she was needed. When Min-jung passed Jake the two of them looked each other in the eyes and Jake wiggled his gun a little to show her that he was prepared for anything unexpected. Jake knew that even within his fake haunted house the potential for real terror could be lurking. Min-jung nodded to show her approval though she hadn't even been thinking to scold him for the possible risk.

"Jake." Min-jung said followed by a few moments of silence where the two of them focused more on each other than on Do-yeon who had started to wander off into the darkness.

"I just want to say thank you for doing this for him. He hasn't really had a chance to let loose and have fun since it all happened." Min-jung said.

"Don't mention it. It's just as fun for me as it is for him." Jake said, blushing a little.

He then turned to look for Do-yeon. "Hey kid, where you at?" Jake asked.

"Right over here." Do-yeon said clicking on his flashlight to reveal his location.

Once everyone was inside Jake closed the door and shut out the ambient starlight from outside. Once immersed in pitch darkness Jake and Min-jung too turned on their flashlights. Around the empty display racks and shelves there were cobwebs made of pulled cotton and thread replete with spiders made of thin wire and construction paper. Jake led the way making up some ghost story as they went along. Jake pointed out some inflatable clowns smeared with tomato sauce and actual alien blood. Do-yeon was freaked out at the sight, not at the blood, but at the fact they were clowns. Jake then led him through a dense mesh of cobwebs towards the stairwell with had three ghosts made of bedsheets and a skeleton made of paper mache to greet Do-yeon when he arrived.

After passing through the cobwebs of pulled cotton and thread they went upstairs where more paper mache specters and cardboard ghouls awaited Do-yeon's discovery. The phony paper ghosts and skeletons didn't frighten Do-yeon in the least. He thought they were funny.

"Scared yet?" Jake asked.

"Ha ha, nope." Do-yeon boasted.

"As long as there aren't any more clowns nothing's going to faze him." Min-jung remarked.

"There aren't any more clowns are there?" Do-yeon asked.

"You just have to wait and see." Jake replied.

Seeing the light beams and hearing Do-yeon's voice nearby Hyuna knew that was her cue to action. She first used a rope and pulley system to move paper bats along a route which crossed Do-yeon's path. She then did the same thing for a few ghosts fabricated from cloth and streamers. After that she herself would become the next attraction. Hyuna who was dressed up as a zombie groaned and growled before emerging from the darkness behind Do-yeon. The groaning zombie sounds were as much to let Min-jung and Jake know it was her and not to shoot as they were for the effect on Do-yeon. Hyuna had managed to startle Do-yeon when she appeared, sending him running into his mother's arms. Once she saw Do-yeon running scared she giggled and stopped the act.

"It's just me. Don't be afraid, it'll be alright." Hyuna said, somewhat apologetically as Do-yeon seemed actually afraid.

"You must have made a really good zombie there." Jake remarked.

"I wasn't scared. I was just messing with you." Do-yeon said stepping away from his mother and pretending to not be afraid.

Jake and Hyuna chuckled. "That's right macho man, the Vampion isn't afraid of anything is he?" Jake asked him.

"Right!" Do-yeon declared.

Fear was perfectly normal in this day and age; in fact it was rather healthy to be afraid, and afraid of just about everything at that. Fear kept you alive so long as the fear didn't rule you. Do-yeon pretending it didn't exist was cute though. So they continued on with the remaining attractions upstairs, more cutesy craft ghouls, ghosts and gremlins, nothing to truly be afraid of but fun nonetheless. From then on Hyuna accompanied them as they visited the remaining attractions that had been set up.

"You ready for the really creepy part?" Jake asked.

"Show me what you got." Do-yeon replied.

They went back downstairs and that's when the attractions went from cute and artsy to flat out gory and gruesome. The first thing Do-yeon saw were real alien guts hanging from a clothing rack and smeared onto the floor. Next as they went around a corner they had a skitter with its skin flayed open and nailed against the wall. The internal soft skinned creature inside had been peeled away from its outer skin, revealing much of the underlying muscle tissue and dangled down from above. On the ground several severed skitter arms were fastened to the floor to emulate zombies rising from the graves. Do-yeon wasn't afraid of these things any more than he was of a smiley faced ghost made from a sheet. They were more unsettling to the adults in attendance than to the child.

"This is awesome!" Do-yeon exclaimed.

"Vampion versus the space mutants!" Do-yeon said smacking the head of a skitter which had been propped up and positioned as if it was coming out of the men's dressing room with one arm reaching out to grab a passerby.

The next feature was a severed mech arm coming out of a restroom holding a mannequin in its grasp. Do-yeon was amazed by this as he had never seen one of the mechs up close before. He ran up, felt and closely examined it even if it was just a blown off arm Jake had discovered nearby following the bombardment. Friendly fire, Jake had assumed, regardless it made a good prop. They then passed a mannequin covered in guts impaling a skitter's corpse with a sharped broomstick and then they got to the really scary part. Do-yeon yelped and jumped back when he saw a pair of mannequins dressed up as clowns, one of which was holding a butcher knife soaked in alien blood.

"Clowns!" he screamed.

He then bumped into something behind him and wheeled around to see an inflatable clown lying on its stomach with six skitter legs attached to its body to make it a clown-spider.

"Crawly clowns!" Do-yeon yelped and backpedaled into Jake.

Jake and Hyuna laughed at the sight. After all of their most horrific creations didn't irk him one bit it was the crawly clown that scared the snot out of the boy.

"There's a whole nest of crawly clowns over in the toy department." Jake whispered to Do-yeon.

"Nuh uh, we are not going there." Do-yeon replied eliciting more giggles from Hyuna and Jake.

Min-jung looked over the crawly clown, it had rainbow colored felt for drool, the characteristic red ball for a nose and two honker horns for ears coming out of a rainbow afro wig. There were even oversized shoes placed on the skitter feet attached to the crawly clown.

"You two have a messed up sense of humor." Min-jung remarked.

"Don't we?" Hyuna said happily while inadvertently putting her arm around Jake's waist and leaning into him.

"Is there anything else?" Min-jung asked.

"Not unless he wants to see the crawly clown nest, that's it." Jake replied.

"No, no, no, no, no! No crawly clowns!" Do-yeon insisted.

"Just clowns?" Hyuna asked.

"No clowns." Do-yeon replied.

"Then it looks like we're heading home." Min-jung said.

They started to make their way to the door they had come in.

"Oh wait!" Jake said stopping by a scarecrow before they left. "We forgot about this guy." Jake mentioned.

While Do-yeon walked up to the scarecrow Hyuna snuck around the back of the scarecrow and cranked an apparatus they had built to make a pair of gloved hands on sticks dump a bucket of assorted candy on top of Do-yeon.

"That's the closest we can come to trick or treating since it's just the four of us. Happy Halloween kid." Jake said while Do-yeon picked up the candy and small toys off the ground and put them into his bag.

After he had gathered his fill the four of them left and headed back home. It was a pleasant break from reality for all of them but like all good things it had to end. Little more than two blocks from the run down department store they encountered an unwelcome stranger who was also out prowling the neighborhood this Halloween. A skitter jumped out from around the corner and landed at arm's length in front of Jake. Hyuna backed up against the wall while Min-jung shrieked in fright for the first time tonight. Do-yeon quietly shrank back into his mother's arms as Jake instinctively shot the skitter in the face. At such close range the gunshot burst open the front of the creature's face like a balloon though the bullets did not pierce through the back of the skitter's head. The dark alien blood spattered out all over Jake's face and clothing. The skitter collapsed into a pile in front of Jake while Do-yeon started crying as Min-jung held him tightly against her. Hyuna got off the wall and looked around behind them as Jake cleared the corner with stiff movements, being fully alert and aware.

"It looks like it was out here on its own." Jake said.

He slung his gun over his back and dragged the skitter's body into a nearby building to hide it. Hyuna assisted him though her strength didn't really contribute much to the cause. When they were done they came back outside and found Do-yeon shaken up but good enough to go on.

"You ready to go kid? We got to get back home before any more of those things show up ok?" Jake knelt down and said to Do-yeon.

"Vampion's not afraid right?" Jake encouraged him.

Do-yeon nodded and let go of his mother. They all then made their way quickly yet carefully back home without any further incidents. One was enough and they all got through it without a scratch. It was still a good night, after all what is Halloween without a good scare?


	102. Chapter 102:The All Hallows Eve Massacre

Chapter CII: The All Hallows Eve Massacre

31 Oct 2322 KST

Gangseo District, Seoul, South Korea

A quiet stillness persisted in the night over the hardware store where many of the survivors of Flight 1437 still resided. While most of the people inside were sleeping inside the breakroom, offices, at the back of the store or in between the aisles two of the teenage boys that had been relocated here were standing guard at the front of the store behind the palisade wall of sharpened wood and rebar pikes. Williams and another stout lad were on guard by the back door as well. In nearly a month they had faced no danger when they were inside these four walls so the survivors understandably felt a sense of complacency here though they knew all too well the dangers roving about outside. The teenagers who had arrived here later were more astute to the threats the outside world presented than the adults who had been here since the invasion began.

The night started like any other, a mediocre cold meal followed by people setting down to sleep for the night. One by one the candle lights went out until only the flickering flame within glass lantern on the stool beside Williams and the light of the moon outside remained. The night grew deeper, the people inside unaware they were being watched from above. The boys on guard relaxed seeing everyone sleeping peacefully amidst the occasional snoring on an otherwise serene October night. It wasn't until that recognizable groaning foghorn sound of the mechs was heard that the senses of the two boys on watch were heightened. Williams' ears also perked up when he heard the sound as well. The sound seemed to be too loud to be coming from across the river. "It couldn't be too close by could it?" Williams wondered. They had traps and pipe bombs positioned on all the approaches to this block right? Unless they had forgotten to reset the triggers for the traps the last time they had come back from making a run. Williams tried to think back on what they had done or failed to do two days ago; he was positive they reset the traps.

His concern elevated as the stammering steps of mechs also began to draw near to their location. In a few minutes time the two boys up front watched as ominous light beams from a trio of mechs scanned the street in front of the hardware store. They seemed to be just passing by, the boys thought as they crouched down below the level of the storefront windows, peeking up ever so slightly to observe what was going on outside. Their cautious curiosity turned to fear when the mechs stopped outside and appeared to be looking around. The mechs' searchlights then turned towards the front door and windows of the store where the survivors were seeking refuge. The boys laid down flat behind the wall and remained completely still as the searchlights passed over them. In the back of the store Williams noticed the light beaming in through the storefront windows. He carefully leaned forward off his stool and crawled along the ground to quietly wake the people lying on the ground out of view from the front. When he woke the first woman up he placed his hand over her mouth to muffle her speech.

"Shh.. there might be trouble outside. We need to be ready." Williams whispered in as comforting a manner as he could.

He then proceeded to wake more people up, slowly and carefully, trying not to make any sounds if at all possible. The boys at the front of the store waited on edge with baited breath for the mechs to turn away. Williams too hoped that the danger would pass and quietly told all the people he roused from their slumber to stay down, stay alert and keep quiet. His hope this would be nothing more than a drill was dashed when he heard the nail bombs at the perimeter go off thereby signaling an impending attack. The explosions drew the attention of the mechs outside. If they hadn't already detected the humans inside the detonation of their traps certainly keyed them into their presence in the vicinity. The mechs backed away from the store and faced towards the afterglow of the explosion down one of the narrow streets to the south. From that street came a procession of skitters heading towards the mechs. Some of the skitters had minor wounds and others had nails lodged into their flesh; these were the lucky ones that were far enough away not to be killed by the human booby traps when they were triggered. Another series of explosions went off towards the west pulling the creatures' attention in that direction. Four skitters appeared on a nearby rooftop and made motions to the others that appeared as if they were communicating outside the range of human hearing.

Afterwards the mechs started to move off along with the gathering platoons of skitters. It was just a feint however because once the mechs reached the far side of the street they turned back around "staring" directly at the front of the hardware store. One of the mechs then launched a rocket into the store shattering the front window as it detonated near the inner defensive perimeter. A row of sharpened wooden stakes and rebar was blasted apart hurling the pieces of splintered pikes back into the store. Bits of wood and metal embedded themselves in the shelves and pierced the products contained in them. Paint oozed out of cans that had been punctured and items were jostled off the shelves and onto the people still sleeping between the aisles, startling them into awakedness and confirming without a doubt the enemy's suspicion of their presence.

Before the mechs could open fire on the spooked people inside that stood up the mech rocket triggered an unintended side effect by igniting and or bursting the gas cylinders set up as missiles aimed out the doorway. Several of these cylinders flew out with tremendous force towards the enemy that had fired first. One of the inert gas cylinders smashed into one of the mechs while another cylinder struck the side of the second of the three mechs tearing off its gun arm, one of its legs and ripping open a huge gash through the side of its main body. An argon cylinder flew off to the side and snatched up a skitter which it splattered against the wall of the building across from the store. Another cylinder filled with acetylene gas missed the mechs and exploded when it struck the opposing wall consuming several skitters in the detonation and leaving many more covered in burning debris which they brushed off their flame resistant exoskeletons. A few skitters were also dislodged from the rooftop of the building across the street and fell down onto the tarnished pavement below.

The third mech opened fire into the store tearing through the displays within and set off two more gas cylinders which haphazardly sprang through the blasted open window into the outside. This time the aliens kept out of their projected paths and the cylinders harmlessly smashed through the walls of nearby buildings where they eventually came to rest somewhere inside these buildings. The mech homed in and fired a precise burst to detonate the remaining acetylene cylinder set up on the other side of the storefront. The cylinder burst apart in a fireball swelling out into the store spewing jets of flame that shot out and arched through the air landing in various places around the front of the store. The force of the detonation further broke up a new gap in the row of pikes hurtling a large cloud of sharp debris inward. The fireballs and bits of burning debris looked like irregularly scattered candles when they came to rest. Some of the nearby wooden pikes that survived the explosion were set alight by the resultant flames.

Amidst the storm of flying debris one of the fractured fragments of the rebar pikes flew backwards between an aisle and struck Alice Newburgh, one of the two British women, in the side of the neck. The force of the impact which pierced her throat slammed her backwards and pinned her against the steel framed shelf behind her. Her partner, Jenny ran to her side as she slid down from a standing to a seated position. As Jenny grabbed the upper arms of her mate the mech outside fired through the shattered window frames gunning down several of the newly awoken adults who made haste to arm themselves to repel the attack or flee. Seeing the life drain from her beloved Alice's body Jenny's eyes overflowed with tears. Her peach toned cheeks went to red and her voice cracked and whimpered as she looked upon what she refused to believe.

"Alice? Alice!" sobbed Jenny.

Alice could not even give as much as a set of last words before her eyes went cold and her last breath escaped from both her mouth and the puncture wound upon her throat. Jenny shook Alice vigorously hoping to wake her up so that she could at least say goodbye. When that failed Jenny pulled away from Alice and slapped herself repeatedly hoping to wake herself up in the far off chances that this was some terrible dream. She bruised herself with the force of the slaps against her own face and when she knocked one of her back teeth out she knew that there was no way what she was experiencing wasn't real. With that realization she wrapped her arms around Alice and buried her face into her blood soaked nightshirt and bawled.

As Jenny was overcome by grief and regret the other survivors inside the store had just begun to return fire against the aliens outside. The bullets harmlessly nicked off the mech's armor as the mech rotated and sprayed bullets in a fan shaped pattern, tearing through walls and store displays to cut down several more of the defenders as they scurried to arm themselves and take the fight to the enemy. The skitters cautiously now crept out in front of the mechs and peered into the open gash at the front of the store. The mech sprayed a wide swath of bullets into the store piercing through cans, boxes and containers on the shelves as it shot up the aisles. Liquid seeping from ruptured cans of varnish flowed over to a burning chunk of wood and quickly ignited spawning a stream of fire as the flames combined with other flammable liquids leaking out onto the ground and down from the aisles. The fire illuminated the darkness of the store enough to banish the shadows which the humans were hiding in. This sudden change in luminosity caused the skitters outside to briefly shield their eyes and back away. The continued barrage of mech bullets burst cans of spray paint which exploded and even in places ignited when they burst too close to the flames. A young man standing too close to the paint display soon found himself engulfed in flames and ran down the aisle screaming until he dove onto the open floor and rolled around on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames. The man rolled about only long enough to perish; his efforts were ineffective in quenching the fire that had consumed him. As his flesh burned away the defenders refocused the whole of their retaliatory fire towards the mech. The bullets nicked off the armor leaving little more than a scratch on the machine's finish; each shot was as useless as the one that preceded it.

"Shoot roaches not robot you idiots!" screamed Petrikovich from the back of the room as he gathered up his rifle.

While the defenders redirected their fire at the skitters Melissa came upon Alice and Jenny as she passed between two of the aisles in the front where Alice had been slain.

"Oh my God. . ." gasped Melissa inaudible over the raging gunfire going in and out of the store.

A stream of mech bullets ripped through the air behind Melissa and burst through the rack on the next aisle over followed by a rocket which landed a couple aisles down in the other direction, fracturing the display frame and causing part of the aisle to collapse.

"Jenny, we've got to get out of here" Melissa said in a loud assertive voice.

Jenny did not respond she only clung tighter to her departed Alice. Melissa ran over next to her and knelt down.

"I know this can't be easy for you but if you don't leave you're going to end up the same as her." Melissa calmly implored her.

"It'd be better that way." Jenny quietly sniffled through much louder wailing tears.

"That's not what Alice would want. Please, you've got to get up." Melissa insisted.

There was no response as the fight raged on. Outside a few skitters had been struck down and others had been wounded by the human gunfire as they slowly crept towards the store. The mech paused between bursts allowing the skitters to proceed before again laying down another stream of suppressive fire to pin down the defenders.

"We got to go!" Melissa urged as she tried to pull Jenny off her partner.

Jenny pushed Melissa off her with enough force to shove her backwards down the aisle.

"Go! Go away!" she cried loudly.

As mech bullets flew past her and crashed through the aisles Melissa looked at her, sadly watching her cling to the body of her lost love as the last residual traces of warmth flowed out of it. She started to speak, as if to command Jenny to get up and go but in her heart Melissa knew that would be ineffective. She held her piece, watched and waited while the fighting continued to intensify around her. A round of gunshots followed by and explosion drew her attention to the right. She then looked back at Jenny, still clinging to Alice and sobbing and hesitated. Then reluctantly Melissa ran away, leaving Jenny to the same fate as her partner.

Melissa ran towards the back of the store taking with her a host of unarmed youngsters while the adult men and women formed two lines ahead of them behind what cover they could find. One of the last mech bullets struck a man in the chest near Melissa who fell backwards. Melissa sent the kids on ahead of her and crouched down beside the dying man.

"You're going to be alright." Melissa assured the man lifting him up to groans and grimaces.

"Take this." gasped the man, handing Melissa his gun.

Melissa took the gun and left the man to the care of a woman and an older teenage girl who came to tend to his wound. She then ran back, ushering all the kids she could find out of hiding and moving them away from the firefight.

Outside, the skitters vanguard had stopped its advance and for a moment allowed the gunshots to pepper their own ranks as they held their arms over their face to negate some of the damage. Regardless of this futile act several aliens fell wounded or slain in this brief halt to their advance. Some of the defenders still carelessly shot at the mech to no effect as if the next bullet might actually succeed where all others had failed as if the armor was being worn down by repeated attacks. As good a theory as any but as of yet one that would remain unproven. The mech seemed unfazed by the gunfire no matter how much it had received.

The lone mech then retreated down the street away from the store. It ceased firing once it slinked back around the corner out of the view of the humans inside thereby making way for the skitters to storm through the front of the store. The humans inside refocused their fire towards the skitters as they charged in with unconstrained speed. As the aliens hopped inside and poured through the gaps in the wall the defenders quickly shifted to melee combat using whatever they could find. Along the still intact portions of the row of pikes at the front of the store several skitters accidentally impaled themselves leading those which followed them to jump over the improvised pikes to avoid the same fate. A few of the skitters were shot and wounded in midair fell down onto the pikes and were skewered upon them as well.

Nazar Banin was near one of the skitters that fell upon the palisade. The sight of the rebar piercing through the skitter's lower jaw, through its mouth and out through the creature's right eye while the rest of its chest and legs were impaled in multiple other places startled him. Banin fell backwards and dropped his gun as the skitter in its death throes lashed out at him but struck nothing but air. Another skitter leapt and cleared the pikes to land in front of Banin. A husky Russian man brandishing a steel fencepost wrapped in barbed wire came to Banin's aid repeatedly bashing the skitter across the side of the head and straight on into the face until it's armor caved in and it's brains came gushing out. The burly man now spattered with iridium rich skitter blood cast aside his dented bludgeon and helped Banin get up. As he was doing so another skitter came from behind and shoved it's clawed hand into his back and out his chest, ripping out the man's heart along with a few vertebrae in the process. The skitter used the dead man as a shield against the gunshots from Banin and several others as the humans were forced back from the center of the palisade wall. A teenage boy with an improvised spear made of sharpened rebar speared that skitter from the side inciting the wounded skitter to backhand the youth with the body of the dead man. The teen was launched into the air and slammed into a busted down aisle where he was impaled through the chest by one of the dislodged steel support members. Having removed his shield of flesh momentarily the skitter found itself gunned down only to be replaced by two more skitters rushing to the front line. The center had broken and the enemy was breaking through.

The left side of the wall was soon abandoned as well when skitters smashed through the openings left by the mechs attack, widening them and carving out a path of slaughter amidst the defenders. Two of the Korean passengers of Flight 1437 were struck dead by a single skitter breaking through the barricade; one of the two had his neck snapped backward with a powerful backhand from the alien the other's head was seized by in the very same hand on the return swing and crushed by its grip. This particularly strong skitter was then took four bullets to the chest from nearby fighters who then were scattered into the interior of the store by other skitters. This seemingly invincible skitter bucked back on its hind legs and with its front legs knocked over one of the shelves pinning several teenage boys between two aisles. It then seized a Korean man who was swinging his gun like a club towards another skitter by the throat and hefted him up. Blood oozed out of the man's neck around where the skitter's fingers wrapped around it as the man gasped and choked until he drew his last breath. A Russian man with a pickaxe slammed it down on this stalwart skitter's back, lodging the bit in its hard shell. The skitter swung around and smacked the Russian with the body of the slain man in its hand, knocking him aside. The skitter then discarded the corpse and advanced towards his next victim. Before this alien champion claimed its next kill it was shot in the side of the head twice with a .45 magnum in the hands of Dr. Klauss.

"Good shot fearless leader." Petrikovich chuckled as he fired repeatedly at other skitters to give cover for the fighters in the front to withdraw deeper into the store.

"I was wondering when you would do something. Ha! ha!" Petrikovich laughed.

At that time Melissa led a group of young boys and girls past him who took shelter underneath the table and behind boxes in the back of the room.

"You got room for one more?" Melissa asked readying her gun.

"Get bullets out of box and join in." Petrikovich instructed her.

Melissa turned back towards the box Petrikovich was referencing and filled her pockets and pouch with bullets for her gun and went back to the firing line to assist the others picking off skitters to support the fighters holding the skitters back in the middle of the store.

Though they fought valiantly and suffered greatly the defenders had been pushed back, now fighting the skitters within the aisles and slowly retreating to the rear exit of the store. Klauss was not ready to issue a full retreat just yet though; there was still a chance they could repel this attack and relocate on their own terms. Now as they were mostly engaged in close combat the fighters on the front line exchanged their guns for hammers, pipes, axes, shovels and whatever other piercing or bludgeoning item they could take off the store shelves and turn it into a weapon. A boy was tossing circular saw blades as if they were shurikens into the hide of several skitters. Another man jabbed a skitter in the eye with a spade after it was stunned by a woman slamming a shovel onto the back of its head. Banin took a sledgehammer and crushed the armored skull of a skitter while he and another man aided a group of teenage girls in their flight to the back of the store. Not all of the teens were so keen to flee however; one 15 year old boy made a strong showing by shooting one skitter then taking up a garden hoe when another skitter snapped his gun in half. He used the hoe to cleave off the jaw of the skitter and then jammed it through its open maw to kill the creature as it was retracted raking out its brains. He then snapped the hoe on the shoulder of another skitter and used the sharpened wooden stick left behind to pierce the neck of the same skitter before the skitter twisted back, grabbed the side of his head and slammed it hard onto the floor. The boy's friend came to his aid and shot the skitter dead but it was too late to save him. Banin then took the second boy to the back as the skitters widened their hold on the store.

Once the initial shock troops had broken through the tough outer defenses of the hardware store a second round of skitters wielding single handed staff weapons followed behind them. While the first wave had focused on killing adults the second wave was targeting children. They held out the stubby staffs and squeezed down on them. This caused the staff to emit a short flash of purplish white light followed by an invisible pulse which struck several young boys thereby causing their bodies to fall limp to the floor. Immobilized but unharmed these boys were then snatched up by other skitters and carried away.

"Protect the children!" Dr. Klauss shouted upon seeing what the aliens were doing.

He then turned his .45 caliber revolver towards one of the staff wielding skitters and fired. The skitter being freakishly quickly raised its hand which absorbed the bullet within its flesh thus turning a potentially fatal gunshot into a flesh wound. Klauss then had to see to protecting his own person as two skitters scampered towards him, Svetlana, Melissa and Petrikovich at the back of the store.

The skitter's wielding stun sticks fired pulses which made a couple more teenager's bodies fall limp while their fellow warriors spread the human fighters through the aisles and towards the walls. The alien raiders continued to drop teens and youngsters along with a handful of adult women and even a few men as well. One of the stunned teenage girls was rescued by two men who killed the skitter sent to retrieve her. One of the men used a hacksaw to block the skitter's arm at the wrist while the other man snapped a 2x4 studded with nails on the creature's face. The nails stuck into the skitter's face causing it to reel backwards and allow the first man to take his gun off his back and shoot the creature in the throat to slay it. The second man discarded the broken 2x4 and scooped up the girl. The first man attempted to rescue a 7 yr old boy nearby but was knocked away by a skitter who then snatched up the unconscious child. The girl was brought to the back behind the firing line and laid up against the wall until she regained consciousness. The man then reached into a box he could now see the bottom of and grabbed handful of bullets to assist the other shooters.

"Get the kids into the restrooms in the back!" Svetlana shouted as she shot dead one of the wand wielding skitters.

A 13 year old boy near the recently deceased skitter got the bright idea to take the wand from the skitter and try it out against its former masters. He had seen it used before; all the aliens did was squeeze so it couldn't be that tough. When he retrieved the device from the skitter's cold dead hands it was a bit larger than he thought. What was like a wand in the hands of a skitter was more like a baseball ball in human hands. Nonetheless a magic wand or a magic staff it was a weapon that could turn the tide in this battle.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted the boy as he used the skitter's disabling wand against them causing one of the creatures to fall limp into a pile in front of him.

The boy whirled around and did the same thing to another skitter coming around for him from the side.

"Stupefy!" the boy repeated another spell phrase from the Harry Potter novels as he stunned a third skitter who was about to stun a group of small children racing towards the restrooms.

As the boy continued stunning skitters the melee fighters capitalize on their chances and easily slayed the immobilized creatures before they could get back up. The boy's luck would eventually run out. The skitter's recognized the boy as a danger and ensured he was the next one to be stunned. His last act was to stun the skitter that stunner him before slumping over against the wall to be soon carried away by the aliens.

"Get the kids to the back!" Klauss shouted

They couldn't leave the kids amidst the fighting nor could they send them out the back door for undoubtedly the skitters would be waiting there to seize them. They had to protect their youth at all costs. Williams held open the restroom door and fired his shotgun at the oncoming skitters while Petrikovich, Svetlana, Klauss and the Turks, Semet and Fatima provided suppressive fire to aid the melee fighters towards the front and allow the kids to retreat into what was essentially the most secure location in the store. Yulia meanwhile went out and escorted the children to safety shooting skitters or impaling them with a sharpened reciprocating saw blade that had been spot welded under the barrel of her gun like a bayonet. Melissa ran towards the breakroom with her gun and a claw hammer with another man wielding a large pipe wrench and fended off skitters long enough to rescue most of the children that were hiding in the breakroom. The younger children were given flashlights to see inside the dark restroom once the doors closed. The adults fortified the rear of the store and handed the older children weapons in case they failed. The teenage boys trapped within the aisle fell victim to the skitters as did a few others who were too slow to withdraw to the back. Once the remaining children were inside the restroom the door was locked and the survivors of Flight 1437 and their Korean allies prepared to make their last stand.

Petrikovich ran out of bullets holding back the swarm of skitters. Disgruntled and with nothing left to reload with he snatched a gas powered chainsaw off the wall. Petrikovich yanked the cord and started up the chainsaw just in time for him to bring it down on a charging skitter's forehead. Petrikovich pushed mightily against the skitter as the chainsaw sparked against the skitter's armored skull plate before it sliced through the softer facial skin and continued to dig into the armor. With time and effort Petrikovich cut split open the creature's head and sprayed out it's innards with the cycling of the chainsaw blade. Petrikovich removed the chainsaw and let the skitter fall forward in front of him only to swing the chainsaw sideways into the side of another nearby skitter. Once that one was dispatched he ducked one swiping hand coming for him from the other direction then sawed off the next hand before coming from below with the chainsaw to rip open the neck and chin of his third victim. The fourth skitter he had the misfortune to duel with while wielding the chainsaw swung at Petrikovich, lightly scratching his right cheek as he wasn't fast enough evading the attack before he could swing the chainsaw into the underarm of the skitter and cut off the limb which attacked him. Petrikovich yanked off the skitter's arm and used it to beat the creature back while jabbing at its chest with the chainsaw. Next to him Petrikovich saw another skitter knocking the gun out of Semet's hand.

"Be you needing a hand?" Petrikovich asked tossing a severed skitter's arm over to Semet

Semet took the skitter's hand and beat the creature senseless with it. As the skitter staggered backwards knocking over another aisle on top of a couple of its fellows Semet was able to retrieve his gun. He cast aside the severed skitter arm, picked up his gun and shot the skitter dead.

Yulia having completed her task with the children was now fighting alongside Williams, aiding him as he tried to reload with one hand. They formed the last line of defense outside the restroom door. They were doing good until a swarm of skitters enabled three of their kid to break past Petrikovich and Klauss and head for the restroom door. Williams shot one of them dead but then had to deal with the slow task of one handed reloading. Yulia speared one skitter in the chest but before she could retract her weapon the skitter hunched back and with her gun still stuck via the jury rigged bayonet in its chest Yulia was disarmed. Before she could think the third skitter grabbed her by the shoulders and flung her against the wall. Yulia slammed against the wall hard, knocking down packaged circular saw blades on top of her. Meanwhile the second skitter plucked Yulia's gun out of its chest like a man removing a thorn from his finger and advanced on Williams. Williams frantically finished a partial reload and shot the skitter twice but was knocked back over a chair in the process leaving Svetlana and Semet to cover for him against the swelling swarm. The third skitter made its way swiftly to Yulia before she could even start to pick herself up. The skitter stomped down on Yulia's chest with one of its front legs and while holding her in place it proceeded to grab her wrists and rip both of her arms off. The gaping bleeding holes where her limbs were yanked from her shoulder sockets quickly drained the former flight attendant of blood. Her eyes glazed over and rolled back and her screams faded leaving her opened mouth silent with her tongue limp inside.

"No!" Williams screamed as he tore the cheek off a skitter with his hooked hand and fired his sawed off shotgun at the skitter which killed Yulia.

The blast burst through one side of the creature's head and out the other painting the wall with its blood. Still fueled with rage Williams fired his last shot at a distant skitter, bringing it down but not killing it. Meanwhile their lines were buckling, their ranks thinning and breaking. The survivors, bloodied and increasingly hurt had been forced into a narrow arc between the restroom and the back door. Around the time Svetlana was killed and torn apart it became obvious to Klauss and the others that they were not going to hold onto this location anymore. They had to flee; sadly Klauss knew they would lose some of the kids but it was better than losing all of them if they were overrun in here.

"We can't hold them!" screamed Melissa as she retreated behind the water fountain in the hall around the corner from the restroom leading towards the small loading dock and the back door.

Skitters closed in and disemboweled another man covering her escape. Melissa returned fire along with Zheng who was behind a stack of pallets in front of the loading dock.

"Damn it! Get the kids out of here! We have to run!" Klauss commanded.

Williams was too embroiled in hand to hand combat to get to the door so the task was left to the Turks.

"Fatima, get the door. I will cover you!" Semet ordered his wife.

Fatima knocked on the door and explained to the children that they had to leave now. The door opened and the armed teenagers joined the fight allowing the youngsters passage towards the back door. Klauss and Banin retreated with the children while the others held back the tide of alien attackers.

Semet and Fatima had become separated following the latest surge of skitters. The each then found themselves surrounded and outnumbered. Semet fired into the chest of a skitter as it barreled through a display rack towards him. The rack fell upon Semet's legs and pinned him to the ground. The wounded skitter batted his gun out of his hands before he had a chance to use it. Meanwhile Semet reached for an axe that had been knocked down from the rack when the display fell. As he took a sharp blow to his right cheek which peeled off a sizeable chunk of skin his fingers managed to work the axe towards his hand. When the skitter's second blow came Semet took hold of the axe and used the sharp end of the axe bit to block the attack. The force of the skitter's own strike caused the axe to pierce through its wrist and nearly sever the limb. Semet forcefully yanked back the axe and struck the skitter in the side of the face driving the bit through the jaw before the handle snapped off. The skitter twisted and recoiled from the strike. In its throes of agony the creature threw one last vicious strike into the opened flesh on Semet's face hooking it's clawed fingers upward and gouging out Semet's right eye from the inside before retracting it's hand and falling to the side to perish with a clump of the contents on Semet's skull in its hand. As blood soaked into the fluid and delicate nervous tissue of Semet's brain his vision through his remaining eye blurred, distorted and went black. He began making all manner of inhuman sounds while gasping and crying in pain. His writhing beneath the display case did not last long for his death came swift soon after.

His wife, Fatima had seen his demise though she could do nothing to stop it as several skitters stood between her and her husband. She fought for her life and struggled to reach him to no avail. The shot she fired intended to end the skitter before its mortal strike could land instead struck another skitter in the shoulder as it was chasing down an immobilized boy that had fallen at the back of the store. She then had to turn to her own defense as another creature came at her from the side. With an assist from Nazar Banin taking a sledgehammer to the back of the skitter's neck Fatima was able to lance the stunned creature through the throat with her improvised bayonet fashioned from a sharpened drill bit duct taped under the barrel of her gun. She retracted her gun thus leaving the drill bit embedded in the creature as the duct tape failed to hold it in place. She then returned focus to her husband only to see that all hope for his rescue had been lost.

Fatima wailed at the loss of her husband and blindly fired at the skitters all around her. Two skitters were knocked back from the errant gunfire, one of which was slain the other after taking a shot to the abdomen lurched back and brushed the wound with one of its hands before charging forward again. Fatima's gun clicked as she realized she was out of bullets. She raised the gun up to club the monster in futility and prepared to join her husband in the afterlife.

When it seemed Fatima was done for Williams came out of nowhere and slammed his gun onto the side of the advancing skitter's head and pulled the trigger. With the barrel pressed against the skitter's skull the sawed off shotgun blast tore through the creature's hard shelled skull and out the other end spraying the skitter's brains and spattering patches of dark blood onto a nearby wall, sullying the items on display there.

"Get out of here!" Williams told her.

Crying, Fatima obeyed and ran towards the exit with Banin. Melissa was waiting there at the door for them and fired two shots at a skitter that had taken up pursuit. Zheng opened fire to take out a pair of skitters breaking away from Williams' futile assault to give chase. His gun clicked empty when he tried to aid Williams in his struggle. Grumbling Zheng reached into his pocket and loaded the last of his bullets into his rifle. Klauss and the other survivors that had clustered at the door took a deep breath and ran outside leaving Zheng and Melissa to cover them.

"Are you coming?" Banin shouted back to Williams as the remaining survivors began to make a hasty retreat.

Williams did not answer, he only fought harder. He was prepared to die today. One could say he wanted to die today. His survivor's guilt was acting up again it seemed. In spite of a clear defeat Williams would not leave the store. He continued to fight the skitters hopelessly against mounting odds. He could not live with himself if he ran while others died around him. His one handed shotgun proved effective at dispatching the skitters but for now he did not have time to reload it so it was merely a club to aid his hook in fighting the monsters hand to hand. Though it might have been what Williams wanted it fate would have it that Williams would not perish tonight. Banin opened fire on the skitters and drove them back from Williams. He then sprinted to Williams and took hold of his one natural hand and pulled Williams along with him as another Korean man was slain in the retreat. They were among the last few people to escape the store with their lives.

Meanwhile Klauss ran out into the street with the three oldest teens at his side. He was soon followed by Zheng and several of the other survivors who went out to make sure it was safe before the children made their escape. It was quiet on the back side of the store, all the violent chaos was effecting only the other side and within. Seeing that the coast was clear Klauss motioned for the children to be sent out. Zheng darted inside and sent out the rest of the kids into the stillness of the back alley. The stillness was deceiving however, once the children were outside five skitters dropped down from the roof of the hardware store with stun sticks to ambush the children. Acting fast, Klauss killed one of them and wounded another but it did not stop them. Other survivors left Klauss and the three teens with him to rescue the younger children. To counter them a band of three skitters ran around from the side of the building. Klauss unloaded the last of his ammo into two of these skitters before he could do no further good. In the end they couldn't save all of them. During the melee several more children were stunned and left to be taken away as the remaining fighters could not get close enough to them once the skitters closed in on them. The back lot became quiet as they were left with four dead skitters, and having rescued only two young boys, two teenage girls and a teenage boy.

The rest of the fighters exited the building soon afterwards with Melissa, Williams, Banin and Fatima being the last of them.

"It that everybody?" Klauss asked in disbelief upon seeing his sparse band of survivors gathered before him.

There were so few of them now; they lost so many more than they saved. Williams loaded a couple more shells into his gun and nodded. Banin took two homemade pipe bombs out from his backpack. He lit them as Melissa opened the door, allowing Williams to blast apart the head of a skitter trying to barge through then giving way for Banin to toss the bombs inside. Williams then braced the door shut as the bombs went off while Banin, Zheng and two other men pushed the dumpster in front of the door in order to slow the advance of the aliens. The remaining survivors then ran out into the back lot quickly catching up with Klauss and the others.

"Get to the truck!" Klauss shouted urging the group to get into the tow truck.

One of the flight's survivors, a Filipino man ran ahead of them, hopped into the driver's seat and started up the tow truck. As the group ran towards the tow truck a newly arrived mech launched a rocket into the front of the vehicle blasting apart the engine block and igniting the fuel tanks in a secondary explosion which completely destroyed the vehicle. The new mech was joined by the hidden original mech which opened fire on the group, scattering them as they ran for cover around the burning building and into an adjacent cross street.

After they were scattered the mechs ceased fire and allowed a squad of skitters to come running down the street. The skitters snatched up the two young boys and retreated while the rest of the group fled, unable to help them.

Petrikovich and Melissa led the youths into one of the nearby buildings while Williams took Fatima, Zheng and some of the other adults into another building across the street. Klauss, Banin and two Korean riflemen remained in the middle of the cross street and watched as several of the adults straggling behind were cut down in a hail of gunfire from the mechs. Those that escaped into the side street were directed into the two buildings and told to run down to the opposite side of the building and go down the fire escape to re-emerge into the street further down behind them.

"Do you still have one of those bombs?" Klauss asked Banin.

"Yes but it won't be enough to. ." Banin started to say but was interrupted.

"It will work." Klaus said holding out his hand and allowing Banin to hand him the bomb and a lighter.

Sure enough one of the mechs entered into the side street just as Banin handed off the bomb. Klauss tipped his head to the side motioning for the rest of the people with him to flee into the building and follow the others down to the fire escape on the far end.

"Looking for me?" Klauss taunted the mech before he ran into the building after Banin and the others.

The mech ran down the side street and fired through the wall of the building as Klauss and the others ascended to the second floor and ran down a long hallway inside. Mech bullets ripped through the floor and the walls behind them as they bolted down the hall. Klauss slowed down to light the fuse on the bomb and was struck by one of the bullets from the next barrage in the center of his lower back. As the bullet burst out of his abdomen and continued on to pound into the ceiling tiles above them Klauss tossed the bomb through an open window onto the street below. Banin stopped and ran back to Klauss as he fell face down onto the ground. The other two men looked at him but Banin waved them on before one of the two was cut to pieces by a subsequent barrage of mech rounds. Banin knelt down and carefully lifted Klauss onto his knees. Klauss grunted and clenched his teeth in pain.

"Can you stand?" asked Banin.

"I don't think so. I can't feel my legs." Klauss groaned in response.

Banin discarded his weapon and hefted Klauss up onto his shoulder. He felt the warm blood leaking out of Klauss' wound onto his shoulder, slowly seeping down to his chest. When he started to run Banin heard an explosion outside and felt the building reverberate as the pipe bomb detonated. As Klauss had planned it set off a previously untapped booby trap resulting in several bombs going off which collapsed weakened portion of one of the buildings into the street thus sealing off the way back to the hardware store. After that there were no further shots fired from the mech that had been badly damaged by the repeated detonations. Banin caught up to the others and was helped down the fire escape with Klauss.

"We need peroxide and bandages before I bleed out all over you." Klauss gasped.

"There's a pharmacy to the southeast, it's not far from here. I went there a couple teams when we we're scavenging for supplies. It was still pretty well stocked last time I was there." commented Zheng.

"That's where we'll go then." Williams stated.

The adults looked over each other and made sure everyone was accounted for and started off in the direction which Lei Zheng led them. Williams, Melissa and Fatima waited at the intersection of the sealed off street and the alley while Banin carried Klauss past them. The fragmentary remnants of the skitter's raiding party allowed the rest of them to go as they saw to taking the children towards the river were a transport craft landed to pick them up. The remaining mech as well stood guard over their movement of captured children and did not bother to give chase to a relatively small number of humans fleeing towards the south. As the last man took up the rear guard behind Banin, Melissa joined in with the retreat leaving Williams and Fatima alone staring back in the direction of the store they had called home. The glow of still burning fires left a pulsating shifting mass of reddish orange light above the rooftops. Williams tugged at Fatima's hand as she was welling up with self-pity and sorrow and bade her to follow him after the others. When the fear induced adrenaline had flushed itself out of Williams' system he too would be feeling the weight of her loss and hating himself for surviving yet another engagement in which he deserved to die. With one last despondent glance the two of them looked back at the smoke weaving through the afterglow into the night and withdrew, walking at first and later picking up the pace to a slow jog. As the first hours of November greeted them with remorse, tonight had been nothing short of a slaughter.


	103. Chapter 103: Sirius Business II

Chapter CIII: Sirius Business - Flames of a Frozen Hell

Niflheim/Ceta V(b)

Sirius System

8.6 light years from Earth

Outside a domed city on the southeastern hemisphere of the ice world the Espheni invasion force was stranded upon the native Cetan armies were braced in a defensive posture to repel a rapidly approaching Espheni army. It was a bright clear day; the ice was smooth and dry with a high southerly wind whipping across the seemingly endless flat landscape. Missiles were repeatedly launched out of tubes embedded into the ice around the edges of the buildings attached to and surrounding the dome. These short to medium range missiles flew off beyond the northern and western horizons. The light from a small number of these missiles when they exploded could be seen as tiny faint flashes in the distance. Crescent shaped sub-orbital aircraft also whipped around the city and tore off into the north where they bombed an enemy still too distant to be seen.

Up to this point the Cetan ground forces had been fighting a defensive war. The enemy quickly seized control of much of the other side of the planet that had been most affected by the EMP and the bombardment early on. The inhabitants of this world had appealed for aid from their allies but so far no assistance had arrived. Unwilling to nuke their own cities from orbit or use long range ballistic missiles against them the Espheni were able to establish secure bases from which to build up their forces. From then on out the Espheni had launched wave after wave from their entrenched positions in those cities against the cities which were still free of their influence. Initially the defenders had great success holding back the tide and lost little ground to the endless waves of Espheni forces. After repeated attempts attrition began to take its toll. The defenders ranks wore thin and one by one the free cities fell to the alien conquerors. As they spread the Espheni grew stronger inching ever closer to breaking the stalemate that persisted on the surface. This besieged domed city was critical in maintaining that stalemate. It was the only inhabited, fortified location for a great distance in any direction thus making it a strong point by which long range missiles and other immensely powerful indirect fire weapons could be utilized to stop large armies from reaching it. In fact just this day they had launched six fusion warheads to annihilate Espheni armies coming towards them from the north and the south. To counter this the Espheni began to tunnel under the ice and use submersible bio-craft to ferry their forces across the ancient ocean beneath the thick ice sheets to the west of the city. At the point they emerged the Espheni armies were dangerously close to risk using a high yield nuclear weapon without posing a risk of its fallout blowing back to the city which launched it. They now had to rely on more conventional tactics to repel this next wave of attack.

While their long range weaponry continued to hamper the advance of a very large contingent of Espheni ground forces the Cetan defenders readied themselves to face those that would inevitably manage to get through. Their forces numbered around five thousand spread out around the edge of the city with another three thousand soldiers within the city and its sub-levels. The defending forces were most concentrated around the north and west sides of the city but retained guard posts and lighter battle lines surrounding the entire dome in case the enemy had stealth technology that had eluded their scans and recon flights. Being on the side of the planet which had not been disrupted by the massive EMP-style weapon the dome's anti-air defense grid of laser and missile turrets along with the skyward facing energy shield were fully operational. These systems were adjusted to deal more so with the threat of indirect fire coming into the dome rather than Espheni airstrikes as their own air forces held clear control of the skies throughout most of this world.

On the front lines to the west of the city the leader of the city garrison and commander of the southern front waited with their men. Ahead of them were rows of crawlers, boxy roughly trapezoidal tanks and armored personnel carriers with thick claw like treads to dig into the ice sheets. The crawlers had an assortment of weaponry ranging from a forward mounted heavy energy weapon along with twin missile batteries to a smaller set of rotating laser or plasma turrets. Some crawlers had a plow blade set in front of them both for added armor and to clear away snowdrifts, something that really wasn't a problem in this arid part of the world. Behind the crawlers were a motley assortment of repulsor lift skirmisher bikes which operated by utilizing the planet's magnetic field to slightly reverse the effect of gravity in the vicinity of the bike enabling them to fly or hover a short distance off the ground. These skirmisher bikes, usually only equipped with forward mounted lasers or light pulse cannons if anything at all were tremendously fast and effective at outmaneuvering the much slower enemy mechs. Their speed however made them difficult to control and they had little to no armor meaning that one or two well placed hits could effectively destroy them. In addition to the lumbering heavily armed crawlers and the agile skirmisher bikes the Cetan defenders had artillery pieces on halftrack crawler treads which featured a dish shaped directed energy weapon for line of sight targets and twin angled mortar tubes for indirect fire. For their third line of defense the Cetans had their own mechs. These were humanoid in shape with bulky arms and thick solid legs. Compared to their Espheni counterparts they were more heavily armed and armored but considerably slower, especially on the ice. They had additional armor panels reinforcing the shoulders, back, chest, hips, thighs and feet of the walkers. In this environment the armor panels were colored white to match the ice but in other locales the armor could be painted any number of colors. The hands of the Cetan mechs had four fingers, two on each side with either a pulse cannon or laser embedded in the middle of the palm. Some mechs had one forearm replaced with an even heavier Gatling gun style weapon, a giant blade or spike. They could also be outfitted with missile launchers between the shoulder panels and the neck. The head on most of these machines contained the primary CPU which ran the AI and much of the sensitive sensory equipment though there were backup sensors positioned on the chest and back for remote operation. Some of the mechs were outfitted with an omnidirectional laser sphere or temporary shield projector on top of the head as well. Those mechs with these features also had a larger mid-section extending out from their back to support the increased power demands of these items. The shield projector could produce a force field around the mech for a few minutes before it had to cool down. While not a permanent defense these devices could be a lifesaver for a mech pilot who found themselves in the thick of a firefight with no means of escape. Due to the added cost and power requirements the shield generators were only on the mechs capable of supporting a pilot. That being said, these machines could be remotely operated, controlled by onboard AI or piloted manually in some models that had a cockpit positioned in the chest. Skadi had several hundred of these mechs at her disposal on the front lines and a thousand or so more inside the city in case the enemy broke through. If their armored divisions should fail to hold the line, behind them at the edge of the city and intermixed between the dome's external structures were the Cetan foot soldiers, the last line of defense. They were clad in thick cold weather armor, a mix of high tech polymer plating and a low tech lining of synthetic fur. The armor also had small battery pack that powered systems which further warmed or cooled its occupant and also powered communications, friend or foe recognition software, night vision and infrared sensors. It was important that this armor remained sealed because one of them could freeze to death in a matter of minutes when exposed to the elements outside, especially in this wind. The Cetan shock troops were equipped with pocketed plasma guns, pulse rifles and tripod mounted laser cannons. For close combat they carried knives and pole axes which could be energized by a self-contained power source which was visible as either crackling electricity around the blade or a steady blue or yellow glow which surrounded the striking portion of the weapon and consumed it making it appear like a lightsaber in axe or knife form. These energized weapons allowed the user to cut through armor which the blade alone could not pierce. They also made valuable survival tools for any soldiers left stranded in the cold wilderness as they could provide a heat source which was sustainable for months. The command post where Field Marshall Skadi and the commander of the city garrison were positioned was on the roof of a two story armored building positioned on the north side of the western access gate to the city which was currently sealed by a two meter thick metal door. The command post had numerous gun emplacements, high walls to hide behind and a slanted transparent roof extending from the side of the dome. An enclave of computer consoles displayed data from the city's sensory equipment and gave real time access to each of the units deployed in this theater of war.

In time the explosions at the edge of the defenders field of vision grew larger and more numerous. They could see not only flashes on the horizon but the detonations of missiles shot down in midair. Moments later the sight of enemy ground fire could be seen shooting off into the pale teal and silver sky. The defenders could see the weapons being discharged by their own aircraft as they made their attack runs and observed one of them being shot down. While the Cetans enjoyed air superiority the Espheni mega mechs anti-aircraft weaponry was more than capable at fending off an unbridled stream of airstrikes.

In spite of the frigid weather the mechs advanced at a steady swift pace towards the domed city. The Espheni mechs and mega mechs had been modified for cold weather operations prior to landing on this world. They knew the external conditions they were walking into here prior to their arrival although they failed to expect the planet to be inhabited by such a technologically advanced race of beings. The skitters too had been modified to withstand the cold. These were not the same type of skitters that were rampaging across the surface of the earth. They sacrificed the strength of their armor for the ability to generate and retain tremendous amounts of body heat in order to endure the cold and stay limber in combat. These skitters were faster and shorter lived than their temperate cousins though they were derived from the same basic life form.

Soon the enemy came into view to those observing them through their one-piece binoculars. There were literally thousands of mega mechs and hundreds more standard mechs stretching out in a loose formation from one end of the horizon to the other. Behind these mechs, still unseen to the defenders were massive four legged spider and scorpion shaped walkers and an endless horde of skitters.

"There's so many of them. Where the hell do they keep coming from?" the observer near the command post remarked as he took measure of the magnitude of the enemy force approaching them.

It was known by Skadi that the invaders had quickly seized control of their manufacturing facilities on the other side of the planet and were using them to pump out mechs in record numbers. This accounted for why the ratio of mechs to skitters in nearly all recent engagements was in the range of 40-100 to 1. They certainly had the means of breeding more skitters as well though Skadi did not know exactly how they were doing this. Certainly the invaders had already taken losses in excess of the size of the force they had landed with. Skadi herself had overseen operations which combined had in effect annihilated that original invasion several times over. One thing for certain she could give to her adversary was that they sure could replenish their forces at an alarming rate, even considering the advanced manufacturing facilities they had seized early on from the Cetans. The pace at which the Espheni could throw men and materiel into their war effort was what made the battle so difficult once the invaders managed to dig in and fortify. The Espheni were an infection upon Niflheim, any single enemy warrior or great army of them could be disposed of with relative ease but unless the invasion was completely exterminated down to the last they could replenish their ranks within the proverbial blink of an eye. The only thing the aliens couldn't seem to replace were the overlords, of which Skadi personally had the pleasure of killing two. The Cetans could barely keep their weapons production up to match their losses, but it was their manpower that was slowly being depleted. If they did not receive reinforcements from outside they would be forced to result to scorched earth tactics or suffer a slow and painful defeat.

"North side has reported no less than ten thousand in range." added the communications operator seated at one of the computer consoles.

"East side recon teams are reporting additional forces approaching from 200 scores out." the communications operated added as a new report came in.

"Lady Skadi, do you believe we can hold this city against such a host?" the garrison commander asked.

Skadi gave no response right away; instead she went over to the surveillance console and examined the data that their "eye in the sky" was feeding them. The garrison commander followed behind her as she checked on both planetary intelligence and the display detailing the city's defensive systems. While going over the militarily pertinent data in her head she also glanced over at the monitor displaying the status on the city's power, ventilation and climate control systems.

"Should I give the order for my people to evacuate? We have enough transport lifts to move the population to Vaargen if we leave now." the garrison commander inquired of her after she did not reply for a few minutes.

"You would be better to put guns on those transports and send them into battle Commander. We've lost three cities to the east and cannot afford this one to fall. I will not retreat." Skadi insisted.

The city's mounted missile turrets burst forth with a tremendous barrage of rockets directed at the great host of Espheni mechs which surrounded at a distance over half of the approaches to the city. The mechs in turned launched an immense salvo of their own rockets and fired their chain guns and pulse cannons into the air to intercept the incoming missiles. Many of the rockets struck each other as they passed; many more were shot out of the sky by the mechs and the mounted laser cannons on the city's defenses. No defensive screen was perfect and thus rockets slammed into the dome and the surrounding buildings. The dome was scorched and shaken by the flames and the impact of the explosions yet remained solid and unharmed. The nearby buildings sustained damage and the soldiers gathered nearby took their first losses when the mech rockets crashed into their ranks. On the other side of the battlefield the Cetan rockets obliterated several dozen mechs and left scorched pot marks in the once pristine white ice sheet, now scorched with rings of black and grey.

The Cetan airstrikes intensified and the mechs sped up their approach. Blue spheres were dropped in the areas where the mechs were the thickest. These spheres expanded with a sparkling blue flash and disabled all the mechs within the energy sphere before it dissipated. In more sparsely populated regions of the mech line the airships employed rapid fire red laser bursts to tear through the mechs and destroy them one by one. The mega mech's shoulder turrets continued rotating around and firing back at the aircraft as the mech lines continued to race ahead.

As she watched their airships fall one by one in the fight Skadi ordered the skirmisher bikes to engage the enemy. The bikes raced out ahead amidst a hail of bullets and energy pulses coming from the mechs. Some of them were hit head on and destroyed, prompting greater evasive action by the rest. One of the riders was struck and dismounted leaving his bike charging forward like an unguided missile crashing into the ice next to a standard mech. When they closed in near enough to the enemy lines they fired upon the standard mechs, cutting many of them down and lobbing grenades at the mechs and mega mechs as they passed by. A mega mech landed a few lucky shots and annihilated two of the bikes as they weaved through the first ranks of the Espheni line.

While the front ranks of mechs engaged the lead ground forces in the form of skirmisher bikes the indirect fire from the dome shifted to the foes that had been further beyond their reach. Missiles slammed down into the spider walkers and decimated entire platoons of skitters. Several of the spider walkers crouched down allowing a massive cannon to raise up out of the armor on their backs and fire a seething hot ball of bluish white energy towards the dome's defenses. When the Espheni artillery rounds hit they destroyed several of the missile batteries and laser defense turrets as well as brought a few buildings crumbling down to the ground. The dome itself being immensely strong by design remained intact. The repeated bombardment from the spider walkers began landing amidst the assembled ground forces in front of the city thereby prompting them to scatter out to mitigate the damage done.

As explosions erupted dangerously close by Skadi now deployed the crawlers which as their name implied slowly crawled towards the mechs which were heavily engaged with the airships and skirmisher bikes. She directed the airships to ignore the mega mechs and engage the spider walkers which were causing immense grief to the rear lines of defense. The long range artillery units then took up the slack against the mega mechs turning their dish shaped energy weapons in the mechs direction. A cone of energy focused at the center of the dish and directed a potent red beam forward which instantly turned a mega mech into a pile of molten slag left steaming in a liquefying puddle on the ice. The skirmisher bikes continued to confound the enemy, picking off mechs one by one. The standard mechs at times would break away and give chase though they stood no chance of catching them. The fires on the ice had additional negative effects on the Espheni forces. On the cold dry ice the mechs had sure footing but when they passed by the freezing liquid pools left by the intense heat of the firefight they would slip up and stumble, sometimes even fall over if they weren't careful. This made them easy prey for the skirmisher bikes.

The crawlers slowly drew closer and engaged the sparse vanguard of the mechs that had gotten through the artillery bombardment and the skirmisher bikes. Their heavy weaponry made short work of the light mechs and their armor was sufficient to minimize the damage they received in return. The crawlers took direct rocket blasts and rolled straight through them with only minor damage to their seared outer shell. Ahead of the bulk of the crawlers the repeated bombardment by both sides had caused sheets and clumps of the ice to fracture and crumble. This left craters rimmed with jagged ice out in the open and more disconcertingly created empty spaces between two ice sheets which could collapse at any minute. This became apparent when an advancing crawler rolled over one of these weak points as it was firing upon a row of mechs. An errant mech rocket struck the ground near the crawler and became the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The ice sheet split and a large slab of it jilted sideways causing the crawler to roll over on its side.

While the artillery and bikes thinned out the immense horde of mechs and mega mechs charging in the center the second line of mechs including many of the four legged ones split to the north and the south along with two thirds of the skitters behind them. To counter this Skadi ordered the crawlers to divide into two groups and get into position to block the Espheni's flanking maneuver. She then readied her own mechs to handle the direct assault on the enemy center.

Before she could give the order for the mechs to deploy Skadi's attention was drawn elsewhere. The enemy forces in the east were now closing in and their air forces had come into visual range. Skadi immediately pulled back her airships strafing the skitters and heavy mechs in the rear lines and sent them to intercept the squadron of incoming beamers. The city's defenses shot down the few beamers that were scouting ahead of the main squadron, slicing them in half with red hot laser beams. Missiles were launched to down the craft further out but the beamers were able to fool or disable their guidance systems leaving only the ones that were lucky enough to score a dead on hit. The beamers closed in and opened fire with jagged blue energy bolts to destroy a few of the city's air defenses before the Cetan aircraft arrived and made short work of many of them. The remaining beamers circled back to the east and drew off the Cetan aircraft in pursuit, thus allowing their ground forces to advance unimpeded by bombardment from the skies.

Soon enough the reinforcements arrived and the city was caught in a classic pincers maneuver. The arrival of the Espheni reinforcements from the east meant that a sizeable portion of the Cetan forces had to be redirected to the defense of the east side, thus negating most of their hard fought gains in the north and west. The south side wasn't safe either; the western Espheni division along with some of the new reinforcements had moved out to flank the city from the southern extreme as well. The heavy mechs moving north also still posed a significant threat as they outran the slow moving crawlers en route to intercept them.

In the south while the two armored groups lumbered along the ice trying to cut each other off the skitters charged the southern line. When they got within range the defenders let loose with everything they had. A red energy pulse splattered a skitter open leaving only a fan shaped black spray of bubbling blood and incinerated flesh discoloring the ice where the creature had once been. Laser cannons sliced through the skitter's exoskeletons with ease, removing legs and arms and chopping down several skitters at the waist. Smaller bursts fired in rapid succession from handheld rifles scorched the outer shell of the skitters and knocked them back. Here the heat resistant shells of the skitters proved their worth in repelling the searing hot energy bolts. The skitters wearing body armor had their armor damaged by the plasma bolts but their skin beneath was able to diffuse and absorb the heat of the attack, charring the outer layer of skin but failing to pierce through to the creatures' internals. Seeing the ineffectual nature of their weapons the Cetan soldiers switched over to kinetic rounds which ripped through the skitters' hides and cut them down where thermal based weaponry had failed. Unlike human weapons which struggled to breach the skitters' body armor, the Cetan kinetic bolts punched through skitter body armor and flesh. Their heat resistance only went so far as the intensity of the lasers and the Cetan heavy weaponry cut through the skitters' ranks with ease. Unlike the unarmed, mostly unarmored skitters on Earth about half of these skitters carried long thin two handed staff weapons which fired purple bolts of energy. These weren't the smaller stun sticks however; these energy bolts could tear through flesh and armor to kill their intended target. To the Cetan forces advantage the skitters weapons had a noticeably shorter range than their own pulse rifles and heavy weapons. The skitters didn't stop to shoot back though; they popped off a few shots as they continued to close in. As they didn't break their stride to fire the shots weren't the most precisely aimed. The bolts hit the ice and nearby buildings as much as they struck Cetan soldiers. The horde of skitters thinned out to a trickle as it crossed the ice field amidst the intense firepower levied against them. The trickle of enemies slipped into the outer lines of infantry ahead of the structures at the city's fringes and engaged the Cetan soldiers in hand to claw combat where they held the advantage against their shorter limbed humanoid opponents. Their assault in turn reduced the firepower directed outward which in turn allowed more skitters to close to within weapons range. The city was like a man surrounded by a swarm of army ants. They went down easily but there were way too many of them for the defenders to keep up with. Eventually the aliens would reach the city and start stinging the defenders where it hurt.

As if an answer to their prayers help had just arrived above the wispy pale skies high overhead. One starcarrier and two heavy cruisers bearing allegiance to the Cetan nation of Vanaheim, of which the ice world below was a colony of, entered into high orbit. From the carrier's main hangar several fighter/bombers were launched and descended into the atmosphere to strike various targets outside of the range of the city which Skadi was defending. Another group of fighters circled around the carrier as a single transport craft was being prepped for launch.

A faint ping was heard from the comm unit in Skadi's ear. Soon after Skadi's comm crackled to life as a voice coming from a newly arrived ship in orbit addressed her.

"Field Marshall Skadi, this is Captain Ymir of Vanaheim Defense Force Star Carrier Group Theta." the voice addressed her.

She wiggled the small round device in her ear to clear up the signal and cancel out the background noise of the battle before tapping it once to acknowledge the message.

"Go ahead Captain, I read you loud and clear." Skadi replied.

"We have a representative of the USC here to see you on urgent business from the council. He will be landing at your location shortly. Please alert citadel defenses to stand down. We are transmitting authentication codes now." the captain told Skadi.

Skadi walked over to the row of consoles and pulled up the data packet sent from the ship.

"The code checks out; clearance to land granted. I'm alerting citadel air defense now. Be advised we are under heavy attack at the moment so I hope your representatives shuttle has an adequate escort." Skadi informed the starship captain.

"Copy that Marshall. Speaking of the attack we're observing you now and I believe we may be able to offer some assistance." the captain told Skadi.

"Oh really, well then don't keep us waiting Captain." Skadi remarked back.

She heard a brief snicker over the comm. "Tell your skirmishers to pull back to the city. We have a surprise for you." the ship captain told her.

"Will do. Field Marshall Skadi out." Skadi replied before tapping her comm link twice and then turning to issue the order to the skirmisher companies.

Upon receiving the order the skirmisher bikes disengaged and retreated away from the mechs, firing on the mechs with handheld energy weapons from the side as some of them passed by. The mechs gunned down a few of the bikes and dismounted a rider or two as they were turning around to break away from the fight. Once the skirmishers had started racing away from the mechs they lobbed grenades out of their rear launchers as they turned tail and ran. The grenades exploded as they struck the mechs and the ice in their vicinity, blasting off mechanical limbs and kicking up a large clouds of frothy frost. As the bikes sped away mech rockets, bullets and beams from the mega mechs were projected towards them. A bike hit by a rocket exploded leaving a streaking fireball that dropped down and skidded onto the ice, breaking into a thousand pieces. Another one took a grazing blow from a bluish white energy pulse and lost control, doing a barrel roll and crashing into the frozen ground off to the side. Beams, pulses and bolts of energy also issued forth from the Cetan lines and flew towards the mechs passing harmlessly by the retreating bikes as they went by.

Now that the Espheni forces at the heart of the western line were left alone were about to receive the surprise that Skadi had been promised. A tiny crimson twinkle sparkled in the clear pale sky high above the thin wispy clouds stretched out in a long strip like torn cotton balls. A large red laser beam rained down from the sky into the heart of the Espheni army and instantly vaporized a battalion of mechs. The beam melted the ice which sent superheated jets of steam shooting up high into the air where they refroze shortly after escaping the immense heat source from the energy beam. The misty droplets from the newly frozen steam plumes were then carried off by the wind and fell back to the ground as snow. The beam gradually moved backwards deeper into the Espheni ranks turning mechs and even skitters to ash as it approached. The ashes were then either burned off as gas or blown away by the rapidly swirling wind currents generated by the differential temperatures in the vicinity. When the bright red beam ceased it left behind pools of bubbling water which started to cool down and freeze over again. Around the edges of where the beam struck where the ground was still solid blackened husks of molten mechs and the scorched remains of skitters where scattered about. Only a sparse few enemies remained where there had once been a great multitude bearing down upon the city nullifying a good deal of the danger on the western front. Seeing this Skadi redirected her forces to the north and south where alien forces were already intermingling with her own as they drew precariously close to the city.

"Send skirmisher companies to the rear of the northern lines. I want six battalions of infantry moved to the southern gate on the double. Their foot soldiers have already made it around our crawlers." Skadi ordered, issuing commands by proxy to the units in the field.

Her comm link lit up again. "How did you like that?" the Captain asked her.

"Thanks. If you wouldn't mind a few more applications we might actually have a shot at holding the city." Skadi replied.

"You're forces are mixed too close with the enemy. I can't in good conscience fire the main cannon with such high levels of collateral damage involved. We've picked up additional divisions heading your way but they've started jamming our scans since our last attack. If you spot them have your fighters mark their location for us and we'll take care of it. Once they are marked do not engage; don't go to them, let them come to you. That way we can assist you from up here." the starship captain spoke through Skadi's earpiece.

Meanwhile on the southern front skitters had evaded the Cetans mechanized forces and were assailing the ground troops on the inner line. Most of the skitters never made it into the streets external to the dome but those that did slip through began to deal damage to the Cetan soldiers at close range. As time wore on more and more skitters broke into the outer city only to have their advance halted at the south gate by reinforcements from the west that had just arrived. Out on the ice the crawlers and Cetan mechs engaged the Espheni mechs who were playing to their advantage in terms of speed and maneuverability. The Espheni forces, including the heavy four legged mechs kept close to their enemies but stayed mobile, effectively running circles around them while exchanging fire and occasionally lobbing a projectile towards the city.

On the northern front the skirmishers tore through the rear ranks of skitters while the soldiers and Cetan mechs on the city line took on the advancing mechs. A few of the Cetan airships swung around to thin out the population of the enemy mechs, one of which was shot down in a spectacular explosion caused by a mega mech's shoulder mounted pulse cannon.

On the eastern side of the city the oncoming alien forces were assailed by Skadi's airships and bombardment from the remaining city defenses. The battle lines were thinnest here where the enemy forces were freshest. The airships couldn't yet mark targets and disengage because Espheni beamers remained and were keeping them trapped in the fight, often unable to take shots at ground targets because of the air to air threat. Skadi ordered half of her mechs on the west to circle around to the north and relieve the northern mechanized forces to buttress the outmatched line on the east of the city. She also sent two additional battalions of infantry through the city to reinforce the east gate.

"Marshall, be advised the USC representative's shuttle is on its way." the starship captain informed Skadi as she directed her forces in real time via the comm link and operations displays.

Meanwhile inside the city the civilian population was unnerved as soldiers jogged through the main east-west transit corridor from one gate to the other. The sounds of battle echoing dangerously close to their protective dome only further increased the tension. To provide added air cover to the imminent landing of a high level official's shuttle civilian transport craft were being outfitted with weapons and launched out of the hangar bays. This action frightened some civilians and enraged others who became curt with aviation officials now that the option of evacuation seemed lost to the city now. The officials tried to settle down the people who were now growing into an unsettled mob. Reverberations from long range Espheni artillery detonating as they struck the dome only frightened the people more. Several teams of soldiers were brought in to quell the intensifying mob in case the situation got out of hand.

The transport craft turned gunships flew out over the Espheni mechs firing from their assortment of waist mounted and rear mounted weapons. The mechs took damage and several of them blew apart, lost limbs or fell over. The mechs fired skyward with rockets and energy pulses grounding two of the gunships and utterly destroying a third. Another gunship took two bolts to the side and rear of the craft, jittering it and leaving a smoking hole next to the right aft thruster port. The gunship's pilot restored stability and continued on with the other aircraft to strike the four legged artillery mechs at the rear of the formation and the ranks upon ranks of skitters beyond that.

The thunderous sounds of battle drew near and drove herds of the city's residents into a panic rushing towards the center of town where the main access shaft to the subterranean levels was located. More soldiers and peace officers were diverted from the defense of the city should the gates or outer dome be breached. The diverted forces attempted to peaceably escort the topside population to the lower levels.

Outside the dome aerospace fighters dove down from the sky and opened fire on the alien forces closing in on the Cetan city. The heavy mechs refocused their fire towards the skies and shot down one of the space fighters while taking severe damage within their own ranks from the strafing run. A second wave of fighters descended and shot down five beamers as they converged near the domed city and circled around it. With the skies over the dome secure two more fighters and a transport craft passed through the atmosphere and descended directly above the top of the city dome. The upper hatch on top of the dome opened up as the transport drew near. The transport craft then entered in through the hatch and docked with the city's spaceport inside.

"Marshall Skadi, the USC representative has arrived." one of the city administrators raised Skadi via her comm.

"Send him to the command post. I'll be waiting." Skadi replied.

She couldn't pull away from her duties, even for a moment; the siege was evolving too rapidly. She personally coordinated her forces and their air cover to keep the Espheni armies from breaking into the city. With how busy she was it seemed like no time at all when the USC emissary came through the upper access door from the dome to Skadi's external command post. Skadi directed one of her subordinates to fill in for her as she turned to greet the representative from Space Command.

"Marshall Skadi, the United Space Command is calling together the Council. Your presence is requested on Vanaheim." the representative informed her.

"Better late than never. We've been sending requests for aid for days and only now they acknowledge our need." Skadi grumbled.

"I will be on my way as soon as the city is secure." Skadi replied.

"My Lady, We must leave now. The matter is of the utmost importance and the Council will not suffer a delay in considering it. If you are not there they will not wait to allow you to make your case and will come to a decision without your input." the representative urged her.

Funny how the Council's sense of urgency changes when they were the ones making the requests Skadi thought.

She let out a disgruntled sigh. "Leave now? And abandon my people in their time of need?" Skadi said angrily.

"Lady Skadi, I am but a messenger. I cannot sway the Council one way or the other." the representative replied.

"Lady Skadi, without reinforcements from the Council this entire world will be lost." the garrison commander told her.

"Very well. I must go. See to it that this city still stands in the hands of the Vanir when I return." Skadi told the garrison commander.

"Only my life and the honor of my clan I shall not fail you." pledged the garrison commander, placing his right fist in the center of his chest and bowing his head down in the customary salute of his people.

Skadi placed her hand in the center of her chest and then extended it outward palm opened in return of the salute and then departed with the USC representative. They made their way through the city around the evacuation routes where the population was being funneled underground with distant explosions rumbling all around outside. They quickly boarded the shuttle and made preparations to launch. The upper hatch opened as one of the starfighters quickly dispatched a beamer that had broken through and was making a direct attack run on the structure. After being shot down the beamer crashed straight into the side of the dome. The dome did not breach, it did not crack but was covered by a bright flash when the beamer exploded into hundreds of pieces after slamming into it. The flash sent a group of people into a frenzy breaking out of an orderly line, pushing and bowling through people to get underground. The flashes of stun grenades went off as the situation quickly began to devolve while the transport launched.

As the transport craft ascended Skadi watched as a blazing red beam struck the rear lines of the eastern advance force. The beam cut a huge swath through the Espheni forces, single handedly reducing their strength by a noticeable fraction. The space fighters gathered around the transport and flew ahead of it to clear the way in case an errant beamer or missile made an attempt on the craft. Higher and higher the transport rose with Skadi looking down through her window at the battlefield beneath her. The enemy forces, many of which were masked from her sensors on the ground now became visible as tiny dots like a mass of fruit flies. She knew the odds were against them but only now she realized the extent at which they had been outnumbered. Silently she hoped that her valiant warriors would be able to overcome the immense cloud of foes tightening the noose upon them.

As the pale silvery blue sky dissipated into the blackness of space the small fleet that had come to her aid appeared in view. The starcarrier which formed the command ship of the group was in higher orbit with a starfighter wing surrounding it. The two heavy cruisers remained at the edge of the upper atmosphere with the front of their vessels pointed towards the planet's surface.

The starcarrier was a flat rectangular vessel, in general shaped like a small pack of gum but rounded on the sides with an additional bulge on the top and two engines protruding out of the sides. The majority of the carrier was its hangar bay which comprised the entire central structure. When the blast doors were fully opened on all decks this made the starcarrier look hollow. All of the ships operations were conducted from the pill bug shaped bulge atop the craft. Here also were the living quarters for the crew, pilots and guests and all the facilities that supported them. The upper bulge had a raised tower at the rear of the bulge from which flight operations were overseen and a smaller disc shaped structure extending up from the middle of the bulge which was the main bridge. The ship's bridge in an emergency situation could be launched and operated as a standalone craft.

The heavy cruisers could be said to have a shape roughly akin to a doorstopper having a broad bulge in the rear and a sloping side profile which ended at a blocked off nose where the main cannon was positioned. From a front profile view the ship bulged at the sides more towards the rear and got narrower as you got closer to the front but not to as significant degree as the vertical dimensions shrank. These bulky ships were surprisingly nimble in space though were not capable of entering planetary atmospheres. They had several broadside weapons and missile tubes throughout the ship and one focused energy weapon at the front of the vessel which could range in power from what was observed on the planet's surface all the way up to a single blast that could vaporize a city or a relatively large asteroid with a single shot. The cruisers primary weapon was in appearance a reflective black smooth horizontal ovoid object recessed inside a square shaped port comprising much of the front of the vessel.

When she came into orbit Skadi saw the forward mounted primary weapons of the heavy cruisers light up and fire upon the surface twice before the shuttle entered into the main hangar of the starcarrier. After the shuttle landed inside the hangar bay the fighters outside were recalled. While the fighters returned Skadi briefly met the captain and was shown to her quarters. Skadi left her guard detail posted outside her quarters when she went inside. She didn't bother to check the accommodations of her quarters and instead went straight to the window. The small portal looked straight off into space; she couldn't see what was happening high above her world. Her worry drove her to pick up a data pad and link it with the ships sensors to observe the situation on the ground. She reviewed the unfolding battle where she had been and the other enemy movements elsewhere on the planet. She was concerned at the massing forces around the city she had departed from. Conversely she was pleased by the fact that her forces elsewhere had retaken the upper section of a city they had once lost due to its garrison being drawn out to assail her own city. They never could seem to dislodge the aliens from the subterranean realms of the cities though. The close quarters combat favored the enemy in those places. Still any inkling of an offensive was better than what they had been doing.

While Skadi was contemplating the planet's defense the fighters and their pilots secured and made ready to depart. Once the carrier's full complement of fighters had landed the hangar bay doors closed. Not long after that the carrier departed and engaged its main engines, accelerating it to near light speed in a matter of minutes. The cruisers remained behind and continued to provide orbital support to the beleaguered planet. The aliens would soon learn to stay out of the open lest risk being consumed by pillars of all consuming light from the sky. The teetering stalemate would be frozen solid for a time though air superiority and weapons platforms in orbit would not dislodge the enemy from their hiding places. In order to retake this world Skadi would have to convince her allies in the Council to send aid. Should fortune show her favor when she returned to this world again it would be at the head of a great host by which she could end this invasion once and for all, or so she believed.


	104. Chapter 104: Vindication of the Fool

Chapter CIV: Vindication of the Fool

31 Oct 2116 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

The 4th and their new allies came racing into Seongnam while most of those who they had left behind had already gone to sleep. They passed the watch section and parked alongside the street next to the hotel which served as the field hospital for the 4th Korea.

At the same time as Bremer's troops arrived two flatbed trucks carrying parts of broken mechs covered with black tarps to conceal them rolled into camp from the north. They went and parked next to a grove of trees just past an empty restaurant building that had been converted into the 4th Korea's workshop. Around the back patio of the restaurant they had even set up a small scale foundry for processing the mech metal into useful items like bullets or stock for making bayonets. Later on the mech parts would be broken down and repurposed. Some would find use here while others would be sent to the research facility at Seongnam Station Bravo.

Bremer, Min-ho and their lieutenants began shouting orders to their men to get the wounded offloaded and brought into the hospital on the double. All the commotion outside woke Lyndsey who had fallen asleep in her chair during her vigil over the Major. Lyndsey came out of the ambulance and seeing what was happening, she went about helping Bremer with the wounded.

"So how did the meeting go?" she asked upon seeing him.

"He's going to come after us." Bremer coldly replied.

"That bad huh?" Lyndsey remarked.

"You don't know the half of it sister." Bremer said.

Bremer went around to a badly wounded man laid out on the back of a pickup truck. He directed Lyndsey around to the other side of the man and they got ready to carefully pick the man up.

"On three." he told her.

Following a quick three count Bremer lifted the shoulders of the man, resting the man's head against his chest while Lyndsey took hold of the feet. Together they carried the wounded man towards the hospital along with a gaggle of other soldiers also carrying more of the wounded. On the way to the hotel Lyndsey noticed the bullet holes, broken windows and scorch marks on several of the vehicles.

"How many of my vehicles did you lose?" asked Sobieski, mildly scolding Bremer for his perceived recklessness.

"Don't worry about that; it's not as bad as you think. Let's focus on the people first." Bremer replied.

They got to the hotel and two soldiers ran ahead and opened the doors for Bremer and the others to carry the wounded inside.

"Well fuck it! We gave peace a chance." Bremer announced as he and Sobieski came through the hotel doors.

"I take it the talks didn't go too well." Tae-yon said.

"That's an understatement." Bremer cynically remarked as he and Lyndsey laid the man they were carrying onto a stretcher set up in the lobby.

Christina Bryar rolled off the couch she was sleeping on and rubbed her eyes when the wounded began pouring in. She grabbed a glass of water off one of the coffee tables and drank it down before standing up. She clapped her hands together loudly to wake up the medical volunteers for what looked to be the roughest night since the 4th had first settled into this location and certainly the busiest she had seen the place in the short time she had been with them.

"Alright everyone, get up and get to it!" Bryar shouted, rousing the sleepy medics to the ready.

"Rooms 131 through 153 are open on the first floor for those you don't want to move up the stairs." Tae-yon told Bremer and Lyndsey as they passed by her.

"Right on. I'll be back in a bit." Bremer replied before he and Lyndsey took the man accompanied by one of the volunteer medical staff.

When they came back Bryar and Tae-yon were examining those that had come in to determine the order of priority for treatment. The field hospital had gone from a slothful slumber to bustling with energy in a matter of minutes.

"We've got more wounded coming in. Be ready." Bremer told Tae-yon.

Bremer and Lyndsey took the stretcher out of the lobby and rolled it out the hotel and went to the bus where the severely wounded had been gathered after the pit stop prior to the final stretch home. They were approached at the back of the bus by a woman wearing rubber gloves whose shirt and pants above the knees were soaked in blood.

"Take this one first, he's lost a lot of blood." the de facto onboard field medic said as she pointed out a man to Bremer and Lyndsey.

They carefully moved the man onto the stretcher and hastily carried him inside where Tae-yon took over from them, Lyndsey and Bremer helped Tae-yon get the wounded man onto a clean bed and took the empty stretcher back outside with them. Lyndsey went with another couple soldiers back to the bus while Bremer broke off and pulled aside the oncoming patrol section.

"Sir." acknowledged the section leader as they were about to take muster before heading off on their patrol route.

"Belay the patrols tonight Corporal. I need for you guys to send for everyone that can be spared from the other units. Head over to Seongnam Bravo first and Charlie if it's still operating. Seoul had already been cleared out for the most part before we went to meet that asshole and Gwanju probably won't be able to assist so you can bypass them and finish off your day in Yongin. Get some rest and be back here before 0500 tomorrow with everyone Yongin can muster with you. Our Yongin detail is about as out of the way as you can get, they should be safe while we hit this Imperial asshole back." Bremer instructed the troops.

The night watch did not participate in the day's grueling affairs with the Empire so it wouldn't be too much to ask of them to rally together the forces overnight. They would all be hurting by morning; that was how things were during war.

"I'll meet you at HQ when you get back in the morning, don't be late." Bremer told the troops before hurrying back to ferry the remaining wounded to Tae-yon.

From there Bremer caught back up with Lyndsey who had just come out of the hospital with the empty stretcher after running another injured soldier to a bed. He relieved Lyndsey's new helped and went with her to get their next patient.

"Lyndsey, once you finish getting the wounded over to Tae-yon I need you, our new friends and the rest of the senior staff in the war room pronto!" Bremer instructed her.

"Sir, from the looks of it they've just been through hell. Shouldn't we get some sleep first and then plan this out with clear heads in the morning?" Lyndsey asked.

"No. We've got to set this up now so we still have a chance to hit them while they're down. I want to attack at dawn." Bremer adamantly replied.

"What kind of strategy are you going to come up with in your state?" Lyndsey asked Bremer noticing he too was as beaten down as the rest of his soldiers.

"I've still got the adrenaline pumping. That'll get me through what we need to do. Kang has probably been napping all day. He's a smart fellow and has been around the block more than I, so he'll fill in the wisdom where I'm lacking." Bremer remarked.

"I doubt we'd be any better off in the morning if we put this off. We have to have at least a general idea of what we are doing before we can call it a night. If we don't I for one will be lying awake all night thinking about it." Bremer mentioned as they came to the back of the bus.

There were only two more people here that needed moved left in the bus, a man with severe abdominal lacerations from a skitter attack and a woman with gunshot wounds to both legs. Both had been stabilized on the fly but the man was in worse shape according to the de facto medic who had patched them up. The sight of some of his intestines hanging out of the open wound before applying the body wrap to contain them was what particularly concerned her about this man. While the field medic had done an admirable job saving the man's life it was a hasty operation, hence this one was the next one to get inside.

"We're going to take care of the wounded first. We'll wait til Chico gets back before we bother walking old man Kang up. Give him a couple more hours and then I want everyone in the war room ready to go." Bremer told Lyndsey as they hefted another man onto a stretcher.

"Will do sir." Lyndsey replied as they carried the man into the hospital.

Along the way Bremer ordered some of the soldiers to fill in for the night watch for a little while until he found fresh troops to relieve them.

"I'll see you there." Bremer said after handing off the injured man at the door then splitting off by himself leaving Lyndsey and the others to finish the job of moving the wounded by themselves.

"Where are you going sir?" Lyndsey asked.

"I've got some more business to attend to." Bremer replied.

Bremer took a lantern and a flashlight and went back to see Jin-shil. The guard unlocked the door and allowed Bremer entry when he say Bremer approaching. Inside Jin-shil was slouched over beside her bedroll reading a book by the flickering light of a lantern. She was free to move about now but up til now couldn't leave the room. Upon hearing the door open Jin-shil looked up at Bremer.

"So was he everything I told you he would be?" asked Jin-shil turning back towards her book.

"Yeah he was a can of grade A cockmeat." Bremer replied.

"I told you." Jin-shil said as she turned a page.

"You were right. That's why I'm going to allow you to move about the complex freely, under escort of course. I would just let you go but there's still a lot of people out there that want justice for the Major and aren't so quick to forgive. Your imprisonment is the best I can give them until the Major comes out of his coma. Managing this place is a balancing act; I hope you can understand that." Bremer told her.

"I'm not going to leave now anyways." Jin-shil said feigning disinterest while turning another page.

"Well that doesn't sound like you at all." Bremer remarked.

"You're not the kind of people I thought you were." she replied.

"Nice to see trust is a two way street here." Bremer quipped.

Jin-shil closed her book, set it down and stood up facing Bremer. "I want to help you take him down." Jin-shil told him plainly.

"What makes you think we're going to take him down?" Bremer asked.

"You met the man right?" Jin-shil asked in return.

"Yeah." Bremer said.

"Then you know why." Jin-shil replied.

"If you trust me and you've seen the kind of man that Kwang-su is you will know that all the things I've been telling you are true. Your people want justice, so do I." Jin-shil asserted.

Bremer nodded silently. Jin-shil had every reason to want revenge though Bremer had to temper what he could use her for. She could provide insight, information maybe that she had left out from their earlier discussions but he wasn't going to take her on the offensive with him; not until Major Han took a turn for one direction or another. It would be too hard a sell for his people to accept her fighting alongside them just like that.

"So what did he say to you?" asked Jin-shil

"A lot of blathering bullshit, He basically preaches communism but practices feudalism; both of which are abhorrent in the modern day and age but regardless I was seeking peace at all cost but no. No matter what I said to try and reason with the man he seems so damned determined to destroy us. I tried to appease him, to look the other way on his crimes and misdeeds but still he would not listen. He is so blinded by his ideology and his desire to come out on top when this is all over that he is willing to risk extinction rather than to not be the one who rules over the remnant that remains. He'd rather rule over a burnt out pile of shit than stand alongside us as equals in a world worth living in. I honestly believe he despises us more than the aliens." Bremer answered.

"So in short an all-around piece of shit just like I said." Jin-shil remarked.

"Basically." Bremer replied.

"Honestly, I think he does despise you more than the aliens. He has no love for the military and hates the US even more." Jin-shil mentioned.

"I gathered that much from when he said he made it clear he wanted to exterminate me and my kind off the face of the Earth." Bremer said.

"Not if you kill him first." Jin-shil said.

"He seemed certain that if I did that someone worse would rise up and take his place. From what we've heard from people on the inside he's got a lot of committed believers to his cause that could step into the same role. We've got to kill the role as much as we have to bring down the man." Bremer replied.

"You don't have to kill all of them. I can count the ones that you have to worry about on my fingers." Jin-shil commented.

"Say what? You know who's who among them?" Bremer asked.

Even the defectors that had come into their ranks only had limited knowledge of the de facto chain of command within Kwang-su's organization. They knew who Kwang-su was and whatever goon came down to deliver his decrees to the rank and file but the upper echelons of his leadership remained a mystery. If these fighters didn't know the inner workings of the Empire why would a lowly girl who was essentially a sex slave know all of their secrets?

"Being passed around among the top ranked lords and ladies of Kwang-su's court has its advantages for a time such as now. You get to learn things. Being what I am to them they don't take me seriously at all. I'm the equivalent to a houseplant in their minds and why would you hold your tongue around a houseplant?" Jin-shil elucidated.

"So which ones are the proverbial heads of the hydra? Who do I have to lop off to bring the whole beast down?" Bremer asked.

"As far as I know the ones who share his ideology are his "Prince" Cheon Dong-won, his "Queen" Ji-min, "Baroness" Vu Jung-ja, "Duke" Joon-gi the Shin brothers and two others I can't remember the names of right now but I could point them out if I saw them." Jin-shil informed Bremer.

"I can't take you with us so I'm going to need you to give a description of each and tell me where I can find them?" Bremer

"Dong-won, the Shin brothers and Ji-min usually stay with the Emperor when they aren't on the offensive. The others may be harder to find." Jin-shil told him.

"Do you know where the Emperor would be now?" Bremer asked.

"No. They were moving their headquarters when I escaped and probably have done so several times since then. They like to go back and forth between the same places at times though." Jin-shil replied.

"Well then we'll just have to go over all the places you've known them to haunt around." Bremer said folding his arms in front of his chest.

"After we're done here I'll get some paper if you can draw their faces for me. I'll post them up for everyone to see like an old fashioned "Wanted: Dead or Alive" poster, except I really don't want them alive this time." Bremer told Jin-shil.

So Jin-shil told Bremer what she knew about the Imperial hideouts she had been to or heard of and he brought her pencil and paper to provide rough sketches of their prime targets. Her revenge could be the key to the 4th Korea's victory over the human renegades. Even with foreknowledge Bremer knew it wouldn't be an easy fight; he had seen the armaments of his foe. Victory would still require much grit and determination on their part. As much as he despised having to kill his fellow man when other solutions could still exist he couldn't ignore the problem the Empire posed or put it off any longer. Much to the delight of Jin-shil, Bremer had come around to the necessity of eliminating Kwang-su and his minions. For her honesty Jin-shil had earned her vindication in Bremer's eyes and her vengeance would be settled by the removal of this roadblock in the struggle between human and alien kind.


	105. Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma - Part 1

Chapter CV: Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma - Part 1

31 Oct 2301 KST

Seongnam, South Korea

After the air had settled around camp and all the pieces were moving to assemble for an all-out assault on the Imperial compound at daybreak Bremer went to coordinate his efforts with Colonel Kang. Kang in essence had become the base commander while Bremer was the field operations commander and since Bremer's plan would require virtually emptying their headquarters of all combat ready personnel he was obligated to get Col. Kang's approval before he could proceed.

While en route to the concert venue where Kang was waiting for him Bremer ran into Sobieski on her way back to the ambulance to resume her post by Major Han's side.

"The wounded are stable and Tae-yon's working as fast as she can to get them back in action. I've got people looking over the vehicles and I'll get to work on them in the morning so long as we have the parts I need." Lyndsey reported.

"Very good. Very good. If it's just cosmetic damage I'll keep the banged up ones for tomorrow. With the others I'd like you to check with the workshop and see about getting some of that mech armor plating put onto the hood and other areas of the more valuable vehicles to help repel small arms fire. Something to look into for the long term." Bremer replied.

"Won't that slow us down big time?" Lyndsey asked.

"We're already slowed down by all the stalled out crap that's clogging up the roads. We'll hardly notice the difference aside from maybe being able to shrug off a few shots without catastrophic damage."

"I'll see what I can do." Lyndsey told him.

"So do we have a target for tomorrow?" Sobieski asked as they walked along together.

"The short answer is no. I've checked with Hong-gi and his group. They've seen some of the Empire's hideouts but they're not sure which ones are still in use or which one the Emperor himself might be in." Bremer told her.

"What about Jin-shil? Does she know where their main base is?" asked Sobieski.

"She doesn't know. They were in the process of relocating when she got her opportunity to escape. For all any of us know they've relocated again since then." Bremer replied.

"She's given us a list of their safe houses which could be of some use if they had returned to any of them." Bremer continued.

"We could compare her list with the locations which the other defectors are familiar with and see if any of them match up." Sobieski suggested.

"That we could. The guys Chico is helping bring back here might know something also." Bremer said.

"Hopefully. In the mean time I'll get with Min-ho and see what he knows." Lyndsey said.

"Right after I check on the Major real quick," she added.

"Carry on then Sergeant." Bremer told her. The two of them then went about their business in different directions.

When Bremer entered into the main office of the venue complex Kang was seated behind his desk having a late night cup of campfire brewed coffee. Having just been awoken not long ago he was still dressed comfortably in his bedtime attire and still mentally lost somewhere between sleep and the waking world. Chang-woo was seated in a chair on the side of the desk looking over sketches brought in by the scouts earlier today to pass the time until he and Kang could both retire back to their respective bunks.

"I see you've returned mostly unharmed Colonel." Kang commented as Bremer shut the door behind him.

Bremer nodded his head upward and sighed after turning to face Kang before posting at parade rest in front of his desk.

"Let's have it then, your report?" Kang inquired.

"As planned we attempted to negotiate peace with the resistance cell operating across southern Seoul. Their leader refused to consent to any kind of mutually beneficial arrangement between our two organizations. Furthermore, he was unwilling to permit us to continue operating independently and proceeded to order his forces to fire upon us. At that time we fled southward where we were aided by a new group of defectors which apparently had positive dealings with other surviving army units. After we defeated the pursuing force and a contingent of aliens south of Anyang we proceeded to return here via the long route." Bremer reported.

"Were you followed?" inquired Col. Kang.

"No sir. We were thoroughly certain we had lost both the Imperial fighters and the aliens before we entered Seongnam proper." Bremer replied.

"Did you give the enemy leader any indication of where we have been operating during your negotiations?" Kang asked.

"No. I'm not that foolish sir. To my knowledge he believes that we are based out of Seoul. For that reason I'm suggesting we evacuate the civilians from Gangnam station at daybreak." Bremer answered.

"Very well. See to it that the civilians from Gangnam District are brought here but take care not to let yourselves be noticed. I've already got to worry about aliens knocking on our door here I don't want any more of our problems finding their way home." Kang told Bremer.

"The new defectors, I'm assuming you brought them here?" Col. Kang asked.

"Yes sir." Bremer replied.

Kang raised an eyebrow cautiously "You're sure we can trust them?" he asked.

"Absolutely. What they did for us was a death sentence for them. They can't go back after that." Bremer replied.

"These other army units you spoke of. Might you or our new friends know the current status and location?" Chang-woo interjected, posing a question of his own.

"Unfortunately no. Our allies believe they were likely to have been destroyed in the recent bombing campaign against the city. Their last contact with anyone outside their own group was several days before that so even if they are still out there they could have moved a considerable distance during that time. At the present we don't have the resources or manpower to go looking for them at the present time without any further details concerning their whereabouts." Bremer reported.

"I see. So what do you propose to be our strategy concerning these human renegades moving forward?" Kang inquired.

"I suggest taking immediate action against them. I've been provided with information concerning their leadership and am expecting our allies to have some knowledge of their whereabouts. We need to go in with overwhelming force and hit them fast and hard before they can hit us. If we can take out their leadership and those who would support them then the rest of the organization will fall apart. From what I gather a fair chunk of their army is comprised of forced conscripts who can't be very loyal beyond the threat of violence coming to themselves or their loved ones. When I met their leader he talked tough as if he has all of them under his thumb but from what I've learned since our encounter there are serious cracks within this organization. If we can cut off the heads of this snake the others would likely join us or at least stay out of our way. Also if we can win ourselves converts from the uncommitted among their ranks we're liable to gain a sizeable fleet of armored vehicles replete with heavy weapons that we can use in our strike against Incheon and in crossing the river." Bremer advised.

"I would exercise caution if they are as well armed as you claim them to be. From what I heard from Tae-yon we took some heavy losses during that last firefight; shouldn't we wait and tend to our wounds first?" Col. Kang asked.

"We don't have time to wait for the wounded to come back to active duty. We'll leave a minimal detachment behind to see to their safety but we really have to move now if we're going to do this." Bremer insisted.

"Why the hurry?" asked Chang-woo.

"The recent alien attacks had to have broken up Kwang-su's forces nearby so for the time being he is vulnerable. Like I said before he replenished his forces with soldiers of uneven quality and dubious loyalty. We took a beating yes but not as bad as they did. They've only took losses, and we've just got about thirty new friends to fight on our side. It's really our best chance if we strike now. The aliens might be cool with ignoring us and giving us our space but when dealing with humans you know that's not the way we operate. They're going to start looking for us and eventually they will find us. Once they do they aren't going to stop coming for us until we're dead. If we let him reform his lines we won't stand a chance that is why we have to strike quickly." Bremer explained.

"I see your point Colonel. My only concern is the defense of our headquarters. If we pull troops out of Gwanju and that line collapses the aliens could overrun us in a matter of minutes." Kang replied.

"We're not going to pull men from Gwanju. We should have enough between our Seongnam, Yongin and Seoul units to make our assault. Gwanju's the only location where we are getting significant offense from the aliens so we should be fine with the other stations running with skeleton crews." Bremer said.

"Very well. I'll authorize the mission." Kang agreed.

"Promise me you won't be out there any longer than you have to. It's going to get nervous around here with so many spiders around and not enough guns to point at them." Kang told Bremer before he dismissed himself.

Bremer laughed a little "You have my word sir. Don't fret over it; experience has shown us that the fewer people in an area the less interest the bugs seem to show in it. You'll probably be safer while we're away." Bremer said.

"Now if you would excuse me gentlemen, I've got a war to fight. You two should probably get back to bed. I can see those dark circles under your eyes starting to take a toll on you." Bremer nonchalantly dismissed himself from the debriefing and left Kang and Chang-woo to once again retire for the night.

Afterwards Bremer gathered up all of his squad leaders that were present inside the venue to lay out a plan of attack for the following day's mission. He had also assembled the leadership of both Hong-gi and Min-ho's groups to assist them. The soldiers were restless, anxious and tired. Most of them just wanted to get this over with.

"Alright now, we're just short Chico. Once he and our allies get back we can begin." Bremer said aloud.

As if on cue Vargas, Seo-hyun and Seung-hwa entered into the venue after checking in with the guards.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Vargas announced.

"Excellent, then let's get to it. I'm sure all of you would like to get a nap in before we die." Bremer joked.

"Where's Sun-mi?" Min-ho asked with a deep concern fearing that she had perished rescuing the rest of their group.

"She's off with her sister taking care of our wounded. She's fine." Seo-hyun informed him.

"That's good." Min-ho said, not directly admitting he was worried about her.

Bremer, Vargas, Ji-hwan, So-hyun, Lyndsey and the leaders of both parties of Imperial defectors now called the meeting to order to determine the best strategy to nullify the threat of the Empire. Among them was Moon-soo, the surgeon who had recently defected to their side. Having been in close proximity to Kwang-su as the personal physician for several of the elite members of the Empire, Moon-soo presumably had greater knowledge of the Empire's current activities. In truth he was the only one among them that had insider access to the nerve center of the Empire in recent days.

"I found someone that knows where the son of a bitch is." Lyndsey told Bremer as she introduced the surgeon.

"Then spill it, where are they?" Bremer asked.

A street map was laid out over the table between them and the surgeon stepped forward after being nudged by Lyndsey to proceed.

The surgeon stuttered as he began to speak in a soft voice.

"Speak up man; they can't hear you in the back." Bremer told him.

The surgeon went on in a firm but shaky voice as he fingered the location on the map where Kwang-su was believed to be hiding. "They're holed up in an underground mall in Gangnam District. The area looks totally destroyed so it is off the aliens' radar." the surgeon informed them.

"I know the place he is talking about. I was there for a couple days. It was just a backup armory then and mostly empty; it wasn't anything too important. "Hong-gi remarked.

"They've made it important after the bombs fell. I was patching up the important people hurt in the bombing there up until they sent me out with those guys." Moon-soo said.

"What can you tell me about it?" Bremer inquired.

"There's only one accessible entrance into the mall through the side of what remains of this parking garage." Hong-gi explained.

"There goes the idea for a sneak attack. So we just have to smash down the front door and go in guns blazing I guess." Vargas commented.

"It's very well defended so a direct assault would be ill advised. There's just one straight approach in with the area in front cleared out to give the guards a clean shot from one of many strong points in the wreckage. Even if we succeed our losses will almost guarantee our total demise the next time the aliens hit us." Hong-gi warned.

"We could just ambush them in the field; lure them out like we did before. Take them out bit by bit that way." Vargas suggested.

"Do they have a usual route or do you have any knowledge of what operations they may be undertaking in the near future? Any idea when and where these guys are going to be outside their castle?" Bremer asked looking to the group that had most recently been part of the Empire's tactical side.

"Unfortunately not and now that they are already aware of us they would have adapted their battlefield tactics to account for our involvement." answered Min-ho.

"They won't fall for the same tricks again." added Min-ji.

"Given the extent of the alien airstrikes I would assume that they are going to be hunkered down in that fortress a while before we see any major offensives where any significant numbers of them are going to be exposed. They're thinking about the aliens too." Hong-gi added.

"Yeah, and those crawly bastards up their game exponentially the longer you press on them. If was them I'd keep my head down too." Vargas commented.

"By that time we would have lost the initiative." Bremer lamented turning away briefly and thinking to himself.

"You said its underground right? Now that might give them a defensive advantage, especially from the air but it also has an inherent weakness built in. In order to live down there they have to have air coming in from the outside. They might have CO2 scrubbers that'll let them stay down there longer but they're going to need power to run the ventilation fans or to sustain electrolysis, if such a system even exists and is functional, in case they're sealed in during a bombardment. Now they're going to have to have their generators exhaust to the outside or they'll be breathing in the fumes. We have enough explosives why don't we just seal off all the ventilation shafts, plug up the exhaust ports and wait until they all suffocate?" Bremer proposed.

"Sir, wait a minute. Is that really the kind of people we want to be?" Vargas objected.

"They wouldn't think twice before doing the same to us." Bremer said in his defense.

"He's right, and they'd enjoy the hell out of doing it." Min-ji concurred.

"What about all the innocent women they have held down there against their will? I'm assuming that's an acceptable level of collateral damage." Vargas protested.

"We were just talking about how there were still good people with the Empire. You do this you'd be killing them along with the bad." Da-hee concurred.

"If it's us or them we don't really have a choice." Bremer retorted.

"Kwang-su kills anyone he doesn't have a need for so how many innocents do you even suppose he has down there?" Seo-hyun asked.

"Probably more than you think. A lot of people would lie to get on board just to save their own skin." Da-hee replied.

"And the women, Jin-shil even told us they have their own harems for each of the big wigs down there." Vargas added.

"Chico, I get it. We're not looking at the most ethical way of resolving this issue but it is the quickest way. In case you've forgotten the Empire isn't the real enemy out there. We have to get this mess out of the way fast and with the fewest losses on our side so we can get back to fighting the aliens." Bremer said stopping Vargas before he could object again.

"I agree. Kwang-su's intransigence is playing right into the aliens' hands. If we spend too much of our time and resources battling this guy in a protracted struggle it's just going to allow the aliens to tighten their grip on the Earth making them that much harder to dislodge. Every day we wait our potential allies in other countries are getting killed off as well, if we're going to contribute to their struggle we've got to be strong enough ourselves." Hong-gi concurred.

"And arrive in a timely fashion. We break out of Korea after Russia and China have been turned into spider central we're screwed, especially if it only got that way because they were short a handful of guys at that one critical moment." added Min-ho.

"You can also kiss your dreams of ever seeing the 'States again goodbye at that point." Bremer told Vargas.

"Besides if you have to justify it to yourself think of this, when this is all over do you want to have to make compromises with people like that when we rebuild the world? People with no regard for human life whatsoever and treat others like their property. Might as well get rid of those types now so we don't go straight back into fighting each other when the aliens are gone. I don't know about you but the new world I'm fighting for has no place for warlords and tyrants." Hong-gi turned to Vargas and said.

"You're actually starting to sound a little like him there." Bremer warned Hong-gi in a low deep-voiced whisper.

Though he agreed with Hong-gi's sentiment he was cautious to avoid becoming the next Emperor-type figure. This wasn't about reshaping the Earth to conform to anyone's particular desires for an ideal system; this was only about getting the aliens off their planet. Humanity could peacefully come to terms with how they were to divide up the land and live with each other after it was all said and done. That part shouldn't even come into question now according to Bremer.

"Forgive me if misspoke, I may have gotten a little too passionate there." Hong-gi replied to Bremer.

"Differences of opinion aside we have to deal with these guys now." declared Bremer.

"I'm in." Min-ji said.

"Me too. It ain't pretty but but it gets the job done." Min-ho concurred.

"If it's the only way to stop them from hurting more people." Moon-soo reluctantly agreed.

"Do it." Ji-hwan said. Those bastards were responsible for the death of his best friend, they could all choke, they deserved it.

Hong-gi nodded in agreement while Seo-hyun, So-hyun and Da-hee held their piece. Da-bin was hesitant and ultimately did not show any sign of support for the measure.

"You're going to do what you have to do sir but I can't condone this." Lyndsey shamefully told Bremer.

"Chico I need you on board with this. Are you in?" Bremer sincerely asked Vargas.

"I'm in." Vargas sighed reluctantly.

He inwardly hoped that God would leave an asterisk by this when he was called to account for all his sins. He certainly was filled with regret prior to even committing the atrocity. His conscience wasn't comfortable with the plan but he was out voted. Being sore or half-hearted about it would do nothing but dampen morale and hurt the greater cause. Vargas knew they couldn't draw this fight out any longer and I couldn't think of another idea to take the Imperial leadership out with one fell swoop.

"So bury them alive, that's the plan? Vargas asked trying to mask his cynicism. "Yeah." Bremer nodded.

"Unless anyone has any better ideas?" Bremer put the question out there just in case.

"We have an alien nuke?" suggested Lyndsey

"You'll still get the same amount of collateral with that and hell no. We are not wasting that on some wannabe Kim Jong-un." Bremer quickly shot down the proposal.

There was silence followed by a few quiet grumblings between some of the soldiers gathered around the group.

"Maybe we can draw them out some other way. They won't come to us but they do have to come out of their hole sometime. We just set ourselves up and wait. When they come out we corner them and then we strike. We don't have to kill them all; we only have to kill Kwang-su and his empire will fall apart. Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies with it." Da-hee spoke up and suggested.

"That would take too long and we'd be leaving the base undefended for far too long. The aliens might have turned a blind eye towards Seongnam once they assumed we were pacified but we can't just tempt them with a soft target for days on end and expect nothing to happen. Besides, Kwang-su told me he had legions of ideological zealots that would rise and take up his mantle should he fall." Bremer told her.

Though Jin-shil had confirmed Kwang-su's followers were not quite legion if they didn't get every last it would be no different than not getting a single one.

"He's full of shit." Da-hee replied.

"I met a few of his inner circle once and yeah these guys are true believers but they each have an ego second only to Kwang-su himself. I promise you that before Kwang-su's body is cold his captains will be fighting amongst themselves for control of what he created." Da-hee told Bremer.

"Some of these people we could make deals with. We could put a minimal effort behind them to make sure they come out on top and when the dust settles we have a larger army to fight the aliens with." Da-hee elaborated.

"My sister's got a point. Not everyone in the Empire is bad, even those you might disagree with aren't all as ruthless as Kwang-su. I fought with them, now I fight for you. I'm sure others will do the same." Da-bin joined in.

"I say drag him out and feed him to the spiders. They're as pissed off at his asshattery as we are. As long as this Kwang-su guy is dead it's all the same to me." So-hyun made a more or less irrelevant remark in support of the new plan.

"What do you say sir? We could come out of this with fewer men or wait a little longer and come out of this with more people behind our banner. Human beings are the most valuable resource we have. We can pound out more bullets, bombs and blades to throw at the aliens but we can't make more people to carry them," Vargas pleaded with Bremer jumping on board with Da-hee and Da-bin.

"Actually we can make more people you know. They might not teach you that in Catholic school but there's this thing where you. ." Bremer sarcastically started to respond to Vargas before he was interrupted.

"I know about that sir and you know what I mean. We can't whip a fresh batch of grown men fast enough for it to make any difference in this fight." Vargas clarified his statement.

"I was just messing with you Chico, I know what you meant." Bremer laughed.

Though Bremer felt the plan had some serious holes in it the potential to bolster their ranks made him give it some serious consideration. The manpower issue was a real concern for the 4th Korea. They already had to use teenagers as soldiers and children to make bullets. There were some even discussing arming the older children for battle. If they could double or triple their numbers just by waiting a little longer it was worth it to Bremer. The aliens just had to give them the time and the space to do so and that was also a real concern.

"We'll do it your way then." Bremer consented. "If and only if we can do it in a reasonable amount of time." Bremer said to qualify his statement.

"Now how are we going to go about drawing them out?" Bremer asked.

"I don't think we can draw him out, we just have to wait. He's not going to be fooled twice." Min-ho said.

"I still say we blow the damn thing." Hong-gi remarked.

"We still might have to do that." Bremer said.

"We'll wait twelve hours for them to come out once we've set up. While we're waiting we'll rest up in a secure location nearby so we're fresh when we have to be. If they don't show by then we move in and blow the place at dusk." Bremer offered a compromise strategy to which the group gave, with some reservation, almost unanimous consent.

"If we're going to be holding position in shitstorm central we're going to be exposed to the aliens as well. They aren't quite as kind in Seoul as they are out here in the burnt out burbs. Chico, I need you to go around and cover our eastern flank. Screen us from the spiders; the Empire's not the only bad news in this town." Bremer turned to Vargas and said.

"Wait, on second thought how about you lead the bugs straight into their camp?" Bremer suggested, snapping his fingers at the idea. "That right there is how we're going to flush these Imperial sons of bitches out." he exclaimed.

"Ok so Chico, you're going to lead a light motorized platoon into the spider's nest between Gangdong and Songpa districts draw all of those little bastards out and get them to follow you. Try to buy us some extra time to get into position but don't overdo it. If you feel pressured go ahead and feign a rout and bring those eight legged freaks straight into papa bear's den. When you get to the Imperial base you'll break off and we'll take over to lead the bugs right up to the front door. That's going to be the trickiest part so we need our top riders to charge in without getting hit." Bremer began to lay out the plan.

"That'll be me. I'm probably the best rider you've got." Ji-hwan volunteered. So-hyun looked at him with a level of concern when he said that.

"Once the Imperial guards start popping rounds off I want you to turn back and get out of there. The aliens should be drawn in to Kwang-su's place at that time. If Kwang-su decides to sally forth from his castle to meet the bugs head on that's when we'll strike as a whole. If he doesn't then the aliens are going to cut us the hole we need to get into that place and start knocking off his officers." Bremer continued.

"We'll only have a limited amount of time to get this done before the bugs are upon us from all sides. Once we take that first shot the clock starts. It'd be preferable to get them outside but if it looks like it's not going to happen we better move in while we can. We'll have to be quick and thorough because once their air power shows up we're going to have to bug out." Bremer cautioned the group.

"So when they do come out how are we going to counter their armor? We don't have enough heavy vehicles in our arsenal to match their strength and we can't count on the scout walkers to do it all for us." Hong-gi asked.

"They're low on fuel for the armored vehicles. That was one thing they really had pressed upon their tax base for lately. The value was high enough to them that I would assume their need was dire. I wouldn't speculate they would deploy them against us unless they really felt we were that much of a threat." Seo-hyun mentioned.

Bremer and his advisors planned out the rest of their tactics then went to turn in for the remaining hours of the night. Bremer and Lyndsey walked side by side out of the building towards the hospital after Vargas and the others split off to their bunks.

"Lyndsey, since I know it is going to be impossible to pry you from the Major's side I'm going to need you to shore up our defenses here while I'm gone in case the bugs get any wild ideas to come after us." Bremer instructed Lyndsey.

"I'll get with the guys from the workshop and have them drop whatever they're doing and help you out." he went on to say.

"We're going to be leading with our chin out down here so I'm going to be a little nervous. Take care of the place for me alright?" Bremer asked her.

"I assure you it'll be standing when you come back sir." Lyndsey pledged.

She then returned to the ambulance where she reclined on her bench to rest while Bremer went into the hospital to check on the wounded and bed down in one of the unused upper floor rooms. Needless to say no one in the 4th Korea slept well, if at all that night. Tomorrow was a date bound for bloodshed and every one of them knew it. It seemed as if their greatest battle as a single cohesive unit to date wouldn't be against aliens but against their own kind.


	106. The Empire Strikes First - Part One

_**Author's Note:** The series' "Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma" and "The Empire Strikes First" will be a series of non-consecutive chapters which will form the climax of and wrap up the events of the infighting between human factions prior to getting deeper into the aliens story arcs along with some major reveals which will be quite different from what the show presented. The story will jump between the two arcs as well as being punctuated by chapters showing events off world and human vs alien battles that take place within the same time frame. Some of these chapters will be quite short while the more action oriented ones will be rather long, I'm trying to break it up based on core events instead of lumping it all into one gigantic chapter. Personally when I'm reading other stories I like it where I can down a chapter in a single sitting and kind of use that as a way to mark my place and kind of have that in mind when writing. Yeah I know there are a few chapters in here that are real beasts upwards of 50-100 pages each, but going forward I'll try to break things down into more digestible chunks, unless of course I hit a chapter cap and then I'll have to go back and combine chapters until they all are enormous monsters so that I can get to a decent end point. This method will also allow me to keep some semblance of regular updates going as my motivation for writing in general now is lagging to an all time low and what little creative energy I have is being spread out among other projects at the moment. (could always use a good kick in the ass if you want to see more directed to one particular story or the other. Hopefully I'll pull out of this slump over the summer and can start pounding out more material in the fall.) That being said I couldn't do that for the prologue since I wanted to give the reader an option to quickly skip the fluff and go straight to the action. Just so everyone knows I haven't given up on this, the updates might just get a little slow in the months ahead. Please bear with me and thank you to all of you who have stuck around through this nifty little learning experience here. Cheers!_

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Chapter CVI: The Empire Strikes First - Part 1

1 Nov 0600 KST

Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea

Kwang-su paced back and forth in rage in front of his lieutenants in the east lobby of their underground headqaurters. A few hours of rest had done nothing to damped his rage. Ever since the alien motherships pulled out of orbit they had been making steady progress. The aliens had been pushed back and no human they encountered dare question their claim to head up the resistance. Then they dared to cross a line.

"We made one push north of the river and they bomb us down to such a level we are succeptible to this shit!" Kwang-su shouted in frustration.

His lieutenants held their peice as he fumed. They knew better than to try and calm him down now lest they incur his insufferable wrath. He simply had to get it out on his own.

"None of these people would ever have opposed us before! They would have joined, ran or died, but what the fuck people!" Kwang-su shouted as he knocked over a stack of boxes with his fist.

He kicked over a drum of diesel fuel, a very valuable resource to them and threw several uncut lengths of PVC pipe across the room. His men stood there and let the fuel drain out.

"Pick that shit up!" he demanded. Two of his men hurried over to salvage the fuel inside the drum.

"From now on we stick to the south of Seoul! Alright?" Kwang-su turned and adamantly charged his men.

"Yes sir." said Sung-hoon.

"Whatever you say boss man." Sang-hoon concurred.

"Sang-hoon! Get a posse together and go find those fucks! Hunt them down and kill every last motherfucking one of those those god damned motherfuckers!" Kwang-su furiously commanded his lieutenant.

It was more important to him to attain and maintain control over the human population of the parts of Seoul which he already claimed dominion over than it was to take the fight to the aliens. They would never gain ground on the aliens if they had to deal with dissention within their ranks and so long as there was a percieved milder alternative to his rule there would be dissention among the weak minded in their company.

Sang-hoon nodded, grabbed Chang Beom-seok and his squad and quietly but sternly went to the parking garage to grab a few vehicles and bring some more fighters in on the task. From there Sang-hoon would head to a factory complex where the Empire kept additional heavy vehicles to pick up a pair of APCs prior to starting a sweep of the area, starting with Gangnam District and working their way out from there to locate the 4th Korea's hideout and exterminate the lot of them. Meanwhile Kwang-su waited for one of his most savvy warriors to bring him back the heads of the men and women who defied him.


	107. Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma - Part 2

Chapter CVII: Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma - Part 2

1 Nov 0520 KST

The near entirety of the 4th Korea's fighters were mustered in Seongnam in preparation for the attack intended to end the Empire once and for all. Crews checked out the vehicles and ensured everything and everyone was functioning properly while soldiers loaded into the buses and armored vehicles. Learning something from the Empire some of the 4th's fighters padded down their body armor with skitter skins and also used them to hover the hoods of several vehicles in order to mask their heat signatures. While not the greatest form of body armor out there in terms of stopping a bullet skitter skin was proven to be very versatile for blocking heat, X-rays and other forms of radiation. It also offered a fair amount of protection against slashing and bashing weapons which the Empire would no doubt employ as secondary arms in place of their guns. It was also far more abundant these days than more traditional forms of body armor as dead skitters were everywhere and the skins did not decompose, only the internal structure within the "second skin" would truly be at any risk of breaking down as Earth's bacteria would eventually learn to metabolize its constituent parts.

Bremer and Min-ho boarded the K21 together and established it as their command vehicle. Sun-mi said her goodbyes to Eun-mi and boarded the M1135 with Min-ji.

"You keep the place pretty for us ok? I'll be right back sis." Sun-mi told her kid sister.

"Promise?" asked Eun-mi.

"I promise." Sun-mi replied.

Eun-mi nodded, looking resolute but feeling sad and afraid. Sun-mi leaned in and hugged her sister in a firm lasting embrace before Min-ji, getting impatient with her grunted and urged her to hurry over to the vehicle. Sun-mi climbed on board the armored vehicle while Bora, Jenkins, Seo-jun and the other de facto platoon leaders also found vehicles to serve as their respective flagships during the assault. In spite of all the heavier fighting vehicles available Vargas mounted a common rusted up pickup truck and swiveled around the mounted auto-grenade launcher on top of it and tightened the strap to his sniper rifle slung over his right shoulder. Ji-hwan and So-hyun walked together towards the rows of available motorcycles.

"Are you ready for this?" So-hyun asked him.

"Are we ever ready for anything?" Ji-hwan answered.

"We always come everything though." he assured her.

"I hope so. I won't be able to watch your back this time. They've got me heading off to Gangnam District to bring the crew there home." So-hyun said as they got to the bikes and started combing through which ones they wanted.

"They're not pairing you with me for a change; sure picked a funny time to break us up." Ji-hwan remarked.

"What? Are you going to miss me or something? How cute." So-hyun teased him.

"No, ah, come on. You know, we've just been working together ever since this thing started and well you get used to certain routines, certain people. You get a groove going you know? I'm just saying it's an odd time to throw off that groove with so much on the line." Ji-hwan explained.

"There's a shit ton on the line every time we go out there. Nothing special about going after humans that we don't see when going after aliens." So-hyun remarked. "It'll be over before we know it; you won't even notice that I'm gone." she continued.

"So whose ass are you going to be covering this time since you're leaving me to cover my own?" Ji-hwan asked her.

"They've got me with that social justice warrior girl, what's her name, Da-hee I think." So-hyun told him.

"Ah, well good luck with that. I hear she's a handful." Ji-hwan remarked.

"She's actually a nice girl when you get to know her." So-hyun replied.

The two of them picked out their bikes and looked back longingly at each other. There was a feeling between them that this could be the last time they ever saw each other. In truth that was the case every time they went out on a mission but this time it was different. They were staring death in the face together as they had before. This time they couldn't watch each other's back and make up for each other's shortsightedness. This time they would be on their own.

"You take care of yourself now." So-hyun said to Ji-hwan before rolling her chosen bike out of line.

"You too." Ji-hwan told her in return

They never needed to say much to each other. What they felt and what they meant was mutually understood. There was always an unspoken bond between them, a mutual respect and a sense of closeness that went beyond simple friendship. Ji-hwan guided his bike out of the storage rack and mounted it, trying it on for size. With the vintage and underperforming selection they had he actually managed to pick out a top notch model. He admired the glossy red paint job and the polished chrome. This bike had been well taken care of even after the apocalypse. So-hyun and Ji-hwan stood idle on their bikes waiting for the cue to go. Usually they would be comparing their rides, making small talk or working out the details for the mission ahead. This time they simply waited in silence. A minute or so later Da-hee pulled up in a city bus and honked at So-hyun indicating she was ready to go.

"I'll see you round." So-hyun said before she followed Dae-hyun heading off on their own.

Ji-hwan did not reply, he just watched her leave and waited for the motorized division of the 4th to pull into formation behind him before taking off on point.

Before the dawn's first light had struck the 4th Korea was on the move. They kept together maintaining a close watch on the skies as they left Seongnam. They did not provoke the ships cruising by in the air and strangely enough the alien airships returned the same favor and did not carpet bomb the human column advancing into their territory. It was as if they knew that today it wasn't the aliens that the 4th Korea was going after. Today for a brief moment in time they would be coincidentally fighting on the same side. Perhaps these beings were intelligent enough to see this and would not interfere with those who would suffer their losses in their place. Perhaps Kwang-su was wrong and indeed the aliens did value life to some degree, at the very least their own lives.

Upon leaving Seongnam Da-hee and So-hyun split off with a few additional motorcyclists in their company to evacuate Gangnam Station while the main force continued on to engage the Emperor on his home turf. Later Vargas and his platoon also broke away to bring in some much needed reinforcements of the extraterrestrial variety to the fight. Bremer and the main force continued onward. The tension was real, every cross street, every underpass, every building brought with it a chance for their utter destruction. There were enemies all around them both of the human and the alien variety and one wrong move could so easily spell their swift and total demise. They approached every corner ready to fight. Again it seemed like the aliens had intentionally pulled their forces back to allow the 4th Korea to do their dirty work for them. While it could be assumed they could have dealt with the situation themselves very easily by repeated heavy bombardment leaving behind only weak, scattered remnants of Kwang-su's empire of dirt for some reason they did not. The aliens seemed to have a vested interest in preserving whatever they could of the remaining infrastructure and the human population to boot for their own purposes. Apparently to the detriment of their own well-being once again bringing into question just how much they valued life to begin with.

The roads were clearer than they were used to during previous trips through Seoul, in part as a result of the continued fighting between the aliens and the Empire and in part due to salvage efforts conducted by the Empire's vassal groups. Reinforcing this notion were the cars left abandoned on the road were several marked with the Empire's green or black symbol. Those must be the ones that still work, or have useful or interchangeable parts with those that still run presumed Bremer.

"The markings on the vehicles, look. We must be getting close." Min-ho quietly told him, pointing out those that had been tagged.

They then reached a spot closer to the river in northern Songpa District and turned west by southwest. Here through a part of the city that had been leveled like a plain the 4th Korea could see clearly across the Han River where the invader's designs were starting to take shape. What exactly that shape was they could not be sure but it looked like some kind of giant three legged satellite dish based on the rickety substructure and scaffolding that had been erected.

Bremer noticed the giant alien structure rising from the ruins on the other side of the Han River. The upper portion was still little more than bare bones scaffolding with only one of the legs fully complete on the outside and the other two were but a frame and a handful of metal panels. This is why the aliens allowed the Empire to persist; this is why they did not strike back against Kwang-su until now, until after he agitated them in some way. All this infighting between human resistance groups had been buying the aliens time, time to build this. For what purpose it served he did not know but it certainly will not be good.

In its present condition the alien structure was structurally unsound. Bremer could spot half a dozen ways to bring it down with a little C4 and some ingenuity just by looking at it. This only strengthened his resolve to deal with Kwang-su expediently so they could mount a strike on the structure before it could be secured and completed. It made a tempting target, either as an alternative to Incheon or as a two pronged attack depending on what their intelligence in Incheon came back with. All this planning would be for naught if they could not pacify the madman that was standing between them and the alien apparatus taking shape across the river. True Kwang-su was fighting the enemy too but his priorities were askew. He could not be trusted to mount a worthwhile attack on the alien structure for in this self-styled Emperor's mind it was the 4th and those humans that rejected him that were the greater threat.

They made their way into Gangnam District and towards the mall at the location which their informants had provided them with. There the flattened ruin of the city became more populated once again with towers, homes and businesses. It its heyday this would be an upscale refined neighborhood shining with artistic luxury. Now it was littered with rubble, crushed bits of concrete, steel and glass were spread out like a blanket of snow of a cold winter's day. Many of the routes into the mall complex were strategically blocked by collapsed buildings and mounds of gnarled rubble and steel girder beams. Bremer and Min-ho could rightly assume it wasn't just the aliens that had done this though in appearance the average bystander would assume this to be mere destruction and not an intentionally constructed wall. The rubble formed in essence a stone wall encircling the area around the underground mall grounds leaving only three points of entry; one to the northeast which the 4th was approaching, one to the south and a small one to the west. The lack of holes blown into it led one to believe the visual deception had fooled the aliens but it would not fool the trained eyes of the 4th's military commanders, who understood the way the human mind thought. Particularly on the approach in that the 4th was taking there were four towers that particularly concerned Bremer. These 4 towers were all partially demolished having their top floors blown away leaving an open air roof upon the uppermost intact floor. From the windows and gaping holes in the superstructure Bremer saw through his binoculars the ever so slight movement of high caliber weapons being directed towards them.

Without causing a noticeable stir to give away the fact that the enemy's trap had been detected Bremer calmly ordered his divisions to split and seek cover behind the ruined structures to their right and left. The element of surprise was over, that was one thing that could not be counted on now. Though the Empire was alerted to their presence the battle was not lost. It would take Vargas a while to get here with the space cavalry and at their distance the Imperials would have to come out in order to get them. Such was the benefit of having air superiority denied to the enemy, even if it was denied to the 4th themselves. Without a spotter any indirect fire artillery the Imperials had would be of minimal effectiveness at this range. If they came out for them the 4th would be prepared, if the mortars started crashing too close around them they could pull back further and spread out. Bremer had hoped that at least for the mean time they would be safe. It was perfectly quiet save for an alien airship passing by overhead. In the moment of silence following the craft's passage Bremer could hear his own breath and see the clouds form from it and drift away. With his heart pounding and the adrenaline kicking up his blood flow he could not even feel the cool in the air. In fact it even felt warm despite being only twelve degrees above freezing on this unseasonably cold day, the cold being another after effect of the alien bombardment. Bremer ordered the armored vehicles, now running hot against the backdrop of a cold late autumn morning, to shut off their engines and cool down lest they draw fire from the air. The last thing he needed was the aliens to make the Empire's job easier on them. The vehicles were spread out over a wide arc, roughly in the shape of a crescent around the perimeter of the outer Imperial fortifications. The excess foot soldiers that had been riding in the vehicles for transport disembarked and spread out even further leaving only the drivers and gunners of the vehicles left inside, ready to make a hasty retreat or attack run whichever their commanders decided upon or the situation necessitated. Bremer was among those who disembarked and ran to the south across the street leading directly to the snipers' nests while his command vehicle went north. Min-ho remained in his K21 in the narrow alley across the street to the north of Bremer with his squad. Sun-mi was also there with him having command of the M1135 this time as was his sister Min-ji on the ground with a RPG launcher on her back and a K2 rifle in her hands. On the southern tip of the crescent Bora and Seo-geun stood with their unit, comprised entirely of the remnants from their former camps. Seo-hyun and Seung-hwa were at the northern tip of the crescent behind mounds of rubble with few standing walls just before the ground was flattened as one went towards the river. In the middle of the encircling formation between Bremer's and Bora's squads were Jenkins, Meyers and Pearson in one group and then Myung-yong, Chae-young and Seo-jun in another. Along with Bremer on the south side of the direct approach to the Empire's base were Hong-gi, Da-bin and SSGT Yi Yeon-woo. Moon-soo was also there, having served as their guide as well as being conscripted into service as the 4th's field medic for this mission. They each waited at their respective positions unsure of what the next move should be and who should make it. For the immediate term Bremer believe the ball was in the Empire's court, that they would be the one to make the first aggressive action towards them now that certainly the 4th Korea's cover had been blown. Bremer expected mortars and rockets to begin shelling their position anytime now and when they did not come he found himself thinking "What's taking them so long?"

"Do you think they even saw us?" Hong-gi asked crouched up against a partially erect wall of bricks that used to comprise a merchant complex across from Bremer.

"Yeah. I saw them train their guns on us when we approached. They were just waiting for us to come within range." Bremer answered.

"Why didn't they shoot? I could've made that shot from where we were." Yeon-woo sarcastically inquired.

"Aren't you glad they didn't?" Da-bin asked him in return, personally glad that no one was shot.

"Not all of those guys are ex-military marksmen. Basic training isn't gonna cut it if you want to make a shot count that far down range. Plus you're going to need the right gun, a good scope and so on. I barely saw them at full magnification." Bremer answered.

"They were counting on the fact we couldn't see them I assume. Once that opening barrage let loose they knew we would seek cover so my best guess is that they were waiting to make every shot count, until we were close enough that they could've really thinned our ranks out before we knew what to do with them." Bremer answered.

"What's bugging me though is why they haven't tried to flush us out of hiding yet." Bremer admitted.

"Mortars, rockets, grenades, the big stuff that goes boom. That's hard to come by and it's the only shit that works to take down the walkers." Da-bin answered. "Perhaps they don't want to waste them on us when bullets do the job just as well." he continued.

"They'd have to come out here and get us if they want to be cheap about it. If they do we'll be waiting for them." Bremer remarked.

"They might be working on that right now." suggested Hong-gi. "These guys are arrogant but I don't think they're stupid enough to come at us head on, they'll probably sneak around the back way or something."

The curiosity and the fear kept nagging at Bremer and he was compelled to take a closer look. He could envision a column of vehicles or a large contingent of foot soldiers storming out that gate right now and in spite of the chance of getting dropped by a lucky long range shot he resolved to poke his head out and look. Bremer glanced over at the rifle Yeon-woo was carrying. It was equipped with a rather high powered scope that could enable him to see clearly quite a distance down range. He couldn't ask Yeon-woo to stick his neck out for him though, he was the leader and as such he should see exactly what they were facing with his own eyes so he could make the best informed decision about what to do with it going forward.

"Can I borrow that for a second?" Bremer asked pointing to Yeon-woo's sniper rifle, particularly the high powered top of the line scope he had affixed to it.

Yeon-woo handed the rifle over to Bremer who handed Yeon-woo his standard issue K2 in exchange, just in case a firefight broke out in the few brief moments when Bremer was checking the corners. Bremer peeked around the corner and observed the snipers' nest through the scope of Yeon-woo's rifle. The Imperials were just waiting there, their guns still pointed in the direction of the 4th. There was no sign of movement or activity in the space beyond these guard towers. Based on the information that Moon-soo and others had given him if the Empire was to mount a counter attack against them it would most likely come through this gate. A circuitous strike reaching around from one of the other gates would take some time and likely would be noticed before it got into position due to the excessive rubble limiting the points of approach such an attack could make against the 4th's position. They were spread out, yet positioned well to repulse a direct ground assault from any direction that it might come in. The moment one squad started shooting the others could rapidly respond to and envelop the attacker. Bremer looked the other direction down the street and also saw nothing. Still Bremer feared a pincers maneuver from a numerically superior and better equipped adversary was in the works. The absence of aliens anywhere along their lines and the apathy the extraterrestrial air power had appeared to show them was also unsettling. The thought had crossed his mind that the aliens were setting up a scenario by which they would draw both factions of the human resistance out into the open in a relatively small space only to drop a well-placed bomb on them without risking too much collateral damage to their designs a short distance across the river. Would the space crabs be that smart though? Bremer could only hope not, and that Vargas' team's actions to bring them in prematurely would throw a wrench into whatever scheme they had devised against the humans this day.

Seeing Bremer peeking around the corner Min-ho waved him down once he got back into hiding. When Bremer's attention was diverted he shouted over to him, just loud enough so that the Lt. Colonel could hear him but no louder.

"What now?" Min-ho asked Bremer acknowledging that they were trapped.

While Min-ho had brought the big guns to the party he was not a military strategist by any means. Seeing that an attack was not imminent judging by any indicators that he could observe Bremer began thinking ahead to the later stages of their plans. Vargas could be cut down on that street ahead of them when he arrived and they wouldn't even be in position to take over and lead the bugs into the mouth of the beast. Instead the bugs would be turned back at the Imperial gate and swarm the 4th's position achieving the exact opposite of what the 4th had aimed to accomplish. He knew it would be a difficult proposition and one with the certainty of many casualties but they had to take out those gun nests. They were hard targets indeed but absolutely vital to the success of their mission. Being that timing was an uncertain thing, that Bremer could only estimate when Vargas would be arriving so the question of when to make an attack on the guard towers would be a gamble. If they moved to early the Empire would react and the battle would be on in full force and possibly be over before the space cavalry arrived to level the playing field. If they moved too late then Vargas would be cut down and the same fate Bremer had feared would befall the 4th if they had done nothing would befall them. He thought that if they could seize the towers and hold that ground for their own they would make strong fighting positions to repulse the Empire's forces thereby giving them a little more wiggle room on the timing though the possibility for losses was magnified as opposed to just lobbing some rockets into these buildings and collapsing them, which also brought about the potential risk of blocking the road into the mall grounds and once again spelling doom for the 4th.

"I'm thinking of something. Stand by." Bremer told Min-ho.

It was better if he didn't shout out a strategy session across the street. He would have to rely on those around him for counsel and then once he had some semblance of a plan send someone to confer with Min-ho and company about it. For the mean time they both still had to be on guard against an attack. He looked over to Yeon-woo, Da-bin and Hong-gi who seemed to be waiting on him to come up with something. They had assumed that they would be waiting out the storm where they were until Vargas got back with the planned third party to the attack. They expected Bremer's orders, if he had any new orders to give would involve sneaking around further and getting into a more advantageous position for when the strike would happen. They had no idea Bremer was mulling over the prospect of sending some of them to their doom.

"Chico's going to be coming in fast with bugs chomping at his heels when he gets here. He's not going to have time to sniff out the gun nests up ahead. He'll be running straight into an ambush before we have a chance to take over. If that happens our backup crabs are going to take the path of least resistance when they turn to fight." Bremer explained to the men around him.

The news seemed unsettling to the other fighters, especially Da-bin who was really not wanting to be in the first wave of an attack. He joined the 4th to have a better chance for survival for himself and his sister. He would have a better chance of achieving that goal if he was in the middle of the assault behind rank upon rank of geomis who would take the lion's share of the Empire's defensive fire in his place.

"Gentlemen, we are the path of least resistance." Bremer plainly told them.

"What we've got to do is, we've got to take out those sniper's nests before Vargas gets back with the crabbies." Bremer stated.

"If we go straight down that road we're gonna get cut down before we get within a hundred yards of those towers." Da-bin objected.

"That's why we don't run straight at a gun nest you idiot! We go around, slink between these buildings here and try to crawl up the ass end." Yeon-woo admonished Da-bin who clearly knew nothing of proper military tactics post-1920. Da-bin was certainly old enough to have done his time in the service, he must have been admin or something off the lines Yeon-woo thought.

"We don't really know what kind of route we have through all this mess either. These buildings are all in shit shape; we can't even assume there is a walkable route through this maze of wreckage. We're going to need to scout it out; climbing over this crap puts us just as much in the line of fire as going straight down the road." Bremer corrected the both of them.

"Hong-gi, you take your boy here and sniff us out a path forward. I'm going to go down the line to the south, make sure everyone is on the same page." Bremer told Hong-gi.

He then turned to a different soldier leaning up against a lump of charred bricks behind him. "Private umm. . ." Bremer started to address the soldier at a complete loss for his name.

"Lee." the soldier told him.

"Yeah, I need you to do the same to those boys on the other side of the street alright?" Bremer instructed him.

"Sergeant Yi is infantry; wouldn't he be a better choice for a scouting mission than me?" Da-bin suggested to Bremer trying to get out of his assignment. "I could hang back here and protect the doctor." Da-bin offered.

"Fine. Yeon-woo you go with Hong-gi and blaze a trail. You stay here and keep tabs on the good doctor." Bremer consented without even thinking it over. It really didn't matter who did what as long as the objectives were completed.

Bremer handed the sniper rifle back to Yeon-woo and got his own weapon back. Bremer checked the magazine and the under barrel grenade launcher one last time then crept away down the line, ducking down where the walls and piles of debris were lower to the ground. Private Lee darted across the street, eliciting a single shot from the towers than pecked into the dirt behind his feet. At least one of the Imperial snipers were getting bold, fortunately their aim wasn't up to snuff to nail a shot from that distance on a moving target. Hesitantly Hong-gi set off behind Bremer to seek out an alleyway or completely flattened section of the ruins to cross between the seemingly concentric rings and parallel straight lines of demolished structures along each of the former streets between them and the mall complex. Yeon-woo followed behind and quickly caught up then assumed the lead before they found an open alleyway behind a mangled chain link fence. As the word was spread the 4th Korea began sending out squads into the labyrinth-like ruins of one of the most upscale parts of Seoul to probe a means of attack the troublesome guard towers that had so deeply concerned their commander's plans.


	108. The Empire Strikes First - Part 2

Chapter CVIII: The Empire Strikes First - Part 2

1 Nov 0851 KST

Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea

Da-hee and So-hyun were busy evacuating the 4th's forward operating base in the Gangnam District train station when the Imperial forces arrived. They had come to gather the small contingent of fighters that remained on guard there and bring the civilians back to their headquarters in Seongnam while the Imperial threat was being neutralized. They had taken one bus load back already and were here now to make their second and final run. They had nearly completed the evacuation when the enemy arrived after going up and down scouring the city streets for their prey.

"Fucking shit! I so do not need this today." So-hyun complained.

Two APCs, four pickup trucks, an RV and a number of motorcycles whipped around the corner and immediately opened fire, gunning down a dozen civilians and fighters before the 4th's people could even respond. In retaliation So-hyun took up her rifle and sniped a man operating a truck mounted machine gun. The Gangnam station guards split up, half of them went to protect the bus with Dae-hyun which held most of their people and the other half went to defend the station with So-hyun where the last few of their number remained. A man running between the station and the bus was shot three times along the ribs and fell dead halfway to his destination. Gunfire resounded in both directions as the Imperial forces dismounted from their vehicles and took cover, firing back all along the way. So-hyun shot one fighter dead while one of her comrades clipped another in the right calf, bringing him down. The wounded man was dragged behind some rubble while two other Imperial fighters covered him with streams of rifle fire. So-hyun and her fighters sought refuge behind the smashed vehicles in front of them to hide from the barrage of gunfire. A grenade exploded in the space between other vehicles and rubble a few meters north of them sending bits of dirt and cement chips raining down upon them. Da-hee and her group fired upon one of the APCs and pounded on the bus to tell the driver to retreat before the APC's mounted machine gun could tear it to shreds. The bus sped away leaving the APC's gunner to poke holes in the ground, taking only one of Da-hee's compatriots to the next life with its barrage.

A group of civilians came out carrying bags and were accompanied by 4th Korea fighters giving no space for the Empire with a continuous rotating stream of fire. The Imperial fighters wearing skitter skin armor were able to absorb some of the rounds and keep fighting, allowing them to stand in the hail of bullets and return fire, dealing at least as many casualties as they received.

"Is that everyone?" So-hyun asked.

"Almost! There's a few more still down there!" one of the fighters shouted back to her as he sought cover behind a mound of bricks and steel A-frames.

Meanwhile So-hyun sent one of the other fighters ahead with the bus to evacuate the civilians while they loaded up the remainder onto a handful of unarmed cars and trucks they had around the station. Packed in tight the vehicles took off with So-hyun and the other fighters covering their retreat. Those soldiers who would have returned back to So-hyun's side were prevented from doing so by heavy Imperial fire leaving one of them dead and another wounded in the knee. The wounded man was carried away and slumped into the back of a truck which abandoned the scene leaving only a car that barely ran and the So-hyun and Dae-hyun's squads motorcycles

"Innocents are clear. Let's pull out!" Da-hee shouted to So-hyun who was shooting back at the Imperial troops from behind a pile of collapsed building materials.

Three of the soldiers to So-hyun's right scrambled to their bikes and sped off to escort the last group of civilians.

"There's still some downstairs in the station! We can't leave them!" So-hyun shouted back.

"We can't do anything for them now! There's too many of them to get through!" Da-hee protested.

"Damn it!" So-hyun cursed. She hated the idea of leaving anyone behind. What if that was her or someone she cared about that was abandoned because of the "greater good?" As bullets struck around her and Imperial foot soldiers inched closer she was forced to concede her powerlessness in the situation.

"So-hyun! We have to go!" Dae-hee insisted.

The car intended for the civilians was shot to pieces by the combined machine gun fire from the two APCs, flattening all its tires, demolishing much of its internal components and killing a soldier hiding behind it. A fighter next to Dae-hyun was hit in the forehead spraying a bright red spatter of blood mingled with thick soil from the man's skin and shredded brains from deeper within his head. Dae-hyun ran before she met the same fate. There was no way to get the civilians out now, they wouldn't survive on foot and So-hyun and her men wouldn't survive if they remained here much longer. Reluctantly, So-hyun slung the rifle over her back then she and Da-hee mounted motorcycles to flee behind the rest of their people. The civilians left behind took up the arms that had been abandoned with them and moved up to make a final stand at the entrance to the train station. All the while Sang-hoon and his platoon moved into position and surrounded the station.

Sang-hoon sent Beom-seok along with two cars and three motorcycles chasing after the fleeing civilians while the rest of his force penned in the remaining fighters that held the entrance leading down below. One of the Imperials opposite and ahead of Sang-hoon lobbed a grenade behind the barricades of rubbish and concrete barriers which the defenders hid behind. The explosion killed one and wounded two of the fighters that had concentrated the most fire towards Sang-hoon's squad. It was followed up by a flash bang that allowed the Imperials to rush in and seize the remaining people down below while taking minimal casualties of their own.

Meanwhile Da-hee and So-hyun were gaining ground towards the rear of the evacuation convoy with Beom-seok's squad in hot pursuit. They zig-zagged through some side streets to draw off one of the cars and a motorcycle after them. So-hyun took her submachine gun off the clip holding it to her waist and shot it off behind her wildly spraying bullets until she dismounted the motorcycle rider. She and Da-hee then rounded a corner leading the car into a tight turn. As the two bikes nimbly parted to each side the Imperial vehicle slammed into a disabled moving van parked in the middle of the road right after completing the turn. When the two bikers returned to the main road they opened fire on the second car which was passing by the alley from which they emerged from. The gunfire killed the driver and wounded several others in the car thereby ending the pursuit. So-hyun shot dead one of the fighters coming out of the vehicle as the Imperials returned fire on them and made efforts to swap out a new driver.

Being in the clear for a moment the two women managed to catch up with the evacuation which was chugging along as it maneuvered through a tight space full of destroyed cars and buildings. Once they got back up to speed Beom-seok appeared from an adjacent street having taken a short cut to cut them off but instead emerged behind them. Beom-seok riding in an old model Land Rover was gaining on the two women holding up the rear behind the last of the civilian evacuees riding in a sluggish overloaded compact car. He fired towards them though they swerved to where the bullets struck the concrete around them. He was closing in and fast. They could outrun him on their nimble bikes but they would be abandoning the civilians in the process.

"We're not going to lose them. We have to fight!" So-hyun asserted.

"We have to hold them back long enough for the civilians to escape!" she reiterated to Da-hee and the other fighters.

So-hyun took a grenade out of her jacket pocket, pulled the pin and rolled it towards her pursuers as they closed it. They were forced to swerve around the explosion and slow down which allowed the evacuation to increase the distance between them, if only for a moment.

After regaining the lost ground and then some Beom-seok shot out the right rear tire of the compact car at the tail end of the civilian retreat. The tire shredded itself to pieces and flew apart. The bare rim sparked as the car continued to flee before it mounted the curb around several parked vehicles and was forced to stop. So-hyun and Da-hee pulled their bikes over and got the women and children out of the car and gave their bikes to them. They zipped off, two people to a motorcycle leaving the two fighters and two teenage boys left on foot. So-hyun took out her secondary weapon, a K1A submachine gun and handed it to one of the boys while Da-hee gave up her extra pistol to the other.

"We'll take one of their vehicles and get the hell out of here." So-hyun assured the others.

She sent the boys and Da-hee into a brick building behind them while she herself remained on the sidewalk behind several disabled vehicles and a newspaper booth to draw the attention of their pursuers. She shot a flurry of bullets towards the passing vehicle, wounding Beom-seok in the shoulder, right arm and breast and thereby preventing him from lacing the area around her with a storm of bullets. So-hyun then retreated inside the building next door to the one the others were hiding in. Predictably Beom-seok yelped out the order for his driver to stop. As Beom-seok slinked down into the vehicle to mend his wounds the other fighters save the driver exited and in military fashion crept around the cover of parked vehicles towards the building walls where So-hyun and the others were hiding. A pair of motorcycles sped down the road after the remaining civilians moments later but by that time the evacuees had already gained enough ground to elude them. So-hyun provided suppressive fire to keep one team of Imperials pinned down on the street side of the disabled vehicles. Meanwhile Da-hee and the boys fired upon the Land Rover from the second floor of the building they were in tearing up both the driver and Beom-seok leaving them dead in a vehicle perforated with dozens upon dozens of holes.

While fuel, motor fluids and blood leaked out of the vehicle the group opposite So-hyun advanced along the wall below Da-hee and entered into the building she was holed up in. They moved up to the second floor while Da-hee and So-hyun were focused on the second group outside. The teenage boys caught the Imperial fighters coming from behind them and turned to engage. Both groups opened fire at the same time killing an Imperial soldier along with one of the boys. The second boy was wounded while the soldiers burst in and shot Da-hee in the left calf causing her to buckle down backwards freeing the Imperial soldiers on the street from gunfire in one direction. With both of them wounded the Imperials stormed the room and Da-hee and the boy captive. Their captors tossed aside their weapons and dragged the pair outside. Meanwhile while So-hyun paused to reload her hiding place was stormed by Imperial fighters and she was taken captive as well. She met Da-hee outside and they were taken back on foot. Minutes after they were taken away by Imperial fighters a pair of aliens mechs arrived on the scene; mechs that could have been their salvation if they had arrived sooner.

Back at the 4th's former position at the train station Sang-hoon and his minions had gathered together all the prisoners they had taken and looted whatever meager supplies remained down below. In addition to Da-hee, So-hyun and the young man with them Sang-hoon's captured seven of the civilians that were still left down below. They put the prisoners hands behind their backs and wrapped them in twine before forcing them down on both knees. Sang-hoon walked around in front of the captives and stretched out his shoulders, cracking his neck to both sides in an effort to intimidate them.

"My, my, my. You little shits sure gave us a nice little game of cat and mouse. I believe no one told you the rules beforehand though; you see, you weren't supposed to shoot back at us, that was very naughty of you. You were supposed to just stop, lie down and let us do with you as we would. We would have been a lot gentler to you all that way, I promise. Now it seems you're going to have to apologize to the friends and families of the people you killed." Sang-hoon taunted the prisoners as he paraded in front of them with his rifle slung over his back and a pistol in his hand.

He stopped speaking for a moment but kept walking up and down the semi-circle which he had the prisoners positioned in. As he passed by a trembling man who looked down and away from Sang-hoon when he passed Sang-hoon gave a look of disgust and immediately shot the man through the top of the skull as he walked away. Sang-hoon did not give a moment's thought or hesitation to the execution nor showed the faintest sign of remorse when he walked away. Some of the other prisoners tried to get up and charge him but were promptly put back down in their place with a shove or a smack to the back or the head. Sang-hoon stopped and raised his pistol as if he was going to kill another prisoner and fired off four rounds. The shots struck a skitter who had climbed over the rubble behind Sang-hoon's squad's APC. The skitter took two shots to the shoulders, one to the face and one to the throat and tumbled down the slope of the pile of concrete and debris twitching in a pile of outstretched limbs. One of the Imperial fighters nearby put it out of its misery with a makeshift spear fashioned from a knife blade hafted to a broomstick which was jabbed through the wound in its neck deeply and twisted until the alien ceased its motions.

"This shit is too damn loud. It'll attract more Geomis over and well I don't feel like seeing black blood all over the place right this second. I leaning a little more, red if you get my drift." Sang-hoon mused.

"Won-jae! Bring me something a little more quiet will ya?" Sang-hoon barked orders at one of his henchmen.

The henchman handed Sang-hoon a pick axe in exchange for the pistol. "Load that bitch too." Sang-hoon ordered him.

While Won-jae reloaded Sang-hoon's pistol Sang-hoon slung the pick axe over his shoulder. He eyed several people on the line among them was So-hyun. Not to be intimidated by a big man with a crude piece of mining equipment So-hyun spit in Sang-hoon's direction. Her spittle landed on Sang-hoon's dirty, scuffed black boot and mingled with a clump of a yellowish grey clay substance stuck on its outer surface forming a sticky mud of sorts. This act caught the unit captain's attention.

"Well, well. The girl's just asking for it isn't she?" Sang-hoon threatened her as he sauntered over towards her.

One of the Imperial fighters got behind So-hyun and held her neck back, tilting her head up in place and set his knee on her legs effectively pinning down the bound captive. She looked up at Sang-hoon still unafraid. She knew she was going to die anyways, better to go out with her pride intact rather than groveling on her knees.

"You want to be introduced to the big boy eh?" Sang-hoon teased her.

He lifted up the boot that So-hyun had spit upon and wiped the muddy spittle on her chin prior to giving her a medium strength low crescent kick to the side of the face.

Sang-hoon slammed his boot down and laughed. "You aren't good enough for the big boy bitch!" he taunted her and then with but ten seconds of delay he stepped two men down the line and swung the pick axe with tremendous force into the side of the head of an arbitrary male non-combatant from Gangnam Station. The pointed end of the pick axe smashed through one end of the skull and out the other end sending bones, blood and brain fragments flying across the pavement peppered with loose stones and spattering onto the woman next to him. The force was so tremendous that one could see blood vessels in the man's neck rupture and muscles tear in the throat turning the entire side of the neck red, purple and blue. The strike had nearly taken the man's head off as if the corpse that knelt where there had once been a man cared if he had retained his head or not. With two strong jerks Sang-hoon removed the bloodstained pick axe and handed it to a fighter that followed along beside him as he resumed pacing up and down the line.

"Now that you fucks know we mean business we can begin." Sang-hoon said in earnest.

"It seems you fellas aren't just a bunch of hoodlums hanging out in a train station. I know you're shacking up with what's left of the good old Republic of Korea Armed Forces. These types aren't exactly the ones to be screwing around all willy nilly. So, I know you have a plan and I know you have a base of operations out there and it certainly isn't this piss stained hole in the ground." Sang-hoon addressed the prisoners.

"What I want to know is where this base of operations is because you dirty fuckers are becoming quite the impediment to getting these six legged freaks off this fine rock we call Earth. I need to have me a little heart to heart with your leadership and get them to understand the situation we have with them, get them to come around to our way of thinking and hope they do the right thing." Sang-hoon continued.

It was quite ironic as it was this self-declared Empire that were the ones preventing any real effort being focused against the aliens at the present time. The 4th Korea had been solely dedicated to defense and reclamation of Earth until these guys started a pissing match over who would be king of the ashes the spacemen leave behind. So-hyun, Da-hee and presumably others knew that any talk of negotiations between Sang-hoon and the 4th's leadership was a lie. Their leadership had already extended the olive branch of peace and in return that olive branch was set alight with a blowtorch in their faces. "The right thing" for their leaders to do in the Empire's eyes was for their leaders to kill themselves and that simply wasn't going to happen.

"Go to hell!" a woman screeched defiantly from the northern fringe of the semi-circle.

"Madam, look around, we are in hell." Sang-hoon replied as he walked towards the woman.

He left the pick axe and his gun in the hands of other men and knelt down beside her. He flinched out a partial smile as he watched the woman tremble, trying to look courageous though her fear was ever so obvious to him. Sang hoon leaned in and licked the side of her face before standing up, reaching his fingers through her hair and stroking it backwards as he walked around behind her. His fingers caught the tangles within the woman's sullied black mane and Sang-hoon clenched his fist around her hair. The woman gasped in shock and tugged forward to no avail. Sang-hoon pulled back the hair of the defiant woman and slammed her face first into the ground. The impact broke the woman's nose on contact and when Sang-hoon pulled her head back up and released her streams of bright red ran down from her nostrils and lower lip. A patch of skin was torn away on her forehead from the rough crumbling asphalt on the ground and her cheeks and eyebrows were similarly scratched up. Sang-hoon released the woman and stepped away.

"I only let you live because you're pretty." Sang-hoon said pointing both his right ring finger and middle finger at her.

"Hear that boys, this bitch is claimed. Got that?" Sang-hoon called out to address his own troops.

"Now the next one of you little shits won't be so lucky. So get to talking." Sang-hoon said as he was handed back the pick axe.

It didn't take long for someone to crack. The spineless little weasel was at the southern end of the semi-circle in a direct line of sight from So-hyun. She could see the coward clearly, a clean shaven man, late 20s, frizzy medium brown hair in brown slacks and a sullied light beige button down shirt covered with rows of black, orange and brown lines criss crossing to form squares all over it. The scrawny little fuck certainly had no balls. As if he could really barter with them. Their only chance of survival is if Bremer and company managed to clean out the rats' nest that was the Imperial base soon enough and these douchebags decided to wait and execute the lot of them back home, you know for the amusement of their peers rather than capping them on the spot. If the stars aligned just right then the rest of the 4th would be there in time to save them but realistically they were all going to die and So-hyun knew this. Unfortunately that sentiment wasn't shared by all of the prisoners.

"I know where it is." confessed one of the prisoners.

So-hyun looked at the man in disdain. He was just about to forfeit the lives of all their friends by his betrayal. "That son of a bitch!" she thought. He wasn't even going to spare his own life. They would certainly kill him once he had outlived his usefulness. He was going to sacrifice the 4th Korea's civilian population for what, another 16 minutes alive? What was worse is that she had seen this man before in camp; she knew he had been to Seongnam at least once. So-hyun fervently loosened the twine binding her hands, cutting her wrists in the process until they had given enough slack for her to slip them through. The guard behind her paid no attention to her efforts as he was watching Sang-hoon and the man who was about to sell out the 4th Korea to them.

"So spill it. Where are they?" Sang-hoon asked.

So-hyun twisted around, took her captor's gun and shot the man who was about to confess to Sang-hoon. Unfortunately her captor reacted just in time to force her hands down before she pulled the trigger so the bullet intended for the throat of the traitor pierced through the forearm and the waist of the man, injuring him and inflicting insufferable pain in his loins but leaving him alive and well to betray them. So-hyun's captor wrestled her to the ground and took the gun back. He held So-hyun's face against the rough pavement with his forearm on the back of her neck, his knee in her lower back and the gun pressed up against the back of her skull. Two more Imperial fighters rushed over to help him restrain So-hyun and stand her back up.

"The bitch has some spunk in her I'll give you that." laughed Sang-hoon, completely oblivious to the wailing of the wounded traitor.

"We can't be having that kind of attitude around here now can we? How about you fellas take her down below and fuck the insolence out of her? We'll cart her back to the Emperor when you're done." Sang-hoon said to So-hyun and the three men restraining her.

Sang-hoon picked a couple more men to go with the three men as he sent them and So-hyun away. "That should do it." he smirked and turned his attention back to his other captives. They were all visibly shaken by the multiple instances of brutality Sang-hoon had displayed without the faintest hint of remorse. Most notably now the women feared him more so than the men, for they most likely had a fate worse than simple death to look forward to though there was no certainty the men would be excluded from the same fate for despicable people come in all varieties and may have very differing tastes between them.

"Anyone else want to be a hero today?" he challenged them.

"Good." he said after several minutes of silence. "Now that we've got that out of the way let us continue." Sang-hoon declared moving back and leaning in towards the wounded man who was about to confess. The man was sniffing and whimpering in pain about to break down in front of his captors.

"Stop your whining. Geez, what a wuss!" Sang-hoon mocked him.

Sang-hoon lightly kicked the side of the man's wounded arm to show that he felt the pain was just an act although this main really and truly was in horrible pain. Sang-hoon's utter lack of concern only served to further humiliate the traitor.

"Now tell me where you filthy fucks are hiding out?" Sang-hoon said pressing his gun against the side of the man's temple.

"They're in an abandoned concert venue by a pond in the southeast of Seongnam. It's by a hotel and a driving range with a whole bunch of trendy restaurants." the man confessed.

"Are they? I guess we're going to go have to take a look." Sang-hoon said as he grasped the man by the back of the collar and stood him up.

Bright red blood stains flowed down the man's pant leg and dribbled out onto his foot as he stood there shaking. Sang-hoon pointed towards his men and the other prisoners and directed a portion of them back to the vehicles and then turned to the others.

"Someone get over here and plug the leak on this asshole! I can't have him bleeding out before he leads us back to his head honcho." Sang-hoon commanded.

"Take the rest of these turds back to the Emperor." Sang-hoon told a team of his men before sending them back with the remaining prisoners.

Though she was not there to witness it So-hyun's ghost of a chance to make it out of this alive seemed to have a little more substance to it now. Still it was no reason for her to get her hopes up already. The timing had to be so precise. If they attack hadn't commenced yet or worse yet the Empire had repulsed it then she would be too well guarded or perhaps moved elsewhere during the duration of the fighting. If Bremer had already laid the place to waste Sang-hoon and crew would likely kill the prisoners then and there as retribution. There was always the chance that any aliens that hung around would slaughter them all as well. The Empire would certainly capitalize on tossing the prisoners aside as bait to escape a full on alien attack, that one was a no brainer. The odds of crossing paths with a retreating or victorious 4th Korea were also slim to none as well. So-hyun's ghost of a chance was still just a ghost of a chance. Da-hee commiserated in her stead as she was packed into the back of an armored truck once used to deliver cash to banks with dozens of other prisoners. Among the last glimpses Da-hee saw in the new day's light was the image of Sang-hoon getting up close and personal with the traitor.

"You're going to lead me right to your home base and if I think for a second you're trying to deceive me you and all your friends are dead." Sang-hoon warned the man that confessed to him before leading him away.

Sang-hoon then pushed the wounded man into one of the armored vehicles. He was followed by one of Sang-hoon's goons with a strip of torn cloth to act as a temporary bandage to slow the bleeding. Sang-hoon then climbed into the commander's station of the APC and waited while the other prisoners were loaded onto the armored truck and a couple other secure vehicles. When the traitor was patched up enough to last the trip and bound doubly tight he too was set up in the commander's hatch next to Sang-hoon who put his arm around the man to hold him steady lest he attempt a noble suicide by rolling off the vehicle when it was in motion. Sang-hoon highly doubted this wimp would do that judging by his behavior thus far but in any case, just if he let a sudden rush of loyalty go to his head Sang-hoon was ready. All was then set and Sang-hoon ordered his forces to roll out; the prisoners would be taken back to Kwang-su once So-hyun's "initiation" ritual had concluded while Sang-hoon proceeded onward to the 4th Korea's main base.

Once again within fifteen minutes of the departure of the last Imperial vehicle which left Gangnam Station a cold empty monument to death the aliens arrived in force. Three dozen standard class scout mechs and just shy of a hundred skitters swept through the area. This wasn't a simple patrol, alien patrols rarely had more than two mechs and at most a dozen or so skitters. This was a massed fighting force presumably en route to engage the 4th or the Empire as that offensive was certainly underway at this time. This alien host could have been sufficient to overwhelm Sang-hoon's unit and spare the 4th Korea back in Seongnam a very nasty visit even if So-hyun and her fellow prisoners perished alongside their captors. If only it had arrived sooner. So it seemed fortune had not been kind. The 4th could only hope this delay would be beneficial to their assault on Kwang-su's stronghold for it certainly was not in the interest of their own home base.


	109. Chapter 109: Pawn to Rook

Chapter CIX: Pawn to Rook

1 Nov 0731 KST

Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea

Yeon-woo had crept through the maze of smashed structures, doubling back when he hit a dead end before trying a new plausible path forward. His efforts were duplicated by multiple pairs of scouts probing through the labyrinth trying to find a back door to those guard towers. The guard towers were really just a group of apartment and office buildings lucky enough to have retained some level of verticality over the past month. The closer they got the more mangled and clustered together the ruins became. They could get closer by taking the roads and alleyways alone but never close enough.

"We're going to have to try climbing over it." Hong-gi remarked as he brushed his hair back with his hand.

Yeon-woo looked back at Hong-gi disapprovingly. "You're giving up already?" he thought. There had to be a way through where they could keep down in between the ruined hulks of homes and buildings. Yeon-woo didn't want to get up and out in the open but it appeared like it was the only way. They looked around for a suitable point to climb over to get from one street to the next. It had to be something that wouldn't leave them exposed for long. Something with plenty of cover, something to shield them from the eyes in the tower. They could probably dart across a rooftop once only being sighted but quick enough to not get shot. Once they were noticed the guns would be trained in their direction thus making it ever more difficult to slink their way into position undetected.

After circling back and ascertaining their location within the maze Yeon-woo found a position he thought would be easy to cross between streets. On one side of their presumptive path forward lay a pile of large fractured concrete slabs and partially melted and resolidified steel beams rising up like pikes from a fine powder of crumbled cement granules, mortar sludge and dust. On the other side was a five story badly charred and crumbling brick building. The top three floors had broken off from the lower two and had fallen over onto the concrete mass yet remained mostly intact lying on its side. The collapsed building formed a roof over the gap between the two buildings which was filled with bricks and building materials that had been smashed to splinters and powder. There were two overturned cars stacked on top of each other on the side of the gap where Yeon-woo and Hong-gi stood. The ground beneath them was further sullied by the spots of dried up gasoline and oil that had drained from the vehicles. They stared nervously at their way forward. Passing through it would have been more akin to going through a tunnel than crawling over a rooftop of a mound of debris. The horizontal section of the building above should be enough to avoid being noticed by any watchful eyes in the guard towers. They could see straight through to the other side which led into a street that was otherwise inaccessible from any open alleyways or side streets. They knew at least the path was clear, an opening six feet high at its lowest point and four feet wide at its tightest squeeze. If this new street was to be a bust or a gain still remained to be seen; all they could do was try. They hesitated at first when they saw a couple of bricks fall loose from the fallen building into their pathway. How stable would this arrangement be they wondered? Eventually it would have to fall and become yet another unrecognizable mountain of debris in what had once been a thriving vibrant city.

"The longer we think about it the less we're going to want to do it." Hong-gi said letting out a deep breath before he started climbing on top of the cars to get onto the mounds of rubbish between the two ruined hulks.

Yeon-woo followed him and carefully they crossed between the two streets. A brick fell behind Yeon-woo which freaked him for a second or two as he turned around expecting to see a skitter or a human scout. Just as he realized there was no danger behind him a distant gunshot rang out. One shot, no return fire, apparently someone else had the same dumb idea they did.

"Great, so much for the element of surprised." complained Yeon-woo as they headed forward.

They slid down the pile of bricks and dust onto the next street to the west. This street was cloaked in the shadows cast by the ruins on all sides. The path to their south was blocked by debris, there was another narrow side street heading west seemingly clear and a somewhat clear path to the north which involved crawling over and under a large number of blown apart vehicles. There were also charred corpses in the street and in some of the vehicles. These weren't the recently deceased either. They had probably died in the initial attack, possibly due to acute radiation exposure and remained here ever since, rotting all the while as aliens passed through these streets in the weeks before this neighborhood had been taken over by the Empire. The bodies were badly decomposed, some of which had their remaining putrid flesh completely burned away leaving only skeletons behind. The two fighters moved through the path of the dead and headed north where they probed through a myriad of other streets, slowly creeping closer to the Imperial wall. The cautious gamble hadn't been a total bust after all; they hadn't stumbled into a completely sealed off hole surrounded by wreckage. There were plenty of paths from which they could try and stake their chances on. While they looked for a way forward several more gunshots could be heard. This time there was return fire. Someone had engaged the guard towers. A beamer passed overhead and remained completely ignorant of the gun battle beneath it. They aliens had at least learned how to let the dogs kill each other off for them apparently. If this had been in the earlier days of the invasion that fighter would have certainly gotten involved and obliterated both groups of human combatants. When the gunfire ceased Yeon-woo hoped that no one he knew had been hurt or killed. They climbed over an overturned bus, paying no mind to the bodies, bones and body parts amidst the wrecks of storefronts and cars along the broad thoroughfare they had just crossed.

Another lone gunshot rang out. They had to be getting close; that shot seemed rather close. By Yeon-woo's guess they were four or five blocks south of the towers and two blocks west. Once they got over the bus they could see the Empire's wall which confirmed their east-west position and once they weaved their way in a stair step pattern north they managed to sight the southern guard tower from around the corner. They had a way forward, now they had to double back and gather the troops. They also had to certainly find a way to draw away the attention of the snipers who were well on the lookout for them now thanks to some of the other groups.

Yeon-woo marked the trail as he and Hong-gi doubled back by scratching large arrow marks into cars or the sides of what little recognizable remained of buildings. As they headed back sporadic firefights were heard from various points all around them but mainly to the north and west of them. The defenders in the towers had most likely sighted threats coming at them from several directions. Surely now the element of surprise the 4th Korea had banked on was lost. They grabbed a few of the other teams as they made their way back to the long curving street which the 4th had established their main battle line within.

"You find anything?" Hong-gi asked one of the other teams they bumped into.

"Jack shit. Just about everywhere we turn it's blocked off. Tried going above but the bastards started shooting at us, tried going through one of the buildings but there was just too much shit blocking the way inside, even tried going under but the sewer system isn't fully intact anymore either." one of the two scouts replied.

"We saw them take down another pair a few blocks over that made a run for it. There was just too much open space on that rooftop. I told them they weren't going to make it but the stubborn shits didn't listen." the second scout added.

"We found a way through. It's a little nerve racking to go through but the shooters won't see you. Come with us and we'll all get through at once as soon as I report back to our commanders." Yeon-woo told the scouts.

The scouts joined behind them as did a few other teams that had given up the forward advance and were desperately looking for another way around. The returning scouts made their way back into the main lines and found Bremer and Min-ho back beside the main road leading towards the towers. The two leaders and the soldiers around them would peek around the corner and occasionally send some bullets down range when the opportunity presented itself. In return they hid from spatterings of gunfire sent back at them. After the skirmishing on the rooftops became more frequent between the Imperial guards and the 4th's scouts a truck and a jeep full of fighters came out from the mall complex behind the wall and advanced on the main lines until they were fired upon. From there the enemy troops debarked and took to fighting in the streets, gradually attempting to creep forward on foot, block by block. Looking down the road towards the tower Bremer could see smoke coming out of the hood of the truck about a half kilometer away. Further down the road behind the truck the jeep sat abandoned with a slain fighter clad in skitter skin sewn over body armor slumped over a mounted machine gun. Three bodies also lay in the street near the vehicles and two other dead Imperial fighters were on the ground between the vehicles and Bremer's position. By the last count of what he had seen there were at least seven living fighters out there hiding, slinking their way towards him. The sparking star patterned flash of gunfire coming from behind the burning truck forced Bremer back into hiding before he could take a shot at an enemy he did not see. Across the street Min-ho made up for Bremer's inaction and fired a sustained burst before he had to fall back behind his cover. Min-ho's barrage merely punched into the skin of the truck and failed to hit any human targets on the other side. As the 4th's leadership attempted to halt the counteroffensive skirmishing continued on the rooftops, with some teams hunkered down behind mounds of rubble, exposed metal frames, partial walls of crumbling structures and what remained of the transformers and HVAC units on top of the buildings. There were at least six heavy weapons batteries within the two towers and no fewer than forty additional troops with a combination of long range sniper rifles and standard military issue K2s.

"Please tell me you have some good news." Bremer said when he noticed Yeon-woo and several other teams of scouts return.

"Yes sir, we do. We found a route to the south tower but it might not be there for long." Hong-gi reported.

"There's half a building leaning over the top of it which could collapse at any second but it's the only path we can move through without being noticed." Yeon-woo added.

"You sure about that?" Bremer asked before quickly whipping around the corner and letting loose a short burst of gunfire before pulling himself back to safety.

"As sure as we'll ever be. We checked in with all the other groups we found and this is all any of us found." Hong-gi replied.

Bullets struck the corner near Bremer chipping away at the already cracked and crumbling brick and mortar pillar and wall section of what used to be a large shopping center. Tufts of dust and tiny bits of material flew out from the disintegrating building and made Bremer shield his eyes.

"Fuck it; we'll take what we can get." Bremer said.

"Yes sir." Yeon-woo replied.

"I've seen some of our men on the rooftops. What about them? Did any of the other teams make it through?" Bremer asked, recalling the ongoing skirmishes while waiting for the next opening to shoot back at those currently firing upon his position.

"I heard some got over but they aren't able to get back the way they came." Yeon-woo told him.

"If you find any of them when you head back make sure they are apprised of the plan and follow through with you. We need everyone we can on this." Bremer told him.

"So that's it? We're a go? You want us to go back and storm the towers now?" Hong-gi asked for clarification.

"Yes. Go down the line and get you as many men as you need." Bremer instructed them. "How long do you think it would take you guys to get into position to make a run on the south tower?" he asked.

"Twenty minutes tops, depends on how quickly we can get everyone together." Yeon-woo replied.

"We'll give you about thirty minutes and then we'll start making a direct advance down the street to draw their fire. Don't leave us waiting, we aren't going to last too long out there if we get exposed." Bremer said.

"Yes sir. Thank you sir." Yeon-woo replied and with that he and the other scouts jogged back down the line gathering up all the soldiers they could to follow them while Bremer, those around him and Min-ho's platoon on the other side prepared to feint a frontal assault.

"You going with them or us?" Bremer turned and asked Da-bin who was still sitting next to Moon-soo.

"I thought I'd just stay here with the doctor in case any of the bad guys broke through." Da-bin replied.

"The doctor's going with us." Bremer replied.

Da-bin gulped and swallowed his fear. He had wanted to sit this one out. He truly was not ready to face combat he thought. While he was on the other side he had managed to hide within the safety net the Empire provided, running relatively safe smash and grab operations and assisting in the reclamation of "tax assets." By the time he was considered to join in with a team on a direct assault against the aliens was around the time he decided to throw his lot in with his sister and Hong-gi to defect to the remnants of the military they had heard about which turned out to be the 4th Korea. He had always been around the fringes of the fight, never on the front line. So far luck had kept him from meeting the dogs of war head on and truly Da-bin didn't know if he could do it. He feared for his life of course, but he also feared that he would uncontrollably break and run if it got too intense, an act he assumed would have left him on his own and away from the protection he so desperately needed to stay alive in this troubling new world.

Bremer didn't notice Da-bin trembling mildly with fear when he turned to the doctor. "I want you to keep back a few blocks behind me with your kit on hand. Follow my lead and stay out of the line of fire as best you can. When you see someone go down I'll have someone go with you to pick them up and get them somewhere where you can treat them safely." Bremer informed Moon-soo. The doctor nodded in acknowledgement of his required duties.

"You, cover us and keep the doctor safe at all times." Bremer instructed Da-bin.

Da-bin reluctantly nodded and nervously prepared to follow close behind the charge into danger and possibly death. Bremer counted down the seconds, patiently waiting and craftily coordinating his forces while Yeon-woo's group advanced through the hidden passage towards the south tower. Da-bin waited too, dreading every minute that passed by. He wanted to freeze time, just to stop it right there or better yet turn it back. Every minute was adding on to the mounting terror within him. Every second ticked closer to him entering into the fray, being in the line of fire with really no idea of what to do when he got there. It was like waiting on the ascent of a roller coaster with the way the fear was building in him, only ten thousand times worse and this time unlike the roller coaster the fall after the climb would in fact be worse than the fear leading up to the ascent. Hope and pray as he might Da-bin could not stop the steady advance of time. Soon enough the attack was about to begin.

A soldier ran past him to join Bremer while they waited for the gunfire hurled their direction to die down. Bremer unclipped a smoke grenade from his belt and took it in hand, ready to pull the pin. First though he turned to the other soldier.

"Head back to Ji-hwan and tell his men to hold their position until Vargas arrives. Make sure he understands that whatever happens he is not to leave before that." Bremer commanded the soldier.

When the gunfire subsided he looked over at Min-ho and his team assembled across the street. Bremer nodded and motioned slightly that the attack was about to commence. Min-ho and a sizeable squad of soldiers had gathered together ready to join Bremer in the forward thrust. The vehicles would be left behind under the guard of Sun-mi and her own squad. There would be no protecting these valuable assets in a direct assault so it was pointless to commit them to the attack. They would prove far more useful when the Imperial walls were down and their amassed armies were being overrun with skitters. Likewise Bremer left his vehicles behind with a small contingent of soldiers to guard them as well. Seo-hyun and Seung-hwa would also wait with their vehicles on the advance wing of the northern line. Ahead of them Min-ji would lead a squad to the rear of the Imperial advance forces and take them out to give Bremer a softer path forward leaving only the towers to contend with. That was where the smoke grenade came in. At this range he could easily obfuscate their vision and throw off their aim. They would be reduced to spraying bullets if they were even that wasteful to use mech capable ammo before Bremer and company closed into range of their smaller arms. Gunfire erupted from behind the Imperial advance lines followed by retaliatory fire in the other direction. That was Bremer's cue; he then pulled the pin on the smoke grenade and tossed it into the street where it spewed out a reddish orange cloud of smoke which quickly filled the entire breadth of the road and drifted along the breeze towards the Imperial gate. Bremer and Min-ho's team charged forward into foolhardy gunfire from the towers. The heavy bullets crashed into the ground all around them. One happened to go through a soldier's boot and tear off two of the man's middle toes.

"I'm alright! I'm alright!" the wounded man grunted as he hobbled towards cover behind a beat up red car riddled with bullet holes.

Da-bin and the doctor were right behind him. The doctor went first and didn't look back to see that Da-bin had not followed him but instead remained paralyzed with fear in the relative safety of the side street. The thick orange smoke soon consumed the image of the doctor from Da-bin's sight as he started breathing sharply, gasping with shortness of breath as the full weight of his panic set it.

The wounded man meanwhile fired through the car window towards enemy soldiers which he could not even see through the smoke but could hear as they clashed with Min-ji's unit. Bremer and Min-ho ran ahead, diving into side streets before they got ahead of the smokescreen. At the leading edge of the smoke they had a clear shot of the last two fighters of the Imperial advance force. Min-ho shot one through the back of the neck, just above the skitter skin flak jacket he wore and below the man's helmet. Min-ji took out the other one but without the same precision instead just lacing several bullets through the man's armored chest until a couple managed to penetrate through for the kill. The south tower burst forth with six guns on full auto towards Min-ji's position, tearing apart the already ravaged rubble she and her team retreated behind. Meanwhile Bremer and his advance squad darted ahead drawing fire from the north tower. The north tower was caught off guard as was too late to hit any of the 4th Korea fighters before they hid out of sight in the mountainous pile of building materials that had fallen into another side street which had once been a rather nice residential complex.

Moon-soo reached the wounded man and had him take his shoe off. The toes were completely severed, one of which was obliterated in full now only a lumpy mess of flesh at the end of the fighter's torn up sock. There wasn't anything Moon-soo could do about salvaging the toes so he only got to work on cleaning the wound and stopping the bleeding.

"You stay right here. Crawl over between those buildings if you have to but don't go charging in on that foot ok?" Moon-soo instructed the soldier who grunted and acknowledged him.

He didn't have a chance to notice that Da-bin wasn't with him before he heard a soldier cry out "Medic!" from beyond the auburn drifts of smoke. Da-bin then picked up his kit and ran on ahead through the smoke. To his benefit the Imperial towers were focused in the direction of Bremer's, Min-ji's and Min-ho's groups who were now pinned down by a heavy barrage of gunfire.

"Medic!" screamed a second soldier. This time Moon-soo saw a man dragging a woman who was barely conscious and had been shot multiple times through the abdomen in between two mangled stacks of housing and automotive fragments. Moon-soo ran to the nearest victim and got to work trying to stabilize her. "Man down!" yet a third soldier shouted as a chain of bullets smashed through the right knee cap, skimmed the right hip and tore into the flesh of the right shoulder of a man running for the next closest cover on their advance. The first wounded man who had been struck in the ribs by shrapnel caused my gunfire tearing apart an already badly damaged car was lying next to Bremer who looked momentarily across the street to see Da-bin at work on another patient. He noticed that Da-bin was not present but did not have time to process that before he had to return fire towards the north tower in an effort to get them to expend more of their bullets in his direction though he had virtually no chance of hitting an enemy target from where he stood.

Meanwhile the messenger had relayed Bremer's orders to Ji-hwan who waited at the absolute rear of the 4th Korea's formation. He nervously looked down the street to the east at the cloud of orange smoke drifting slowly away from him, obscuring his vision from the sights which produced the wretched sounds of battle beyond the cloud. He then looked down the street to his south, where he expected Vargas to be coming from and saw nothing. "Where was he? What is taking so long?" Ji-hwan wondered. It hadn't been unusually long yet considering what Vargas had to do but Ji-hwan was getting extremely impatient; if Vargas did not show up with those alien reinforcements to plow through the Empire today would likely go very badly for them.

Now from a rooftop of one of the few mostly intact structures in the area even further to the north and east of Ji-hwan and the 4th Korea's rear line a lone skitter hunched down behind some large pieces of metallic debris and a blown transformer and curiously observed the battle. The aliens were learning or so it seemed. Humans fighting amongst themselves were of no concern to their plans though the violent acts of such an irrational species disgusted the aliens. Nonetheless their plans had to proceed uninterrupted so their involvement, no matter how much they wished to clamp down and stop the animals from destroying such precious resources, namely themselves, was unwise as it would only refocus the humans to unite against them thus putting their plans at risk for further delay, delays which their masters would not tolerate.

While Bremer's charge was halted, pinned down by a steady barrage of ceaseless automatic weapons fire, Yeon-woo and Hong-gi amassed an army to storm the towers, first the south and then the more difficult one to the north across the street. They gathered up around fifty men and women for the job, leaving the rest with their vehicles in preparation for the assault on the main base. Among those that joined with Yeon-woo's squad were Jenkins, Meyers, Pearson, Myung-yong and Seo-jun.

Myung-yong carried the punch for the team in the form of several RPGs and their launcher. A few other soldiers carried grenades and flash bangs for effect as well but most of them were equipped with standard K1As or K2 rifles. The lack of heavy weapons was of no concern however as the intention was to capture the towers not reduce them to the state of all the surrounding structures. Upon their capture the 4th's fighters would undoubtedly seize upon a fresh treasure trove of heavy weapons to fill that deficiency in Yeon-woo's strike team.

Their good fortune held as the precarious structure held as their unit moved into position and they remained unnoticed with a clear view of the tower as Bremer, Min-ho and Min-ji continued a determined and convincing feint to draw the enemy's fire.

"Alright! Let's finish this!" Myung-yong asserted as he loaded an RPG into his launcher.

"Wait! Wait!" Yeon-woo stopped him.

Myung-yong looked at him strangely, what was his angle the gruff man wondered. "That's not how we're going to do this. We're going to go in there and take those towers room by room." Yeon-woo explained.

"That's fucking stupid!" Myung-yong protested. "We go in there and people are going to get themselves killed, our people! We got to go all out on there now or we'll never get through this shit before the bugs come!" Myung-yong insisted, defiantly raising the rocket launcher onto his shoulder.

"We've got spiders on the way and if you think they'll just go after the Empire when they get here you've gone mad." Yeon-woo upbraided him.

"Them fuckers ain't firing rockets at us and you know damn well they got em. They be knowing them chicken walkers be coming for 'em. We best have ourselves the same smarts y'know? We can't exactly afford to waste our big boom booms either." Jenkins sassed Myung-yong as Hong-gi stepped forward and pushed down on the rocket launcher convincing Myung-yong to lower it.

Myung-yong wasn't convinced however. He only pretended to stand down; what he did next he did because he believed that it would save lives on his side. He quickly raised his rocket launcher and without bothering to aim fired it towards the north tower.

"What? No!" exclaimed Yeon-woo.

As the rocket slammed into the front door at the base of the north tower setting fire to what little charred flammables remained within and fracturing an already damaged superstructure even further Yeon-woo's men dashed out of the line of sight before the startled tower guards to redirect fire in their direction. Pearson who stumbled and fell down after being frightened by the unexpected rocket launch was gunned down soon after he stood back up and never reached the safety of the adjoining streets. Light machine gun rounds perforated his chest, neck, head and legs in several places leaving his blood flowing out of the multitude of wounds onto the street like water through a strainer. An act intended to save lives had already cost the 4th Korea one. In the confusion however Myung-yong had vanished taking their rockets with him leaving no one there for the rest of the unit to blame.

"Dammit that impetuous little bastard!" cursed Yeon-woo.

"He ain't exactly little y'know." Jenkins corrected him. A bit of battlefield humor to keep his mind off the fact one of his boys had just been turned into a pile of red pulpy Swiss cheese out there.

"Ok, that big fucking pile of. . .where the hell is he?" Yeon-woo snarled.

"He's gone. I don't know where he went." Hong-gi replied.

While the attack force waited Myung-yong had slipped away to a hiding place along the main road leading in where he had a clean shot at the north tower from the corner of said spot. He ducked under a concrete slab to conceal his position as Bremer and Min-ho's forces once again drew fire towards their feigned assault which had advanced a few more blocks with only a couple minor casualties thanks to Myung-yong's foolhardy attack. As it turned out the lower floor of the north tower was vacant so the rocket attack was in essence ineffective and the support structure for the building remained strong. During the brief diversion Moon-soo had also managed to jump between patients on the other side of the street. His first he was unable to save and the woman died in the arms of her fellow soldier. The second, the man with the shrapnel in his ribs he was able to treat and he now was working on the third. Since then the injured continued to stack up and down the line he had five more patients to tend to that would likely be able to live to fight another day. Two others Moon-soo had deemed lost causes and sadly due to time constraints he consigned them to die. He was so busy that it still hadn't occurred to him that his protector was still cowering in the rear behind a slowly dissipating security blanket of fiery orange smoke.

Myung-yong went to load his rocket launcher and realized that he had dropped a rocket during his retreat to this location which left him with only three. Careless, he thought but two was all he needed, one for each tower if he placed them right and then a third for good measure. Before he could fire the first one though he was spotted and a massive burst of gunfire broke down the slab he hunched down behind. Myung-yong crawled away from the enemy's line of sight and carelessly left the rocket he had intended to load behind. As his cover was pounded to dust an errant bullet struck the rocket and caused it to explode collapsing the nearby wreckage and debris around Myung-yong. Myung-yong waited in order to give the impression the blast had killed him before he would make another attempt. After firing on the feint advance and on a creeping side sweep by Yeon-woo's group the Imperials gave Myung-yong the breathing room he needed to re-emerge from the rubble. He launched the rocket but it missed by a hair and buzzed past the south tower eventually impacting a defunct modern van somewhere in the open cleared out plot of ground beyond the towers. A stupid mistake, he had been forced to take the shot in too much of a hurry. Pinned down by machine gun fire he was unable to line up the shot properly and that's why he whiffed it he told himself. There were just too many of those assholes up there for the 4th to get an opening Myung-yong believed. There was one particular window on the 7th floor which was giving him the most grief though snipers were also clipping the 4th's positions from various locations on the 3rd, 4th and 11th floors as well.

He now was down to one RPG, if he was to contribute anything to this fight and avoid cut down on the blood required to pay to take those towers he had to make it count. One rocket, how best to use it he thought. Instead of going for the obvious target of the window on the north tower from which a good portion of the heavy machine gun fire had been coming at them from he ducked back down the alleyway, away from the line of fire. He then took aim at a different target, one with less of likelihood to hit it at that. He launched the rocket at the beamer that had been circling over the area as it made its approach over the two towers yet again. By some act of god the beamer did not react quickly enough to the rocket being fired. Perhaps the aliens had become too lazy or arrogant or believed the humans were simply ignoring them. Whatever the reason the beamer took the hit in the lower right side of the craft and began to lose altitude until it buzzed over the top of the north tower, flaking off bits of its underside as it passed by and then slammed into the south tower. The beamer exploded into a million pieces and filled several floors with fire, shrapnel and debris. The floors collapsed in places and buried Imperial fighters beneath them. It didn't appear that the whole thing would give way but certainly the structure had been shaken by the damage done.

In the confusion following the beamer crash amidst the smoke and dust clouds obscuring them from the gunners in the north tower several 4th Korea soldiers led by Hong-gi stormed through the side doors and windows of the south tower. It had turned out that Myung-yong's aggression might work out for them after all. Another beamer that had apparently been irked by the loss of the first beamer dove down out of nowhere and strafed both the 4th and imperial positions. A searing blast of blue energy sliced through the rubble around Da-bin causing him to run scared down the line. The continued barrage fried a 4th Korea fighter and blasted the left arm off a woman reaching to reload her weapon before the blast knocked her aside. Moon-soo would be quickly summoned to her side by the familiar cry of "Medic!"

Foolishly an Imperial .50 cal redirected its fire towards the craft as it approached the structure from a low altitude. The alien fighter sent its jagged energy pulses into the fortified floors of the north tower turning many of their fighters into ash and their weapons into molten slag before enough rounds managed to shave enough material off the fighter to cause it to abruptly lose altitude and crash.

Myung-yong shirked back when a burst of machine gun fire struck near him and he retreated down the side street away from the tower. The gunfire however was not his greatest concern as the damaged beamer slammed into the ground on top of him, breaking apart into innumerable pieces painted with ash and the blended remnants of what had been Myung-yong.

With their strongest fighting position in the north tower decimated and Hong-gi's squad storming the south tower the Imperials in the north tower fired two rockets into the weakened third floor of the south tower. The explosions tore through the load bearing members still supporting the rest of the building which resulted in the upper floors giving way to the structure's total collapse. They were teetering on losing the gate as it was and should Hong-gi's men gain control of the weapons within the south tower the way into the compound would have been clear for the full strength of the 4th's forces to come rolling on in. The Imperials weren't going to give the position away to the 4th to hold against them, even if it meant using valuable explosive ordinance.

The building fell into pile of rubble just like all the rest around it entombing Hong-gi and his squad within it. Smoke and dust spread outward like a great wave upon the streets following the collapse of the tower. Coughing and shielding their faces Bremer, Min-ho, Min-ji and Yeon-woo all led their groups in closer surrounding the beleaguered north tower the Empire was desperately trying to hold onto.

As if their situation wasn't dire enough three more beamers swung in to make precise attack runs on the north tower. The aliens didn't wish to keep the humans from killing each other only they had assigned the towers to be a danger to their flyover patrols and had mandated their destruction hence why a surgical strafing run was being performed rather than carpet bombing the whole area. The 4th Korea seemed to know this, that they were being used by the aliens to take out the Empire and probably would be taken out themselves if they were victorious, and for the present time used that knowledge to their advantage. Bremer had each squad hold position and wait for the alien air power to deal with the tower. He explicitly urged his fighters not to fire upon the aliens lest they be provoked into seeing his ground forces as a threat as well. Maybe the aliens were learning that all humans weren't one and the same or maybe they were just assuming that those on foot lacked the capabilities to do them any real harm. After all the alien strategy thus far did not seem to paint them as cruel exterminators rather it appeared as if they only wanted to reduce or eliminate humanity's ability to resist them. They had to play along with the perception that the soldiers on foot at least on their side of the wall were incapable of doing the flyers any harm; this way the aliens would be handing them a victory. It wasn't the victory they wanted but it was the victory they were going to get.

Now with alien air power abuzz and the 4th reaching dangerously close to taking control of the eastern gate the Imperial forces dispatched two van loads and an RV full of soldiers from a partially erect concrete parking garage adjacent to the mall. A heavy machine gun mounted on top of the RV and operated through the sun roof provided cover fire as the vans swung around and unloaded their fighters at the base of the towers before speeding back towards the garage. A beamer swept in and dive bombed one of the vans only to be hit on its periphery with a rocket launched from the side door of the other van. The impact damaged the beamer, affecting it's in flight stability but did not bring it down. Instead it ascended rapidly and accelerated forward, leaving a trail of smoke streaming from the base of one of its "butterfly wings" which eventually was put out by the onboard fire suppression system prior to the beamer disappearing from view. The two other beamers lit up the north tower, once of which being taken out by Imperial ground fire and crashing onto the street in between where Bremer and Min-ho were standing. They each looked at the crumpled up mid-section of the alien fighter between them expecting to have to bash the head in of some spaceman pilot once he, she or it emerged from the wreckage. They were a little disappointed when nothing came out. Then their disappointment turned to action when the remaining beamer passed the tower, did a rapid 180 in midair and fired upon the base of the tower causing it to fall over in a westward direction. Like a bolt of lightning the beamer then shot straight up into the sky leaving the Imperial retaliatory fire to criss cross through nothing but air where the craft once stood. This decisive blow left the Imperial ground forces vulnerable to attack. The path was clear and only this small contingent of soldiers and an RV converted into a ghetto tank remained in the path of Vargas' incoming alien army which by Bremer's count if all went to plan should be arriving any minute now. Before the dust had settled Bremer issued the call to attack and he, Yeon-woo, Min-ho and Min-ji all charged forth from their positions to engage the enemy. The walls were down, the cavalry would be arriving soon and then the real battle to end this petty power struggle and unify the human resistance within the city and its environs would begin.


	110. Chapter 110: Kicking Over The Anthill

Chapter CX: Kicking Over The Anthill

1 Nov 0738 KST

Gangdong District, Seoul, South Korea

While Bremer and his men were trying to clear him a path forward Vargas was tearing into Gangdong District to stir up a spiders nest. The aliens had indeed withdrawn from parts of Songpa district and in doing so cloistered together in large groups along the fringes of Gangdong and Gwanjin Districts. Large numbers of aliens were amassed on the north side of the river to guard their valuable assets while the humans effectively slaughtered each other. Surely the numbers Vargas needed for his plan were present north of the Han though the aliens' willingness and Vargas' capability were not. Crossing the river to draw them out would not be a viable option. South of the river where Vargas and indeed all of the known human survivors in Seoul were confined appeared deserted; not a single alien or machine in sight. The scattered bands of vassals and subjects to the Empire hid themselves away and hoped for the troubles to simply pass them by. They were bound by fear not loyalty; they were not willing to spill blood to keep their masters in power but by the same token they would not spill their blood to raise arms against them. They only wanted to survive, to endure, to exist. In the quiet stillness the sound of Vargas' squads' motorcycles were like thunder. The engines of the beat up truck which he rode in and the lone Humvee covering the rear were practically as loud as an atom bomb going off by comparison. Under this rumbling and roaring Vargas could feel his own pulse quickening. He was looking for the very thing he had become accustomed to avoiding. Seeking out the aliens was a fool's errand, only undertake by those with a serious death wish. Vargas had seen too many people perish by inadvertently bumping into the occupiers, how much worse would it be to charge straight into their arms. He heard stories of those who simply gave up on fighting, gave up on life and walked out into the city alone in which they inevitably encountered the Earth's new tenants and met their desired end. That method of surrender had become more common among the smaller survivor groups they encountered and even among the ranks of the 4th than Vargas would like to admit. Finding aliens was easy and they cut out all the hard work and second guessing when it came to offing one's self when the world and the future appeared more hopeless than ever. Even the majority of them who wanted to survive, to fight, to endure as long as it takes had extreme difficulty in not meeting their enemy when going out for the most basic of reasons. Finding an alien today however would not be so easily achieved.

"I've never seen these roads so clear." Vargas softly remarked.

The entire trip across Songpa District he saw nothing; the district was like a ghost town. He usually had to be obscenely careful in order to travel anywhere in Seoul without running afoul of alien intervention. Today when he was actually out looking for them there wasn't one skitter to be found. If only it could be like this when he was making supply runs. Every shop, every warehouse left standing was refreshingly ET-free right now. If he didn't have such a vital function to perform right now he could have easily restocked the supply chests of every division of the 4th Korea's operation with what was laid out for the taking there. Granted much if not all of these goods were marked with the Empire's territorial pissing. It was not like Vargas gave a flying fuck what they claimed; if something was out in the open unguarded it was considered fair game for the taking. Ironic wasn't it thought Vargas that he was being the more charitable one compared to the Emperor who claimed to be all about the little guy. Vargas wasn't taking stuff from anyone when he foraged for the 4th. That's how he reconciled it to himself at that moment. The Empire had no more claim to what remained of what civilization left behind than anyone else. The rightful owners of all this stuff were long gone, dead or fled with their lives to a world that was never coming back; even if it did it would never be the same. To be honest Vargas had never thought about the ethics of what they had to do to survive until now. Regardless if he approved or disapproved they would still continue to have to do it. Their first duty was to survive, that was the most important task when facing extermination. Next was to fight back and do so in a manner becoming of their humanity lest they become monsters indistinguishable from the ones they were fighting. The Empire had proven how easily and how quickly the most basic aspects of human decency could be lost against such peril so the fight to retain their humanity was just as great as the desperate fight to reclaim their planet.

The signs of strategy were apparent to Vargas; the aliens had evolved their understanding of human behavior it seemed. They were most certainly wise to what was going on between the human factions. However Vargas was quite confident that the aliens, no matter how cautious, opportunistic and intelligent they were would not cease their operations in Seoul. They must have simply redirected them; somewhere they were still chugging along full force. Vargas just had to find where the bugs were digging a new anthill and knock it down. He knew they still had to retain some presence south of the Han in order to escort the overland shipments of raw materials and zombified children he and other teams had observed the aliens moving from the outer suburbs into central Seoul. They would certainly divert these shipments but Vargas knew they would not cease. He also had cause to believe that the aliens still regarded the human threat as too insignificant to justify so extreme of a reroute as to avoid the city completely; nor would they encumber their operation by sending these bulk movements by air. After the first hundred hours following the invasion the alien air power was reduced dramatically and continued to diminish every day since. In spite of construction facilities Vargas had seen from a distance pumping out additional fighter craft and mechs they never seemed to contribute to the enemy presence detected on the battlefield so it was assumed the aliens were sending them off world, back to their home planet perhaps or being amassed against the next vulnerable world in the aliens path of conquest. Vargas' suspicions were indeed correct; In actuality less than 0.000125% of the ships that came with the invasion force remained in the Sol System and but a hundredth of those were committed to the Earth, the rest guarded off-world facilities on Mars, the asteroid belt, the moons and upper atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn and stationed on battle stations under construction in the outer solar system. Knowing what he knew and believing what he believed about his inhuman adversaries Vargas surmised they still had to be operating nearby.

They would be lurking somewhere, somewhere along the fringes of the territory contested by the 4th and the Empire. This is where he was headed; he was going as close to the river as possible. In the process he hoped to run straight into their supply lines or whatever it was they were guarding and when he got there he would unload upon them, doing particular damage to any alien constructs in the area but sparing more or less the enemy armies. The alien soldiers were necessary for their plans against the Empire, the devices, facilities and weapons they were building over the ruins of Seoul were not. Vargas was determined to maximize the outcome of every mission he partook in, to capitalize on every advantage he could seize; this mission was no different. These alien implements of war would remain a threat even after the Empire was vanquished.

Vargas would not get that chance however. The nearest alien facilities were at the water's edge in northwest Gangdong District and he would encounter significant opposition before he managed to come within sight of his secondary targets. His stomach tensed as the flattened wastes gave way to a hodge-podge of still standing structures and clearer roads that were less littered with misshapen rocks and burnt out hunks of debris. He could not see anything yet but he had that peculiar feeling in his gut that he was being watched; he could feel the inhuman stares fixed upon his form from locations yet unseen. The small hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stood on end and he suppressed the trembling in his muscles to give the illusion of calm as he focused his fear into heightening his senses in preparation for the imminent attack. Down the road to the north he approached an underpass surrounded by crumbling roads and buildings. Piles of pounded out fragments of stone and concrete buttressed still intact stretches of highway beneath which formed cave like passes cloaked in shadows. There in these shadows he could make out multiple alien forms hiding beneath the deformed roadway. The buildings beyond the road also gave signs of movement from behind their windows and blown out sections in their walls.

While the landscape had drastically changed since the latest bombardment this area felt familiar to Vargas; more so than just being a recognizable locale this area held a special place in his memory. Indeed Vargas was close to where it all had begun for him; the starting point for this terrible journey the day the bomb dropped on Seoul. Only a few blocks north would be whatever remained of his MRAP assuming the Empire or others hadn't carted it off by now. Vargas turned and motioned for his men to assume attack formation, be on guard and await further orders. He slowed down as he drew closer to the underpass telegraphing to the aliens that they had been spotted, hoping to elicit an aggressive response from them. The aliens did not take the bait. They sent one massed rank of skitters outside each of the underpasses as well as spreading out large numbers of them across the highway, mounds of rubble and outside the various buildings, upon the roofs and walls in an effort to intimidate the small cadre of humans into retreating. Several squads of standard mechs also crawled out from behind the rubble and took position on the eastern and western fringes of the revealed alien army. There were between two and three hundred revealed aliens on display in front of Vargas with likely five to ten times that number still in hiding across the length of the highway separating alien occupied territory from that which they had cleared out to enable the human resistance to destroy itself within. Vargas continued to advance and still the aliens would go no further. Drawing closer the brown and silver forms revealed increasing detail, individual arms and legs could be made out, the elongated individual fingers and claws could then be discerned apart from the hands. He could practically see their beady little eyes by the time he ordered his formation to stop. The aliens moved, much as people or animals would be in a sense of discomfort, fidgeting around uneasily. It was clear they wanted to act but couldn't. However these things communicated with each other there had been very stern orders issued from whichever of these things were in charge for the others to hold their ground no matter what. Vargas was fortunate on the fact the aliens still had not been issued guns, directed energy devices or any manner of ranged weapons. If they had their job of holding the line would be a whole lot easier and Vargas' chances of drawing them out into an engagement would be severely diminished. Vargas could understand the possible reasoning for disarming their shock troops when the aliens were on the offensive as they appeared to want to take the humans alive but in certain situations such as this it seemed strange to the First Sergeant that they were not better equipped. To the left and the right of Vargas' group fractional brick and mortar wall sections that had once been standing structures obscured a direct line of sight between the mechs on the distant fringes of the alien line and his own unit. A single solid round pillar stood ahead of one of the wall sections on Vargas' right side. They waited only for a moment while the alien lines swayed yet held steady ahead of them. The temptation to strike and wipe out such a small band of resistance fighters had to be great for them Vargas assumed; their obedience to their orders had to be even greater as the aliens did not take one step towards them without immediately walking it back.

It didn't take long for Vargas to see it was clear they didn't want to come after his unit so he had to give them an incentive. He had to piss them off just enough for them to give chase. Vargas motioned to one of the bikers on his near right flank who carried an RPG launcher on his back. The biker nodded, shouldered the loaded launcher and fired into a nest of skitters directly ahead of them. The rocket flew above the heads of front rank of skitters and smashed into an unseen alien in the midst of those still hiding in the shadows. The explosion shook the road overhead and tore through the packed in masses of aliens within its blast radius. Even the front rank was knocked down by the blast though they survived and got back up again. In retaliation the mechs on the alien flanks opened fire upon Vargas' position. The heavy bullets pulverized the free standing walls and pillars causing them to crumble down. Some of the opening salvo ripped straight through the bricks and concrete and whizzed around Vargas' troops. As the pillar near Vargas was blasted away as if a high powered jackhammer was chipping away at it on fast-forward Vargas immediately ordered his squads forward to make an attack run before their cover completely turned to dust. A mech round ripped through the lower side panel of Vargas' truck piercing straight through the skin of the vehicle and striking several inches into the pavement beneath it. The bullet also severed the fuel lines causing the truck to lose power as its fuel reserves were depleted rapidly. Nearby a couple mech rounds struck a motorcycle rider, one of which went straight through his right arm into the side of his chest, through his body and out the side of the abdomen on the other side before pounding the into the ground bursting all the internal organs within the soldier in its path. The rider laid down the bike as death came quickly and slid along the ground until the vehicle came to a rest. Vargas and the driver of his truck abandoned the vehicle and made a run for the bike while mech bullets crashed all around them. Several rounds peppered the truck eventually triggering sparks which ignited the fuel vapors spilling from beneath it. The flames and smoke actually aided Vargas and his driver reach the bike by dulling the mechs optical and heat sensors capabilities momentarily until they managed to adapt. A few seconds were all they needed however. The driver pulled the dead biker off his motorcycle and Vargas then stood the bike back up and revved the engine to make sure it still ran. Vargas mounted the bike and the driver climbed on behind him and held on tight.

Vargas zipped away to catch up with the rest of his unit. The Humvee turned its mounted .50 caliber machine gun towards the mechs on the east end of the enemy line and sprayed the area with bullets. The barrage managed to poke a few holes in at least three of the mechs though all of them remained fully operational. A rocket landed behind the Humvee which narrowly escaped destruction although a few holes were punched into the exterior by mech bullets, one of which went through the hand of one of the soldiers inside. The other motorcycles swung in front of the skitters just out of reach as they swiped for the riders, taunting the aliens to come after them. When that didn't work the riders pulled out their weapons and opened fire, wounding and killing several skitters. They still would not budge as they absorbed their dead as if they meant nothing. The bikers pulled away from the main line when the mechs diverted their fire from Vargas and the stragglers towards those skirting the alien line. This only acted as a temporary deterrent forcing the bikers to make a loop between some partially erect structures soon to be demolished by mech fire and back down the road from whence they originally came to make a second pass down the skitters' line. This time they were joined by Vargas and the Humvee which managed now to do enough damage to render one of the mechs inoperable through an intense barrage directed at its central core.

This was enough to prompt the enemy to send for reinforcements. Before the mech hit the fractured field of bricks and stone which had been beneath its feet a heavy patrol mech crawled over the artificial hill of manmade materials shaking it with its thunderous footsteps.

"We've got a T-Rex on our six Sergeant!" the soldier holding on to Vargas reported upon seeing the heavy patrol walker.

"Bomb the line! Force them out of their holes or let them die inside!" Vargas shouted out orders

Each of the bikers along with Vargas took grenades off their belts, pockets or jackets and tossed them into the underpasses behind the skitter lines. Meanwhile the heavy walker fired energy pulses that vaporized one bike and rider together leaving behind mingled slag, smoke and ash behind. The other pulses liquefied pools of asphalt where they struck the ground the heat from one of which caused the front tire of another bike to rupture and launch its rider forward. The rider in mid-flight was struck with another energy blast which immediately turned the man into a smoking tuft of ash which spread out and fell to earth like flakes of black snow. Moments before the grenades went off in a well-choreographed symphony of destruction Vargas' squad turned sharply south through one of the few pairs of buildings left standing between the two groups of mechs. Mech bullets pulverized and pounded the structures on one side while energy pulses sheared straight through the remnants of buildings on the other side of the fleeing squad. One of the pulses after losing some of its potency slicing through three walls grazed the left shoulder of a biker shearing his arm off save only for a narrow band of skin and burnt muscle around the armpit. The biker did not even feel any pain from his injury as it happened so fast and the heat was so intense that it instantly fried all the nerve endings in the exposed portion of the arm. It took several seconds before the lesser burns around the stub were recognized by the soldier's brain and the corresponding painful burning sensations were felt. The rider sped away with the squad with his loose arm flapping limp in the wind until it was pulled the rest of the way off and tumbled down the road behind him.

When the grenades went off Vargas had at last achieved his desired result flushing the skitters out of their hiding places. The invisible hand that had been holding them back had now been withdrawn and the flood gates released a veritable tsunami of skitters after Vargas' squad. Vargas now accelerated to full speed joining all the other bikers before overtaking them and leading the way towards the Imperial base. The Humvee remained in the rear with a growing gap between it and the bikers as it shifted its gun back and forth between the two groups of mechs converging upon them. The lumbering heavy mech was soon abandoned by the legion of skitters flowing out of their hiding places like a raging river. It held its fire as it crept along, holding its strength in reserve for when Vargas' unit was again pinned down by terrain or their own hostile actions. The far more agile standard mechs sprinted ahead of the skitter horde sporadically sending bursts of gunfire in their direction. One of these bursts killed the Humvee's gunner and further riddled that vehicle with holes. Blood leaked down from the gunners perch and soon after the soldiers riding beneath it pulled their slain comrade inside and another man took up his position. With assistance he reloaded the mounted weapon and resumed efforts to keep the advancing walkers at bay. Bullets pinged into the mechs, causing them to slow down and even stop for a while on occasion. Very rarely would one end up disabled or destroyed but that was not the intent; the intent was to keep each flank of walkers off the bikers so they could be led into the Imperial camp and unleashed upon the unsuspecting Emperor's forces. To do so the mechs had to arrive on target alive; it wasn't as if the Humvee had enough bullets to bring down a fraction of the mechs following them and Vargas' team only had a couple rockets left anyways.

Vargas continued to lead the alien horde through Songpa District and crossed over into Gangnam District taking a small number of losses along the way. If the present rate of attrition kept up he feared they might not make it to the rendezvous point with Ji-hwan. He saw the Humvee go up in flames from the impact of a mech rocket striking it and saw yet another motorcycle tire blown out from gunfire leaving the rider to be run over by the flaming wreck of the Humvee as it slid to a stop.

"Damn it people! Watch yourselves!" Vargas shouted back to his men.

Immediately he swerved sideways to evade a burst of mech fire while the remaining bikers fanned out and weaved around disabled or destroyed vehicles in the devastated streets. A single beamer swooped in and strafed the ground ahead of Vargas' dwindling team forcing them to loop to the south before proceeding onward to the final approach towards the Imperial compound.

Meanwhile Ji-hwan waited patiently with the sounds of gunfire and explosions echoing both in front of him and behind him. Since taking the gateway the 4th was now locked in a standstill gun battle with reinforcements sent out from the main compound. The Empire had yet to field its full might holding a good portion of their men in reserve waiting for the 4th to expose itself in a position of weakness before they would more fully commit. The 4th also refused to make a costly advance into the open lot where the Imperial vehicles were arrayed and supported by foot soldiers and snipers in the rearranged rubble forming structures above and around the underground mall complex. Instead both sides dug in expecting to wear down the other army. The Empire was better supplied and expected the 4th to run low on ammo and eventually be forced to withdraw. This would be true if Vargas took too long to arrive with the expected third party to the conflict. They could not simply hold their fire for every time they did in order to conserve rounds the Imperial forces would attempt to advance and get into a more advantageous position against them. So the 4th had to push the Empire back with every salient thrust they attempted. They were strategic about their ammo expenditure and conserved their bullets as best they could but nonetheless they were required to expend rounds. Likewise the Empire was forced to utilize suppressive fire from small arms when making these salient thrusts in order to give them a chance to succeed or at the very least force the 4th to be more careless with their ammo expenditure. The Empire wasn't too bold in their offensives, they only gave the impression they were being more aggressive than they were. They didn't intend to buy the 4th's bullets with their blood. While they had them on hand the Empire did not use their mortars, rockets, grenades or artillery either as they felt they could simply outlast the 4th and force them to withdraw to a base that if Sang-hoon's operation went as planned the 4th would find in ashes, littered with the mutilated corpses of their friends, loved ones and brothers and sisters in arms.

The stalemate continued up until Ji-hwan saw Vargas' bike turn the corner in the distance and begin his final approach along the broad street leading into the Imperial west gate. He sent up two flares which alerted Bremer to seek cover and order his men to fall back and hide out of sight. This action led to the Empire's forces advancing upon them and filling the main street while the 4th held their ground further down the side streets. This apparent gain by the Empire had placed them and them alone in the path of hundreds of skitters and dozens of mechs still obscured in the flames, smoke and the chaotic fog of war incited by the continuing clashes between the two human factions.

As Vargas approached Ji-hwan and his bikers were positioned further back from the main column so the skitters could not see the 4th's army when they would take over the chase thereby leading the aliens to believe they were the full extent of Vargas' reinforcements. When Vargas zipped by under fire Ji-hwan ordered a portion of his forces to screen Vargas' retreat. This first waves zoomed past the mechs and did a hasty U-turn in front of the leading battalion of skitters while spraying bullets in their general direction.

"Don't screw around! Get the fuck out of there!" Ji-hwan shouted to the motorcyclists swinging in close to the column of skitters.

They listened, it would be foolish and suicidal not to, and raced back towards Ji-hwan who now sprang out with the rest of his forces. He then fired his grenade launched multiple times into the throng of aliens until it was empty in order to draw them away from those screening Vargas' group. His attack gave his first wave the opening they needed to pass through the leading charge of mechs and divert their alien eyes away from Vargas's crew who now ditched their bikes on one of the side streets and hid until a path was cleared through the Imperial lines for them to rejoin Bremer and Min-ho's units. Ji-hwan continued to batter the mechanized alien units his launcher ran dry. When the aliens turned their attention towards Ji-hwan he cast aside the grenade launcher and bolted just seconds before a mech rocket collided into the side of the building by which he was hiding. Ji-hwan and his men charged head on towards the Empire's vanguard with a gathering storm of alien fury nipping at their heels. Amidst a flurry of human based gunfire Ji-hwan's unit began suffering significant casualties. These were compounded by those dealt by the mechs. Before they could be wiped out any further the bikers parted to the north and the south leaving the Empire's forces bare before the advancing alien tide. The ceaseless barrage meant for Ji-hwan and the 4th's motorcycle mounted cavalrymen now struck a phalanx of skitters and mechs firmly establishing the Empire as the most pressing target for the aliens to eliminate now. Ji-hwan waited along with Vargas now for a clear path forward. Eventually he would have to lead the aliens up to the front door of the mall as was intended to flush out the Empire in its entirety. For now he was content in using the aliens as a hammer to smash the Imperial vanguard. The Empire might even do him a favor of sending in reinforcements to deplete the strength of both of the 4th's enemies.

Oblivious or unconcerned about Ji-hwan's withdrawal the alien horde surged ahead down the main road. The smoldering wreck of the Empire's west gate lay before them. The 4th could breathe easily for but a moment but by no means relax. Vargas had succeeded in bringing the aliens into the fray; the proverbial cavalry had arrived. For just this once the 4th and the aliens would be fighting on the same side.


	111. A Sense of Urgency

**_Author's Note:_** _I haven't much time to work on my writing lately and since I had kind of left this one in a lousy spot for a cliffhanger prior to hiatus I'm skipping ahead chronologically here. So if you're wondering why I all the sudden went off world here that is why. I will be filling in chapters behind this later on and will repost this chapter, cleaned up and fleshed out better without this note once I have caught up. Though it may be a while before the next meaningful update this story not abandoned, by some means I do intend to finish this and my other stories as well it is just going to take a lot longer than I expected. Cheers!_

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Chapter: A Sense of Urgency

Volm Expeditionary Force in orbit over Hercution VI

62,437 light-years from Earth

The Volm fleet floated silently in position around the pale gas giant now securely in the hands of their Rlatlakthra allies. Shuttles traversed to and from the planet and the capital ships in orbit on mundane business between the two species and with Volm forces within the atmosphere. After defeating the Espheni forces in orbit the Volm had driven off a second attempt to retake the planet with naught but a series of skirmishes which had convinced the second Espheni fleet the planet was not worth the effort. While there remained a few strong holdouts of Espheni converted Rlatlakthra deep within the denser portions of the atmosphere towards the core the Volm and their allies felt the planet was securely in their grasp. A successfully liberated world, another victory for the Alliance and a welcome one at that, they had few major successes wholly liberating planets in the past hundred cycles often arriving too late or saving a world that was too badly beaten down to contribute much if anything to the overall effort. Iu-Rlatlyss was a clear and decisive victory and the Rlatlakthra were eager to join them in their crusade to expel the Espheni from the galaxy. Ambassadors from the Volm and three other member species entreating the Rlatlakthra leadership for Alliance membership had already arrived on world and negotiations were underway to define the new partnership. It was almost a given that they would join the Alliance and a fine addition to the Alliance they would make. They would prove invaluable when dealing with worlds such as their own which even with their advanced technology Volm forces had difficulty waging a ground or more accurately an "air" war within.

Cochise stood on the bridge observing the planet feeling some small sense of accomplishment. Though a victory was imminent he knew that this was but another tiny pebble to be removed in order to bring down a vast mighty mountain range. The thought of his father's orders and the pressing weight of the need to secure some obscure blue-green world which was circumstantially at a juncture between them and their allies bore down on him. Beneath his focused, collected exterior his anxiety did not show through, even less from a human observer's perspective as the Volm did not reflect emotion as obviously as human beings did though they were capable of feeling much the same array of emotions as we humans do. Nonetheless Cochise was proverbially chomping at the bit to leave. There were but a few loose ends to tie up here and then it was onward and forward they went. The fleet would be divided at that point with several ships remaining behind to secure Iu-Rlatlyss in case the second Espheni fleet returned and the rest proceeding to another nearby beleaguered star system to divide the Espheni's efforts in the sector while Cochise took a special forces team to the blue-green world to evaluate and raise up a native resistance while his father and the main battle fleet were en route for its liberation. It was a careful game they were playing, one which they did not want to give up any ground gained in one sector to prevent a loss in another. Every victory they achieved was hard won; none could be thrown away so lightly even for what appeared to be so decisive an effort at first glance. Thus was the Volm doctrine on strategy, to always be rational and never brash, utilitarian when need be but always seeking the maximum gain. While his father did not share his optimism Cochise believed that they could secure both Iu-Rlatlyss and Earth within the required span of time before the Espheni could activate their defense grid on the latter, hardening their position against an attempted landing or bombardment. Nonetheless the window of opportunity was growing short, even with the enhanced hyperspace capabilities of the stealth ship to be employed, with a transit time three times as fast as any other ship in the fleet, there was still little margin for error on Cochise's part.

"Status report." Cochise asked for the eleventh time of the "morning" per the ship's chronometer.

"Northern hemisphere facilities report operational and all secure. Southern hemisphere facilities report 2 attacks in the last twelve hours both of which were successfully repelled by our allies. Power stations 6, 7 and 9 are operational with 11 and 12 expected to be up and running within the next six rotations. Power station 8 is still experiencing difficulties due to the ionic storm in that region. The Rlatlakthra delegation is set to convene in seven hours to discuss material transport arrangements with the Alliance. Construction nearly complete on lunar battle station S-7 with satellite defense grid operating at 83% capacity." the ship's captain started reporting after checking the displays positioned next to him while conferring with others throughout the fleet activity.

Just then a loud repeated beeping sound could be heard within the bridge.

"Something is coming out of hyperspace. . ." the Volm sensor operator reported. "Within the sun's corona." he continued, aghast at the preposterousness of what his instruments had detected.

"Is it ours or the Espheni?" Cochise asked.

"What foolishness, nothing could survive dropping out of hyperspace that close to a star." an older Volm officer scoffed, interrupting Cochise at the same time he made his inquiry.

"Unable to determine sir. It is entering the photosphere now." the operator reported back.

It took Cochise only a few seconds to realize what was going on.

"Tell the fleet to jump to hyperspace. Now!" Cochise ordered.

The ship's executive officer turned to issuing recall orders for all shuttles and Volm installations to begin evacuation procedures.

"Belay the evacuation commander. Prepare the fleet to jump at once." Cochise sternly commanded.

"But what about our forces on the planet?" asked the XO.

"There is no time for them. Jump now!" Cochise insisted, a sense of urgency overwhelming his composure.

"Jump where?" asked the navigator.

"Anywhere! Just get us out of here!" Cochise shouted.

As the fleet inputted coordinates for the jump and powered up their engines whilst moving away from the planet the sensor operator noticed a sudden change in readings from the star.

"We're reading a spike in output from the star, increasing exponentially." the sensor operator nervously stated.

"Initiate jump sequence at once!" Cochise commanded.

"All ships initiate jump sequence." the captain relayed to the rest of the fleet.

The fleet cleared the orbits of the planet's outer moons as the already faint sun dimmed even more, recessing back until it looked indistinguishable from any of the vast multitude of distant stars against the black canopy of the near endless expanse of space. The shuttles were left behind by the ships trailing like broken bread crumbs during the hasty retreat. On the planet's surface day swiftly turned to night giving cause for the Rlatlakthra and Volm within the upper layers of the atmosphere alike to turn their gaze skyward as their sun went out like a light. It felt as if there was a brief pause in time for just a second, like the hang time from a terrible fall from a great height before the impact with the ground. The moment Cochise's flagship jumped to hyperspace he caught the first glimpse of when the star burst in a violent supernova, it's rapidly expanding fireball rushing out a distance behind the visible light of the event occurring behind it.

The darkness quickly became the brightest day the Rlatlakthra had ever experienced as a wave of bewilderment washed over them. For the Volm that sense quickly turned into dread and despair. The supernova shattered the inner planets and vaporized their remnants adding minutely to the deformed spherical wave of superheated plasma rushing outward towards the outer planets. When the blast reached Iu-Rlatlyss only a fraction of the Volm fleet had jumped to safety. As moons fractured and broke apart and the planet's atmosphere burned the remaining Volm ships were consumed in insignificant pops against the bright overwhelming violent glow of the expanding supernova. For those on the planet their destruction was over in an instant; it was not a cruel death, but cruelly efficient. The planet the Volm had fought so hard to liberate was destroyed in the blink of an eye and all of their gains with it.


	112. Chapter 111: The Devil's Daughter

Chapter CXI: The Devil's Daughter

Soo-young stood in a broad open chamber within the breeding complex. The floor of the chamber was a solid concrete ring around the outside of the chamber rebuilt and reinforced from where it had previously collapsed before. Within this oval shaped ring was a pit which dropped down about seven feet into darkness. On the side of the chamber opposite Soo-young were also two gently sloping staircases leading down into the pit which also contained the sole entryway into this chamber, now sealed off by a vaguely visible door of alien design. The floor over where Soo-young stood was over twice the width as the rest of the elevated ring around the pit. The top of the chamber was curved upwards like a partial sliver of a dome with glass skylights on the roof that had been covered by a sort of rubbery, yet firm dark greenish-black bio organic material. The same material comprised three of the walls of this chamber while the rear wall behind Soo-young was made of steel and glass and looked out over a ruined cityscape now twinkling with the lights of alien structures that had risen up in their place. The evening sun had set and the residual light was fading leaving only the alien glow from outside shining into the darkened chamber. The chamber was at least two or three stories off the ground and one standing at the edge of the reinforced windows could see mechanized looking alien gun turrets which had been built into the ground below. There were also "feeler" looking weapon emplacements that protruded from the sides and above the window that grew from the bio organic material encasing it. These resembled a greenish black version of a fiddler crab's eyestalks with glowing blue-green orbs on the ends of them. These could produce a beam weapon as well as project a temporary energy shield to protect the exposed opening to the outside world, an outside world that from the looks of it did not require much protection against. Looking out from behind where Soo-young stood the human world was crushed, and a new world, one not of this Earth was rising up in its place like the Phoenix of yore.

Beside Soo-young stood two skitters which had knelt down in a crouched position with their arms crossed in front of their heads which they bowed down between them. In front of Soo-young on the opposite side of the room standing in the veil of shadows was a tall, lanky grey creature clad in full body armor distinctly different from that of the skitters. It was humanoid but definitely inhuman. Its form was like that of a stick, far too slender for any realistic human proportions. Its arms were almost the entire length of its body and ended in small hands with long skinny fingers. It had no discernible neck; its bullet shaped head merged directly into its shoulders. Its exposed skin was a pale grey and leathery in texture. It had no nose or ears, only barely noticeable nostrils and little more than an immobile slit for a mouth. Its eyes were large vertical ovoids and solid black and its emotionless gaze was unflinching and menacing. The creature exuded a presence far beyond itself which Soo-young and the skitters could all sense. For the uninitiated it was a presence that would instill fear but for Soo-young it was something to revere. She had learned much since she was taken. With the innocence of a child she accepted the revelations as truth. The concept of life and death, the vain struggles that had defined humanity down to its core had not had a chance to ingrain themselves in her during her comfortable, sheltered youth. In spite of what it might have appeared to the outside world Soo-young felt no malice from these aliens. She saw their minds and they saw hers. There was no darkness, no fear, no sadness and no cold hate, none of those negative human emotions which the outside world was drowning in. She accepted the new reality presented to her with gusto. For her the harness on her back was more like training wheels when learning to ride a bike. It guided her when she was frightened and alone, welcomed her with open arms into a broad community deeper than any human relationship could delve. It wasn't that she had a new family that she was close to, but rather that she had a new family that was within her, and she within them. They were many, and they were one. The sensation was, indescribable to say the least. It was like nirvana, a state of absolute being and nothing more. And thus she learned, she grew and she embraced her new purpose. No longer was she forced like a puppet on a string but she did her duty willingly and joyfully because she knew without question she was serving a higher purpose. Even when she had killed her father it was not a tragedy in her eyes. He was liberated from his ignorance, from his limitations. Her father, herself, the world, the universe, all realities, it was all but energy, being, existence in a constant state of transition; it had no beginning and no end. Life and death of a single body apart from the whole, it was more a human concept and something she had willingly cast aside. Soo-young had a higher duty towards the evolution of an expanding sphere within this existence into something better.

The spindly creature was the director of this facility and Soo-young served as the mediator between him and the captured humans, those whom they were unable to welcome into their harmonious circle because of the limitations of their technology. Soo-young felt saddened that so many of her kind were excluded from feeling the joy that she had experienced in this new life. She lamented the fact that there was such resistance among the captives, if only they could see that what was being done was for the betterment of the world and all its inhabitants. She hoped that the research proved fruitful and soon would be able to be inclusive of all humanity. The creature took broad strides around the outer ring and made its way towards the window. Soo-young continued to look upon it the entire time, unlike the skitters who hid their faces in deference. She held an esteemed position in its eyes or so she believed, favored among her people for her acceptance of the truth which had been revealed to her. The creature walked in front of her, looked down for a moment and then made its way to the window and crouched down. Even on its knees the being was taller than most humans. It looked out over its dominion and surveyed far beyond what its eyes could see gathering a complete picture of the region within its jurisdiction. Soo-young did an about face and turned around to gaze out over the city in transition from behind the being. With one hand the alien scooped up some dust from the cold concrete floor and fashioned it into a ball. Exciting the atoms within the dust it was able to tap into the energy contained within them and the bonds between them and use it as an anchor while it extended its consciousness into a higher plane. Soo-young could feel this happening through the bond she shared with her master and the being did not make any attempt to shield her from the full extent of the communion he was entering. The creature's voice was strong, harmonious and multi-faceted, spanning the full spectrum of her perception. It wasn't so much a sound, but a feeling, a thought, no an experience. It conveyed far more information than words through the direct transfer of mind. Soon the so called voice of not one but many of her masters kind became apparent as did the thoughts and wills of a myriad of other beings all bound together in one grand web of communion. This web was always there between them, joining them, binding them, making the many into one and the one into many. This communing between them, coordinated and focused only made this invisible, subliminal bond more apparent, thus accelerating and intensifying focused intent streams of information. The bond extended over great distances, and while she could not pinpoint the exact locations of the other beings she had some sense of where they were coming from. North America, Europe, elsewhere in Asia and as far away as Mars or some of the moons of the great gas giants. This link did not extend beyond the solar system however. She did not know whether or not this was a physical limitation of something more or less metaphysical or if that was the full extent of this link and there were a great many of these links all functioning like separate individuals throughout the galaxy or even beyond. There were clues she had picked up to both of these theories from the sessions she was joined with her master in the great communion with his people and those above them in a cascading hierarchy throughout this solar family. This time however the discussion was concerning activities on Earth. There were so many different conversations going on at once Soo-young couldn't possibly make sense of them all. Her master was communicating with the other's of his kind, their overseers and the masters of their overseers as well as those subordinated to his command. Every minute detail of the process was under consideration. The aliens were able to think on such a level that allowed them to process a vast number of independent thoughts and functions simultaneously on a quantum level that exceeded the processing power of even humanity's best supercomputers before the fall. Soo-young however had learned to isolate one of the many trillions of threads of shared information being transmitted to and from her master's mind and listen in on it. Many of these strands of information involved concepts Soo-young was unfamiliar with or could not possibly understand. It was all a confused jumble but once she locked in on one strand she could understand a small portion of the data being conveyed. From there it was just like changing the channel until she found something that caught her interest.

"11-337-0041001 is departing the fourth planet now." Soo-young focused in on a statement in mid stream.

"There is a disturbance on the daylight side of the planet at coordinates.."

"Grid lattice 44 by 129 construction is on schedule…"

"The timelines favor an improved outcome by 3.1002%"

"Seismic activity has damaged harvest facility San Francisco. Requesting supplies from subsector 41B be sent to.."

"Otherspace nucleation accelerating as the models have predicted within a .004% variance."

"Requesting permission to utilize medium yield armaments to pacify location formerly designated "Kandahar" in sector 12, subsector 4B"

"Transmissions from system 10014-35002-93543-77751-06060 have ceased. Advise sending a cruiser from the third planet to investigate."

Soo-young switched between the various "channels" of thought going between the aliens until she found one that referenced her home, Seoul. Curious to learn of the developments in her birth land she listened in, hoping that it was closer to being reborn than other places she had peeked in on during these communion sessions.

"Joined and allied forces are in complete control of 68% of urbanized area. 71% of transit routes are deemed 100% secure with 94% of transit routes deemed 80% or higher. Resource utilization at 52%. Joined and allied losses are most significant in the south, far southeast and far northeast regions of the urbanized areas. Threat levels do not warrant airstrikes with minimal weapons above level 6. Ground forces remain at level 2. Harvest probability exceeds threat potential. All units are advised to use restraint against native unrest in these areas." The statement just sounded like an average mission report. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't all that good either. There were still sore spots slowing down reconstruction efforts in some areas. Listening in further she learned that in secure areas her joined brethren's designs were proceeding ahead of schedule. She lamented the shortsightedness of those among her people, in her birth land no less, still left out in the cold and unforgiving world. She listened more intently in hopes that more of them would come around and join them.

"At the center of the disturbance the native infection has turned against itself. Your report 23-03?"

"It is the malignancy within the organism which is striking at itself. The non malignant portions are not engaged against itself."

"This organism engages in self harm? This concept defies all explanation."

"You do not understand them 41-13. The infection does not understand the concept of one. The many are naught but many."

"But why? Why would one harm their own kind."

Soo-young could not make out the voices as to who was speaking but was able to discern at least three distinct entities conversing here.

"It is their way. They have always done so." Soo-young recognized that voice as the one belonging to her master.

"Such a peculiar, illogical behavior. I suppose one should expect as much from beings guided solely on the basest instinct. What is your recommendation 23-01?" one of the three asked.

"Your strategy is sound. Contain the malignancy and use your ground forces to protect the benign native cells from further harm pending future growth and collection. Continue to hold your defenses around the primary supply lines and protect the secure areas from further intrusion." Soo-young's master answered.

"I disagree. Containment would be inefficient. We should stamp out the malignant cells now while they are all gathered together. Request permission to authorize light airstrikes up to level 12." A fourth, more aggressive voice spoke up.

"Conservation of resources 23-03-07. The malignancy will eliminate itself if kept contained. Your previous airstrike damaged much salvageable materials which will require further reprocessing to be put to good use. I cannot authorize another temporary increase in response magnitude." Soo-young's master rebuked the seemingly junior member of the group.

Soo-young had gathered that her master was the central authority over the Korean peninsula. 23-03 was specifically the overlord of Seoul and occasionally she had heard the voice of another that seemed to be directing affairs in North Korea though that voice was not present among the four today. 41-13 seemed to give off the impression of an off-worlder, possibly an advisory role on Lunar base 6. One of the other members of the three was coming from Norway while the third one's location remained indeterminate to Soo-young.

"You are becoming too much like them 23-03-07. Remember we are not to be so apt to violence." the Norwegian based entity ridiculed his junior colleage.

"Malignant cells can still be harvested in a weakened state. Have patience and allow them to burn themselves out." Soo-young's master stoically advised the junior member.

"Permission to utilize allied forces to accelerate the depletion of the malignancy." The junior member asked again, this time taking a more soft handed approach to the increase in applied force.

"You may speak to your liaison concerning applied force so long as our manufacturing facilities are kept protected." Soo-young's master approved the request.

"Also, advise an increase in recruitment among the unjoinables scattered in the unsecured regions." 23-03 advised.

Soo-young tuned out of the conversation as her mind was beginning to tire. She skipped through a few more messages concerning things on a higher plane she did not understand and of monotonous technical details before she completely let everything fade into the background. In spite of all the voluminous amounts of information that was transferred the entire communion session lasted only 3 minutes 57 seconds. After which her master disconnected himself and dropped the glowing ember from his hand which returned to a state of fine dust. Her master walked back around the ring to the far side of the room and stood still and silent. Soo-young then walked to the edge of the pit, jumped down and landed unharmed. Her two skitter escorts followed behind her and the three of them passed through the doorway beneath her master's feet.

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 _ **Author's Note:** I haven't been able to update for a long time and frankly I have lost track of this one, so I am going to have to reread some of it before I rejoin the main plot. I kind of went off the rails here in what is the "3rd season" of this story and want to try and bring the "Silent Enim Leges Inter Arma" arc to a close as gracefully as possible. (I'll be going back and rewriting parts of that as well at some point once I have furthered the story well into the next phase or "season" or two when I can start getting some crossover action going on between the various FS stories I've started.) But for now since I haven't given you all an update for several months I decided to post something from the alien perspective. I'll try to make a full update as soon as I catch myself back up on the details I had forgotten with this one and am able to update a few of my other stories as well. Thank you for your continued interest. _


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